Podcasting in healthcare

A recent dust up with administration at the medical school where I teach tangentially involved this question: do our patients have iPods? I could see innumerable advantages to dissemination of patient information in this way, as do many others, like Kevin Payton at his Health Tech blog and Hans Oh at his eHealth Blog: Podcasting in Healthcare - Revisited 2006.

AAFP is podcasting

The AAFP announced two podcasts this week. One, a free CME podcast isn't exactly the most riveting audio experience, but the live panel discussion from this years' National Conference is a much better start.

The audio quality could be better, and the range of offerings isn't that great, but I'll always take the 'ship then improve' model over the 'wait until it's perfect and includes the kitchen sink' model (google Microsoft Vista for example of the latter.)

RSS feeds:
In iTunes, select the "advanced" menu, and then choose "open stream" or "Subscribe to Podcast" and past the URL of the RSS feed below. You can also search for the podcast in the iTunes music store podcast section.

AAFP News Now podcast
AAFP Podcasts: Americans in Motion

Flattening Health Care

Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat posits 10 forces that are flattening the world. Some of these are evident in the US healthcare system, but not enough for my taste.

The first flattener: the fall of the Berlin wall and within six months the shipping of Windows 3.0. It's difficult for those of us who remember the cold war to convey the change embodied by the phrase "I scored some pirated software in China." And we thought only Nixon could go to China. Health care impact: more IMG's are entering medicine in the US than ever before, draining many countries of much needed talent. Meanwhile tele-radiologists and video-intensivists have arrived. Can a Wal-Mart effect be far behind?

Hospitals began outsourcing food services and housekeeping years ago. But will they homesource a call center?

Patients already 'see' their chart online. When will they be able to register themselves, make co-payments online, request referrals and prior-authorization online directly from the insurer?