Medicine

When I envision the ideal health care organization, I picture six characteristics.

A professional colleague and I were discussing (bemoaning) how hard it is to do quality primary care. She asked why I bothered to keep pushing for change in the face of so much institutional resistance and evidence that it was pointless. I told her, what we put up with is what we end up with.

In return, I asked her why she didn't push back and demand change if she is so unhappy about the way things are?  

Her response:

"Well, I watch you, and I can see that it is pointless."

A professional colleague and I were discussing (bemoaning) how hard it is to do quality primary care. She asked why I bothered to keep pushing for change in the face of so much institutional resistance and evidence that it was pointless. I told her, what we put up with is what we end up with.

In return, I asked her why she didn't push back and demand change if she is so unhappy about the way things are?  

Her response: "Well, I watch you, and I can see that it is pointless."

The wave of the future is bringing game-changing cultural shifts in patient awareness and expectations. These are paralleled (and fed) by paradigm changing technologies.  Clinicians and medical institutions will sink or swim depending on how well they ride these waves.

Those who choose the comfort of the familiar and predictable, who sit safely on the beach while they watch and wait, who allow others to build the future, these late adopters will ultimately be forced to enter the water. I predict they will never catch up, and will struggle merely to survive.

I found a wonderful article by Udkin, Dreger and Sousa, and have updated and adapted it. See below the fold…

Like most employees of large institutions, I am subject to a variety of ‘incentives’ that are designed to meet institutional needs, which may or may not be well aligned with my needs, to say nothing of the needs of my patients. 

Teaching in our local family practice residency is one of the most enjoyable parts of my week. When a colleague recently asked why I liked it so much, it took some reflection to answer.

At a recent clinical staff meeting, a physician complained that the new requirement that clinicians enter all orders manually into the electronic record (CPOE) is slowing us down and causing errors. The IT and administrative staff were not the least sympathetic. Their message: it’s really not a big deal, it only takes an extra minute or two, and smart people like you should be able to master a simple skill like this.

Did you know that there is a whole branch of psychology devoted to the impact of interruptions and distractions on learning, memory, performance, productivity, and decision making?

A physician friend commented recently that he was being ‘meeting-ed to death’ and wondered if it was intentional. It turns out, he was on to something.