Getting Digital - The Movement is Gaining Momentum

I've recently read a couple of articles about using email with patients. One, by Kevin Pho (aka KevinMD), acknowledges the potential benefits to both patient and physician, but comes down on the side of the "cons" outweighing the "pros". The Wall Street Journal article from earlier this year presents both sides of the debate, with Joseph Kvedar being for the use of email, and Sam Bierstock being against it.

Over the last year to eighteen months I've increasingly been using secure email with my patients. Not to diagnose or assess new symptoms, rather for the more prosaic aspects of patient follow up and monitoring. Today in my clinic I scribbled my email address on a piece of paper and gave it to a patient. My aim was simple, I wanted to make his passage though the system as efficient and effective as possible, so I told him to email me once he had had his scan. My caveat was that once I've seen the scan we could then speak on the phone and decide on the most appropriate next steps. There was an expression of happy bewilderment on his face.

Similarly I am increasingly getting patients to monitor their symptoms, and progress, online. Peak flow measurement, symptoms of breathlessness, exercise tolerance and even medication adherence can all be easily tracked and monitored in a secure patient portal environment. I've found that if you as the physician ask your patients to do this the majority actually do.

What I've also found is that this doesn't replace the doctor patient consultation (well, occasionally it does when a patient communicates that they feel well and don't want to see me), rather it enhances it and makes the discussion more relevant and objective.

I'm baffled why so many of my colleagues are still so vehemently opposed to harnessing digital technology to enhance their patients' experiences. Medicine really is the last bastion of doing things the way we've always done things. If I were to make one prediction for the coming few years it would be that there will be a communication revolution in healthcare (much like happened to banking and finance 20 years ago). And I'm not just talking about doctor-patient communication, but doctor-doctor communication and information sharing. The seeds are sown with meaningful use stage 2 criteria and I do believe that if you don't get on board and embrace a new way of doing things you will get left behind.