Data in Hand

Note: Dr. Greene works with Scanadu, a participatory medical device company that is currently running an exciting Indiegogo campaign for Scanadu Scout, the first Medical Tricorder. The first generation of medical students that went to medical school with smartphones in their pockets is still in training. They’ve just finished their second year of residency and they’re accustomed to having the world’s medical literature at their fingertips. So are their patients. Access to information about medical conditions is now so easily available that it’s hard to remember that this is a new phenomenon. In the early 1990’s neither clinicians nor patients could easily look up a condition online. And many medical libraries wouldn’t even allow patients to visit. Today this would be unthinkable. And I’ve met people on the streets of Kolkata with access to more medical information than the US Surgeon General used to have just a few years ago. But… Most people today do not yet have easy access to their own body’s specific health information. Much of this valuable stream of health data is never collected nor recorded. And most clinical data that is recorded ends up in clinical labs or medical records – not in people’s hands, not in people’s pockets. Tomorrow this will be unthinkable. A tectonic change is afoot. Access to one’s own bank accounts and credit card statements allows better managing of personal finance. Access to the body’s changing parameters allows a new...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - Category: Pediatricians Authors: Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Colds Flu Medical Treatment Top Cold & Flu Top Medical Treatment Source Type: blogs