As I pull into clinic, my intention is always the same: be fully present with each patient. By the time I’m two patients in, the reality is always different.
We’ve all read the mindfulness quotes about the virtues of being “in the moment,” but somewhere after the first couple visits of the day we face a decision—to shift our attention away from patients and toward the computer screen with the aspiration …
Years from now, the notion of simple telemedicine will seem quaint. Keep in mind that as recently as a decade ago, most physicians would have denied that telemedicine could ever play a role in the medical profession. Physicians would have argued that this would dismantle the fundamental unit of medical care – the in-person office visit.
Physicians would have rigidly maintained that they had to be face-to-face with their patients. Doctors …
In a world increasingly dominated by technology and artificial intelligence (AI), adaptability is no longer just a desirable trait—it’s a necessity. Leon C. Megginson’s insightful quote, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change,” serves as a timely reminder of this reality. This article explores why adaptability is crucial, especially in the …
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Join Mike Hines, an evangelist at Resolute Software, to explore the transformative impact of COVID-19 on the IT landscape. We discuss the rapid shifts in remote interactions, the emergence of technical debt, and the challenges faced by …
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought about significant advancements in various fields, including health care. ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is one such AI that has shown great promise in assisting professionals, particularly doctors, in their daily tasks. This article will discuss the average human IQ, the estimated IQs of notable individuals, the average IQ of doctors, the IQ of ChatGPT, its strengths and limitations, and how it can …
The principles governing the universe are not confined to physics and chemistry. In health care, a field that profoundly examines life’s intricacies, we find parallels with the three laws of thermodynamics. This article unveils these connections, offering a physician’s insights into the applications of these principles in patient care, medical innovation, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care.
The First Law of Thermodynamics: energy conservation
Thermodynamic principle: Energy in …
In the future, I foresee a world without pandemics, cancer becoming a thing of the past, and advancements that enable bionic adaptations to our bodies, leading to a life expectancy of easily over one hundred years.
While some of these advancements may seem distant, we are on the cusp of making them a reality within the next few decades. However, it’s essential to question whether human greed could hinder technological progress, …
Big Data in health care has the potential to drastically improve patient-level insights when combined with personalized patient data. Understanding a patient’s whole health journey is critical to conducting impactful research, making the right diagnosis, clinical decision support, and securing health equity for individuals and communities; however, the ability to uncover actionable insights from Big Data can prove to be elusive. To harness the full potential of Big Data, stakeholders …
In the rapidly evolving health care landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is making significant strides, transforming how we approach patient care, medical research, and health care operations. One such advancement is the introduction of code interpreters in AI systems, such as the one recently introduced in ChatGPT. This powerful feature opens up many …
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Join Earl Stewart, Jr., an internal medicine physician, as we discuss the critical need for electronic health record (EHR) systems to address the impact of climate change on patient health. Earl highlights the limitations of current EHRs …
Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly ingratiated itself in the health care landscape, emerging as a powerful tool with the potential to revolutionize various aspects of clinical practice. From enhancing diagnostic precision to streamlining administrative workflows, AI is touted as a solution to many of health care’s long-standing inefficiencies. Yet, the transformative power of AI is a double-edged sword, and its integration may bear unintended repercussions for not …
In every aspect of our lives, whether it is online banking or shopping, we rely on technology to make things better, more convenient, and more efficient. Yet in health care, and particularly cancer care, that is not the case. Oncology has been revolutionized in recent decades by therapies targeted to specific biomarkers and immunotherapy. Despite being a leader in therapeutic innovation, oncology lags behind in adopting easy-to-use apps and other …
The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and First Republic Bank understandably spurred concern among industry and regulatory leaders about the health of the overall banking industry. Certainly, investigating the reasons leading to their collapse is important so we can identify and prevent it from becoming a larger trend.
The reason to prevent future losses of similar banks, however, has microeconomic impacts that go beyond the dollars-and-cents and market-confidence impacts …
The advances of AI, specifically models like GPT-4 from OpenAI, have given rise to powerful tools capable of generating human-like text responses. These models are invaluable in myriad contexts, from customer service and support systems to educational tools and content generators. However, these capabilities also present unique challenges, including the generation of ‘hallucination’ results. In AI, hallucinations refer to instances when the model provides information that, although plausible, is not …
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Join Juan Carlos Gonzalez, Jr., health equity researcher and advocate, as we explore the transformative power of technology in health care. This podcast episode discusses the potential of health information technology, telehealth, and data-driven solutions to improve …
Our reaction to COVID-19 brought us a very sudden socially distanced, remote-working, touchless economy, in which the majority of our daily interactions needed to be remote interactions. Some industries adapted easily (think tax preparation), and some, like health care where personal contact is often mandatory, struggled to find solutions. However, health care IT departments adjusted quickly and deployed a truly impressive array of low and no-contact services. The solutions ranged …
A recent Goldman Sachs report determined that artificial intelligence (AI) may wipe out 300 million jobs. Jobs that require advanced education, like mine, are particularly vulnerable. This isn’t welcome news for those of us who have invested a lifetime mastering our crafts and must work for a living.
Until recently, the primary goal of medical students has been to master the science of medicine. Students spend thousands of …
ChatGPT and Epic Systems
This year’s buzzword in academic and now business technology is ChatGPT. Epic Systems, Microsoft, and OpenAI (the owners of ChatGPT) have announced the release of the next evolution in artificial intelligence (AI) called GPT-4. This new system integrates AI with electronic health records with the hopes of advancing medical care and associated services.
In-basket messaging is the first section of electronic health records that will be significantly changed. …
Four clicks. That’s all it took. Four additional clicks were added to the process of putting in a post-op order after surgery, arriving without any warning or explanation. Eleven seconds of additional work on top of the tripling of the time taken to complete paperwork my way out of the operating room, necessitated by the advent of EMR. That’s all it took. Why? Why did we have to add this …
Each day, as an internal medicine specialist who practices primary care, I care for patients who are experiencing the brunt of climate change. These patients have various medical conditions due to different causes. However, it is evident that greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, extreme weather, and heat-related illnesses are major contributors to the development and worsening of chronic medical conditions in the adult population. Electronic health record (EHR) systems are …
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