tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6436224560193948046.post5983635281581025344..comments2009-05-01T07:35:40.096-04:00Neilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797714666842395812noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6436224560193948046.post-64878645314598571902008-06-26T12:14:00.000-04:002008-06-26T12:14:00.000-04:00Brilliant. You sound like a fine, caring physician. If only I had access to medical insurance, I would call for an appointment. <BR/><BR/><BR/><B><A HREF="http://blatherfrombrooklyn.wordpress.com/" REL="nofollow">Blather From Brooklyn</A></B>annullahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653591034892685511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6436224560193948046.post-41138898541012622732008-04-13T10:05:00.000-04:002008-04-13T10:05:00.000-04:00Our "language" is fine, the technology is not!<BR/><BR/>The Medical field has long lagged behind the rest of most industries in utilizing technology. <BR/>A myriad of reasons can explain why medicine has not fully embraced the advance technology available to revolutionize our profession and care of our patients. Therefore once we have taken the leap to embrace and utilize technology in our field, we should try to utilize it in all its respects to help us, not force us to change our learnt behaviour and culture in practicing medicine<BR/><BR/>Being a physician enjoins us to a special culture. A culture in which we can speak a different "language" from others, yet one,which by earning our way into the culture, allows us the privilidge to gather together in conference and communicate among ourselves. Take into consideration all that is communicated to another doctor when another writes : Abdominal exam: normal or negative: to another doctor it means that the Inspection, Auscultation, Palpation and Percussion of the abdomen was normal. It is only if there is an abnormality in the exam that there is an expansion of our language and our findings. Remember every doctor will speak the 'language of Medicine". Not all of us will be able to speak or read Spanish, when covering for another provider who writes his notes in the language of the patient he is caring for.<BR/><BR/>Communicating with others, as pointed out in your story, is where we have a failure to communicate and thus where we ought to be helped by the technology we have so long feared and failed to embrace. <BR/><BR/>Instead of doctors relearning English, why not have the technology scan and interpret our language into that of the lay person accessing their chart. In the 1960's television show "Star Trek" these explorers of other cultures had a computerized universal translator to help them speak to and interprep new languages of cultures that they had encountered. In the 1960's that was science fiction, this should be practical now!<BR/><BR/>We now have medical dictionaries available to anyone wishing to interpret the "language" of their doctors. Surely there must be a similar computer program ( eg. "Star Trek") that can read the written language of doctors and easily translate it to lay English.<BR/><BR/>Technology also can be used to advance the experience of our patients. Instead of printing out their encounter visit on paper that is more likely to be discarded soon after leaving the office or discarded elsewhere where their personal information could be reviewed. Why not have each patient bring in a disc so that after each visit their medical visit could be downloaded " as read only" to an encripted file accessible to them only!. They could then take their medical information disc with them, much like their cellphone, and when needed be able to quickly access their information at the ER or another Physcians office.<BR/><BR/>Similarly why not have Medical records forward files of a patient who requests their chart, by disc. Wouldn't this be more practical and greener for the Planet?<BR/><BR/>The availablility of technology should not be a primer for advancing a change in " medical language" that conveys much in a few words between doctors. Instead it is technology that should be used to make easier the patient encounter- interpreting our "language" into the language of the patient and allowing for ease of transfer of information to the patient for their convenient use. <BR/><BR/>Eric G. Gayle, MDEric G. Gayle, MDnoreply@blogger.com