My next piece is published at Townhall.com:
Despite the success of information technology (IT) in transforming many parts of the economy, the health care sector has proven itself immune to the seduction of smart phones and iPads. This is puzzling at first glance. It is certainly not due to any shortage of health IT products. The problem appears to be on the demand side.
A recent article by Olga Khazan in The Washington Post provides some explanation. She reports on the third annual mHealth Summit, held earlier this month in Washington D.C. The event has attracted such notables as Bill Gates and Ted Turner, according to the mHealth website. The piece laments the “enthusiasm gap” between Health IT startup companies offering dozens of miracle products and those darn stick-in-the-mud physicians who just can’t get with the program. But meetings like the mHealth Summit actually hurt the movement of Health IT that they profess to support.
The poster child for Ms. Khazan’s article is Dr. Eric Topol, one of the Summit’s keynote speakers. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius joined Dr. Topol behind the podium. Together they offered Health IT Utopia – where “you can take a video of a rash on your foot and get a diagnosis…without making a doctor’s appointment.” Then they criticized practicing physicians using the same old Obamacare propaganda. Ms. Sebelius continued, “Americans still live sicker and die sooner than many of the people in other nations…Healthcare has stubbornly held on to its cabinet and hanging files.” Dr. Topol called the medical community “ossified” regarding the adoption of health information technology. The author starts the online post-article comment thread herself with the question, “How do we encourage doctors to be more open to these technologies?”
This kind of meeting is common in the Health IT (HIT) community. A bunch of self-described HIT experts get together, pump each other up about the absolute perfection of their products, and then start bashing physicians because – literally and figuratively – we aren’t buying it. At similar meetings I have heard HIT people brag about walking out on their doctor the minute he pulled out a paper prescription pad. Doctors are called fearful, stupid, or rich fat-cats protecting their turf. Now thanks to our “colleague” Dr. Topol we can add, “ossified” to the list of unflattering terms. It comes as no surprise that the government is happy to join in the sing-along. It is a free opportunity to serve Obamacare Kool-Aid.
I am a dedicated supporter of HIT. Our practice’s EMR implementation reached a reasonable level of maturity long before Obamacare, HITECH incentives, and Ms. Sebelius came along. We became Meaningful Use – compliant the first of October. I believe in the potential of HIT to revolutionize the practice of medicine by reducing costs and improving efficiency and quality of care. But I do not believe the HIT community is on a course that will take us to that vision.
Read the rest of the article here at Townhall.com
Hi Mike,
Excellent article, as always. One thing you forgot to mention is that you’ve tried/used much of the technology being pushed by the likes of Dr. Topol and Secretary Sebelius, some of which you use now and some you have chosen not to use because they didn’t meet your needs.
Just because “all” docs aren’t using a tool pushed by these folks doesn’t mean they are unwilling to change or try new technology. Perhaps the manufactures of such products should consult with the end users (docs) before they build them!
Just saying…Jonena
[…] meeting seemed a great deal different than what I read about last year’s meeting. Gone was the doctor bashing by keynote speakers. Instead we heard talks like the one from NIH director Dr. Francis Collins. His literature […]