Last week, I was lucky enough to experience a 6 day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to experience the desert Southwest. There is so much history to observe in the geology and landscape! Unfortunately, accompanying me on my first hike out of the Grand Canyon was a lovely intestinal ailment that sent me scurrying to the doctor for the first time in numerous years. What I observed while there were advancements in the use of technology that I had not seen before. My question to you (I seriously want to know from you...), how long has this been going on and how late to the party am I? Is this new or has this been happening for a while? That tells you how averse to going to the doctor that I am.
I observed the following:
- the nurse took all of her notes on a tablet pc
- the electronic thermometer was directly connected into the tablet pc through usb
- my height was taken with a digital measuring stick?
- the doctor came in with no paperwork, only his tablet pc which must have been wirelessly transmitted all of my information
- as I described symptoms, the doctor appeared to search on the symptoms on his pc and quickly make a diagnosis
- once an agreed upon prescription was arrived at, he wirelessly submitted the prescription to my local pharmacy as I stood there (and it was ready 20 minutes later when I arrived at the pharmacy)
This was all very interesting to observe. Basic usage of technology in an effort to streamline processes and procedures. But then I started advancing the thought process a little. Is technology and free information on the web going to marginalize the value of a family doctor? Here is my thought process....
- I was given about 3 minutes of time with the doctor (after waiting 75 minutes of course)
- The doctor spent more time reading with his face down in the PC than looking at me and talking. It reminded me of an addicted Crackberry user.
- The doctor essentially repeated what I could have done on my own on the web which is search symptoms. I could have self diagnosed over the web (which is arguably a dangerous practice but being informed is always good). I started to think, wow what a waste of time and gas money to come for that! For all I know, he could have been reading straight off of Wikipedia! I jest but you never know.
- The only real value that came out of the visit was that I received a legal prescription
My essential question is....Does the free flow of information on the web act to reduce the value of the family medical doctor? I think so. Will the doctor's reliance on technology to improve process act to further reduce the human interaction element that is one of their remaining "competitive advantages"? I definitely experienced that first hand. Until this week, I never thought about it but now I am thinking that family doctors are part of the threatened class like stock brokers, real estate agents, and travel agents have been in the past. If I was a doctor, I would specialize FAST!
