Gorgeous day for a run at Balboa Park. What was your happiness moment today? #thrive
Taken at Balboa Park
The Dumbing-Down of Doctors
Do you have to resort to cartoon medicine to be a celebrity doctor?
I *tried* to watch an episode of a popular doctor talk show last week. Four people who presumably went to medical school and residency were talking about using coffee to remove the toxins in cellulite.
The episode closed with a segment on "booty-pop;" pants with padding to give you that J-Lo look. They actually discussed the merits of "booty-pop."
Somewhere in England, Dr. Osler was turning over in his grave.
Hello, Dave -- Physicians Fear #EMR. Should they?
What are we afraid of?
I just returned from the Summer American Academy of Dermatology conference in Chicago where I gave two talks on electronic health records. Although many physicians are ready to start using electronic charts, some are still skeptical.
Electronic health information, or health IT, is more than just electronic versions of paper charts. It is the ability to collect and share data in ways that make us healthier and makes medicine safer and more efficient. It is the ability to identify health problems before they become clinically apparent. It is the ability to protect you from inadvertent harm. It is the ability to have patients become partners in their health. It is the most important thing that we have done in medicine since we developed vaccines.
If you're a patient, then you should insist your doctors use electronic tools to keep you healthy. If you're a physician, then you should do what is best for your patients.
Are you there?
Dave?
Social Media For Physicians: Yaaawn.
Physicians are participating in social media, but many of us are still fumbling around. The biggest problem is not a flood of patient privacy violations -- we're actually more sophisticated than that -- it's dullness.
Social media is word of mouth and people share what is novel or interesting. Although it's difficult to compete with outrageous headlines like "Eggplant cures skin cancer!" there are ways to make real medicine entertaining.
Find what interests your patients, create good content on the topic, then watch the sharing happen.
Photo: fofurasfelinas (flickr)
