The Other Side

After quite a hiatus, I am back to writing! In the last few weeks, I have learned about the other side. Instead of thinking like a techie trying to improve hospitals, I had the chance to see the doctors' and the patients' view of the impact of technology in the medical field.

Over the break, I had the chance to attend a short lecture given by Dr. Abraham Verghese titled "Touching Where It Hurts: Bedside Medicine in a Technological Age." This lecture's intended audience was fourth-year medical students, but was open to the public.

[A little secret: I am absolutely fascinated with the medical field and in my next life I am going to be a doctor.] With that said, I found Dr. Verghese's message quite inspirational. So what was the point of his lecture? He wanted to tell students to remember compassion when at the bedside. The main idea is to not become reliant on the technologies of today and to treat patients as if you were in a third world country where these machines are not available. Use instincts, acquired knowledge, and your hands as your first resources. Patients will appreciate this.

He recounted a story about his friend who had breast cancer. During an examination, her doctor did not once touch her chest with her hands and instead, relied on a mammogram reading. Thinking this was quite impersonal, she immediately switched doctors.

See, a visit with the doctor is a very personal thing and a patient wants to know that the doctor is listening and that they care. This is quite difficult when the doctor is staring at a computer screen typing up notes or when he/she is throwing the patient at some new machine. So how is the EMR/EHR going to effect patient care? This is food for thought.