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Hacking Health in Hamilton Ontario - Let's hear that pitch!

What compelled me to register for a weekend Health Hackathon? Anyway, I could soon be up to my ears in it. A pubmed search on Health Hack...

Friday, June 1, 2012

iPatients and Diagnosis

Are physicians losing the art and science of the physical exam because of technology?  Dr. Abraham Verghese in this TED talk refers to the "ipatient" - when the the electronic record is viewed as being of more importance than observation of the actual patient.  The topic of the disappearing art of the physical exam also appears in an excellent book, "Every Patient Tells a Story" by Dr. Lisa Sanders.  Dr. Sanders apparently used to consult on the TV program House, as well as writing a column on "Diagnosis" for the New York Times.  There is a lesson here for health informatics.  I used to think the "virtual patient" would be quite useful to run diagnostic simulations, self-tracking, etc., but this is different.


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