Patient numbers will follow patients after Jan. 20
Physicians can help make new nurse ratio law an opportunity
Check those fax numbers - Phone numbers change often
Gastroenterologist Young crosses street and brings experience to Medical Board
Cancer Center progress continues
Hospital plans for flu contingencies and so should physicians
Deal
struck to provide lab services to Santa Clara IPA
AutoPulse
Resuscitation System
Bioengineering
receives Degree granting authority
No
free lunch for winner
(but dinner, maybe?)
Bruce T. ADORNATO
* * *
I am lying on the old couch, having just finished reading seven back issues of NEJM. (New England Journal issues are available online but it is so much better to fall asleep with the glossy cover over your eyes.)
The phone rings. It's daughter number one. She is heavily involved 400 miles north of me in a trivia game with her peers. It's one of those "real time" contests made popular by TV that allow you a phone call to an expert (or at least someone whose phone number you know). My daughter thinks her nautical dad knows everything. She wants to know the International Phonetic Alphabet - what is the word for "h"? I remember that one - it is hotel. What is the word for "r"? Romeo. I remember that one too. So far, so good. But I blanked on "n" (November) and "u"(uniform). And she had 30 seconds for the round. Fortunately, I was near my DSL and Steve Dell's machine. A lucky guess on Google - international military phonetic alphabet - produced the entire alphabet for me on the screen.
Of course, this encounter was pretty meaningless in the history of the world (and maybe even ultimately with daughter number one), but it does illustrate how the Internet can turn you into an informational Dalai Lama.
I use the Internet every day with my patients. My laptop sits on my desk with its engine running. Today I looked up an unusual medication that a patient from the Philippines brought in for his memory problem, referred a person with multiple sclerosis to the American Academy of Neurology position statement on flu vaccination, and printed out a copy of a review article on the treatment of migraine for my 11 a.m. new patient.
And then I played a movie clip on the physiology of sleep apnea and its therapy to a patient rather than explaining it myself for the 97th time this year. (It also allowed me to dip out of my office and make some phone calls.)
It is truly amazing that virtually everyone I see in my practice has access one way or the other to online resources. Often, it is a child or grandchild who has access, but more frequently, my Medicare patients are getting hooked up themselves. Many of my patients realize that even when resources are scarce, communication is priority for safety, information, and even recreation and relaxation. I recommend that my patients without computers go to a local public library, where high speed Internet connections are often readily available free or cheap. And seniors can often avoid waiting by using the computers during the day when the kids are in school. (God bless librarians.)
The point of my cheerleading about the information age is to spread the joy a bit. SoÉ I will now introduce the first annual Stanford Medical Staff Favorite Websites Contest. The categories are: A. Best Patient Information Site: B. Best Physician Pharmaceutical Site: C. Best Drug Information Download Site: D. Best Anatomy Reference Site: E. Best Practice Management Site: The winners in each category will be placed in a hat and a Grand Winner will be drawn. The Grand Prize is dinner for two at my houseÉ or dinner at the New Old Pro sports bar in Palo Alto. Winner's choice. Entries by e-mail only, of course, so please don't send the coupon by mail. The deadline is February 15th. Send 'em to:
