In my last post I mentioned medical technology as a fiercely growing area that contributes to overall health care spending. In this post I wanted to look at the pros and cons of evolving medical technology (specifically electronic medical records). On one hand, this technology can make doctors extremely efficient, allow them to share patient data and save money by moving away from paper records; On the other hand the technology itself is expensive to implement, difficult to learn and can take away the "personal" feeling most doctors have with patients.
I have two articles that serve as a good contrast and explore this issue thoroughly. The first is an op-ed piece by Doctor Abraham Verghese about his personal experience with advancing medical technology. Doctor Verghese admits that on occasions he gets so caught up in technology, that it seems there is a "digital patient" and a real patient. He explains that advancing technology is starting to take away from the personal aspect of medicine. The second article is a piece by Steve Lohr about the pros and cons of implementing electronic medical records.
Both articles, although written differently, give a great picture of the trade offs that come with medical technology. As a patient, which kind of medical experience would you prefer? A highly computerized visit that relies on technology for a diagnosis or a more personal visit that relies on doctor-patient interaction and intuition?
2 points:
ReplyDelete1- we are not there yet. If doctors are debating their time management of using computerizrd techniques or not--then we are not there. Until it is easy, and affordable, and still comes with a personal consultation , I need to see a face, and have a human touch physical exam.
2- on the point of easy and affordable, and therefore becoming more in use. Like all technology, it will evolve. it will become easier and less expensive, as long as there exists a user base. At that point it will gain momentum with the smaller practices. But as with all technology it will find its stteling place and plance at the hands of a human touch.
Both good points. I think the general consensus would agree that no matter how advanced technology becomes, when caring for a human life, there needs to be a human element to that care.
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