I am so happy to have read this recent blog post on db’s Medical Rants blog. In, Using technology in medicine – the good and the bad, R. Centor discusses technology in medicine. He talks about rounds and using smartphones and tablets. But when they’re at a patients bedside, it’s a different story and they refrain from using that type of technology, instead focusing solely on the patient, their story, and their exam.
I found this to be so nice to hear. It’s kind of like texting at the dinner table. It’s just plain rude if you don’t focus on the person you’re with. I have been in a doctor’s office before where they sit typing away on a computer the whole time they’re talking and when I leave I wonder if they even know what I look like. Technology is an aid and the focus should be on the patient. If the focus is on them and the physician is paying attention, they should be able to remember the conversation enough to recall it for dictation after.
Don’t get me wrong. I also think it is ok for a doctor to use technology while bedside (or chair side in an exam room). But sometimes they focus too much on getting ALL the information down, they forget there’s a person there.
