Good article about how the human touch cannot be removed!  Myself as a tech person I probably research more information than most, but again when it comes to professional help, Dr. Google or any others are not going to replace the doctor.  Again, I come back around to one of my favorite subjects, called hearing, touching and seeing.  With text on a computer, you are not getting the same as a face to face visit.  Sometimes technology for simple follow up and monitoring can be beneficial, but not for the entire visit and treatment plans at all times.  There’s one thing text can’t do – it’s called listening!  This tidbit comes from someone here who writes code and there is no way any developer can create something that is 100% ready to replace any professional in healthcare.   Web cams can certainly be helpful for sight and sound to help resolve some issues, but as a patient we do not have the education and experience by any shape or form of a physician.  It’s good to be informed, and the doctor patient relationship is teamwork.  BD

I realize how incredibly tempting it is to reduce medicine to a series of algorithms. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't need to see a doctor to diagnose our ills? Wouldn't it be great if our computer could tell us what's wrong, and prescribe next steps for us? Wouldn't it save money if we could triage peoples' medical needs without human intervention?

Diagnosis Without Physi... - Blogs - Revolution Health

Hat Tip:  Kevin, MD

2 comments :

  1. Thanks for the link. Check out the Happy Hospitalist's perspective too: http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2008/06/standing-behind-your-product.html

    We need to stop wasting our time trying to create products that substitute for a physician's input, and use IT solutions to remove the ADMINISTRATIVE burden from the docs, leaving them to do the part that computers can never do.

    For example, Theresa at Rural Doctoring spent 3 hours calling around to various hospitals and doctors to develop a discharge plan for one of her patients - is that something that requires a physician's input? She could have been using that same time in so many more important ways! Forget "FreeMD" let's get a scheduling device in place to free up Theresa to diagnose and treat patients. It's so obvious... the stupid, it burns!

    :)

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  2. Thank you Dr. Val, long answer too from the creator on your blog too. It raised an eye brow or 2 here. I talk a lot about the connected/disconnected society we have out there and there's a time and place for everything, but a medical professional and the patient are a team, the education process to learn is not bad, but even doctors go see other doctors too for their health care needs, so it's a human thing.

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