Technology and gadgets are taking over our lives and that trend is reflected, at least partly, in the healthcare system. We all know that EMR (electronic medical records) are going to be standard at some time as more and more doctors convert or retire. It is the youth that are leading this revolution and it is inevitable. I think it is exciting what we as physicians can do with this technology as information is right at our fingertips. It is a great reference tool for me and and an educational tool for patients. We shouldn't, however, get ahead of ourselves. The press loves a sexy piece showing how technology will soon have our cellphones diagnosing and curing patients. Please. The crux of this article is the prediction that access to physicians via a cellphone is on its way. They throw an example out of how an infectious disease specialist basically advised a colleague's niece about her dog bite via cellphone pictures. Sounds great but the author doesn't give any reality checks here. Did the doctor get paid? No. Can the doctor get sued? Yes. Can the doctor make more mistakes by not having the patient in from of him? Yes.
The problem here is that the article is a puff piece that has no depth. It was made only to appeal to the masses and doesn't want to step on anybody's toes. The brother of a nurse practitioner explains ,"I'll send my sister an e-mail of a messed-up fingernail, and she tells me what to do. So maybe it's no longer that nontraditional." Can that be extrapolated to the masses? I wished they would have interviewed me on this. If all patients had access to sending me pictures via cellphones it would be overwhelming, disturbing and possibly hilarious. Forget the fact that no one would want to pay. Forget the fact that is not great medical care. Forget the fact that telemedicine has a high risk of malpractice. Forget all that and more and just think of the images coming my way:
- Vaginal discharge
- Abnormal looking stool
- Draining abscesses
- Penile lesions
As much as this author and his experts predict otherwise, cellphone medicine is probably not the future. Unless, of course, Dr. Javeed Siddiqui (the above mentioned infectious-disease physician) wants to see a nice example of C. Diff beamed to his phone while he is eating dinner.
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