My lifetime has spanned many of the important developments in the Age of Computers. Back in 1969 when I entered college, I was a frequent visitor to the Kiewit Computing Center, the lair of a GE-635 computer that filled several rooms. Students had access to the computer via noisy teletypes and a multiuser operating system known… Continue reading A Stroll Down (Random Access) Memory Lane
Category: Medicine
Futurama Revisited
Fifty years ago my parents took me to the World’s Fair in New York. The year was 1964. I was twelve years old. It was a turbulent time in American history. The prior fall John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, initiating a long period of turmoil for the United States. But it was still the era… Continue reading Futurama Revisited
Doctors On Call
Taking call is the worst thing about being a doctor. There. I said it. But wait! What about medical malpractice lawsuits? What about dealing with patients’ suffering or dying either from their illness, or far worse, relating to decisions you made or procedures your performed? Certainly these are far worse events than being on call? Granted.… Continue reading Doctors On Call
Cloning the Doctor of the Future
There are now so many rules and regulations in medicine that it is difficult for doctors to express any individuality. Like the burgers at McDonalds that are constructed in such a way that they taste the same regardless of your locale, doctors are expected to behave similarly when confronted with similar circumstances. Or at least… Continue reading Cloning the Doctor of the Future
Medical Documentation Should Not be Tied to Billing
The idea of starting over with computerized Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems and doing them right as mentioned in my previous post has struck a resonant chord. Unfortunately designing an EHR that works may be a fantasy, due to one huge hurdle that would have to be overcome first. But it is fun to imagine… Continue reading Medical Documentation Should Not be Tied to Billing
How to Build a Better EHR
A lot has been written about how awful Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are. They are overwrought, overengineered, dreadfully dull Baroque systems with awkward user interfaces that look like they were designed in the early 1990s. They make it too easy to cut and paste data to meet billing level requirements, documenting patient care that… Continue reading How to Build a Better EHR
How to Retire If You Are a Doctor
To paraphrase General MacArthur, old doctors never retire, they just fade away. Despite having greater than average financial resources and more burdensome than average work load, many doctors seem to have a hard time knowing when it is time to call it quits. I know doctors who continue to practice into their 70s and 80s.… Continue reading How to Retire If You Are a Doctor
In Praise (Defense) of Nurses
Author’s Note #1: This post has been sitting around in my draft bin for some time now. But since it is Nurses Week, it seems an appropriate time to take it out of the bin, dust it off, and post it. Author’s Note #2: I deleted the political innuendo that was in the original version of… Continue reading In Praise (Defense) of Nurses
1984 in 2014
I am rereading George Orwell’s 1984. The first time I read it was in the 1960s. Reading it again I wonder if he shouldn’t have titled it 2014. The book is closer to reality now than it ever was. No, we don’t have a dictator named Big Brother looming over us. But the ubiquitous electronic… Continue reading 1984 in 2014
The Root of All Evil
Imprecise language may not be the root of all evil, but it runs a close second. The ability to communicate may be the most basic characteristic that makes us human. If we lose that capability, all sorts of unintended consequences ensue, à la the Tower of Babel. Which brings us to the recent US Supreme… Continue reading The Root of All Evil