There are some very conflicting issues in healthcare these days. Doctors need to see more and more patients to make ends meet. And, patients complain that doctor visits are very short and don’t allow enough face time for asking questions. Few medical students plan to pursue primary care medicine because the pace is grueling and the pay low compared to specialists. Is it possible that the internet and other computer technology could change medicine to allow doctors to see more patients and give patients more face time, too? There are some ideas in the works across the US that might make it possible. First, consider the “super computer”. The American Diabetes Association has been working on a database housing millions of pieces of clinical trial, research and case studies about diabetes. It uses the Archimedes system of predictive software that will basically allow doctors to ask it a question about diabetes related issues and receive an answer quickly. But, while the answer is quick , it is not rushed. The software will act on the millions of pieces of data in the database to calculate an appropriate answer. So, for example, if a patient is concerned about the long term risks associated with not taking a medicine that is recommended, the doctor could give the patient a specific list of issues that might arise, based not just on clinical and research information, but also taking into account the patient’s particulars, like age and other health issues. Super databases and computers like this could improve the prognoses doctors provide to their patients while decreasing the time it takes to provide them. Secondly, let’s take a look at a new model of primary care being tested in Seattle with Group Health Cooperative. This is a totally new way of handling primary care that allows its doctors to allot up to 60 minutes for a patient visit, rather than the usual 15. Many of the doctors even make house calls under this system. How can they do it and stay afloat financially? It’s because follow ups are done via email and phone calls. Patients see the doctor in person fewer times, but they get more face time at a visit. The trick here is to get insurance companies to pay a monthly fee to the provider for the patient’s care, rather than only paying a fee for an office visit. By collecting a monthly fee, doctors are receiving some stipend for the time they spend emailing and calling patients for follow ups. This type of health care encourages patients to have a primary care physician, which gets very important as we age. It also encourages medical students to consider family medicine, since it makes the hours and work seem less grueling. We all know healthcare needs an overhaul. We’ve beaten the topic to death, but done little to remedy the situation. Could things as familiar as email, internet and computer databases be the key to making healthcare more affordable and more caring? This is a guest post by Mary E. Ward who blogs about how to choose among MHA programs
