Developments in well being IT have created ease and effectivity in delivering well being care that has by no means been seen earlier than. Digital ordering and prescribing have decreased remedy errors from misinterpreting handwritten data. The interoperable transmission of essential affected person historical past, lab work, and digital imaging from one hospital to a different has decreased prices and pointless extraneous exams. Digital care and telehealth utilization through the COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized how affected person encounters are carried out and have gotten a regular of well being supply. The digital assortment, aggregation, and evaluation of inhabitants well being information supplies new insights into social determinants of well being that can be utilized to grasp higher and enhance our communities. In the meantime, advances in machine studying and synthetic intelligence signify thrilling new frontiers in future drugs.
As a current graduate from residency, I’ve skilled and built-in these technological instruments into my observe. I embrace any innovation that may improve the affected person and supplier expertise. With that mentioned, on this portion of the essay, I grow to be a curmudgeon surgeon and lament one of many biggest downfalls I’ve seen with the rise of latest applied sciences – the decline of direct communication between suppliers.
Direct person-to-person communication has at all times been a vital part of affected person care supply. Communication exists between two colleagues discussing a affected person’s advanced administration; between a main supplier and a consulting specialist; between supplier and nurse; and between supplier and affected person. The benefit of latest expertise has obviated many wants for direct communication, and I consider that may be a detriment to drugs.
In my few years of observe, I’ve observed an rising lack of communication in well being care. Consulting suppliers and multi-disciplinary groups caring for a single affected person can discover themselves speaking with each other by means of digital charting. These messages wouldn’t be learn till the subsequent time a supplier opens the chart and combs by means of every new observe. Usually, essential messages and data grow to be diluted inside a observe, leading to delays in care.
Transferring medical information from one facility to a different may end up in essential data being hidden inside tons of of scanned doc pages. Nurses will ship digital messages about declining affected person important indicators that grow to be unread. Physicians will order one thing STAT, but that order will get unacknowledged. There are only a few of the numerous examples of expertise intending to enhance affected person care communication, nevertheless, having unintended penalties of impeding it. In most of the described conditions, one thing so simple as a cellphone name between suppliers may have expedited and prevented affected person care delays. It might not have a elaborate person interface, however a cellphone name is usually probably the most direct and environment friendly solution to talk data.
Improvements in well being expertise will proceed. Nonetheless, we should acknowledge that it can’t exchange poor communication between suppliers. Well being IT instruments should not supplant provider-to-provider communication however increase and improve it.
Juan Pablo Zhenlio is a common surgeon.
