So, it's the day before I leave on my four day trip out of town. It's a business meeting on behalf of the hospital, and it's not to exotic locations - like the beach or tourist destinations. Where am I going? We'll I'll hold off on that for now> (This "teaser" may actually keep you reading this week).
The use of electronic medical records both in the office and hospital setting remains an area of continued discussion in medical circles. There is no doubt that this is something that the press, the public, and the government is demanding.
The way this thing was marketed was that there are a lot of deaths due to medical errors. Electronic records will help alleviate that problem. Well, the discussion continues and there are some docs out there who are not buying into this concept.
So, there is going to be a team of about a dozen of us from the hospital from the various departments (med staff - meaning docs, nursing staff, pharmacy, information systems, etc) going to visit a couple of hospitals this week to see how they have implemented some of this stuff.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm on board with electronic records. I'm not going on this trip to convince myself that EMR is good. However, I also have my pessimist cap on. Let's face it, no one likes change - particularly doctors - HA! And, in general, docs are not early adopters when it comes to technology (except me).
So, as I learn more about this stuff, my job when I get back will be a little bit of marketer as well. How to convince a bunch of docs of something that they don't want to do? Sheesh! For the trip, I have my audiobooks planned out to listen on my iPhone: Meatball Sundae, The Dip, and The 4-hour Workweek.
Want to know what I'm doing this week? Well then, bookmark or subscribe to My Twitter feed. Depending on my schedule this week, I may even turn on my iSight camera on my MacBook and be live on My Ustream channel.
Also, my plan is to video record while on the road and post on My Viddler site. Finally, I plan to record some audio, edit it, and play it in my usual time slot for The Doctor Anonymous Show this week. So, this is definitely Doctor Web 2.0 on the road. How exciting!