You Can't Coach That

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I read over at MacApper (which quoted the Wall Street Journal) that a neurovascular surgeon had credited his new iPhone with saving a patients life. It seems that the good doctor was able to check the patient’s up to date electronic medical records just prior to the operation and thus was able to change the procedure and subsequently saved the patient’s life. Apparently the records are accessed through the Safari web browser and as “everyone” knows the iPhone comes with this pre-installed. The Blackberry that the doctor previously used does not have this feature.

Now let’s back the truck up here for a moment. A neurovascular surgeon is about to perform potentially life saving/life threatening surgery and only checks the most recent medical records for the patient because his shiny new phone has internet access? Is it just me or does everyone else want their surgeon to have the latest information about their condition prior to the operation, regardless of said surgeon’s choice of mobile gadgets. How hard is it to say “Nurse, the patient’s most recent medical chart please”?

A quote from the WSJ article:

Dr. Singer, who says he performs about 450 surgeries a year, uses his iPhone to access his practice’s electronic medical-records system. Thanks to the iPhone’s browser, he is able to review patients’ X-Rays, angiograms and medical histories while in the operating room. (Click on the video to the left for a demonstration.) He was never able to do this with his BlackBerry, he says; instead, he would review a patient’s file in his office the night before a surgery.

I wonder if a patient dies over night (God forbid) would he still go ahead with the surgery - no of course not, he has his iPhone to tell him not to. *sarcastic sneer*

Let’s get a grip people - it’s a bloody phone!!!

“You can’t coach that”

Edit: This could of course be a piece of satire ala ”Man has thumbs surgically altered to use iPhone”