"Sally, we need an EP consult on Mr. Smith here. He has some trouble walking now due to pain from his multiple myeloma, but he also has a history of a heart attack, left bundle branch block, some non-sustained VT on his telemetry monitor, and is still a pretty young guy..."
"No problem!" said Sally, reaching for her iPhone. "I think there's a app for that!"
She scoured the apps on her iPhone 5. She clicked on her Heart Rhythm Society Sudden Cardiac Death Primary Prevention Protocol app walked through the algorithms there.
"Hmmm. Looks like I need to order an echo," she thought. * Click click * “Echo ordered! Damn I’m good,” thought Sally.
She continued with her Heart Rhythm Society app. "Says something here NYHA Class? I wonder how I figure that out....Wait! I have a MedCalc app for that, too!" A few taps later, "Looks like NYHA Class II!"
"Let's see, back to the Heart Rhythm Society app..."
A few more clicks and...
"Yipee! Looks like he qualifies for one! But wait, will the government pay for it? Let's check the CMS ICD app!"
A few more clicks and then...
"If we wait ninety days... he might get it paid for... but will I be investigated by the DOJ because I ordered it inappropriately? Hmmm. Oh, wait! There's an app for that, too! I can just use the American College of Cardiology Foundation's Appropriateness Use Criteria (AUC) app© ..." she thought to herself, “After all, it covers 369 clinical scenarios… Wait, looks like there’s an update to the app. This is only Version 1.1… I think I'm going to need Version 1.2…”
She left the "AUC app©" and went to the App Store icon on here phone. She waited a few seconds while the screen refreshed and then:
“There it is: the latest update!. Seems those guys update these scenarios every week. Wouldn’t want to be out of date on this.” She clicked the “Update” button. “I sure like how those clever app developers have all he right data I need right here at my fingertips,” she thought.
After it updated, she went back to the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s "AUC app©" on her iPhone and began entering the patient's scenario...
"Wow," she thought. "This is making it so easy for me! There's nothing to this! Hmm, can't seem to find anything in here about multiple myeloma ... Oh, heck, I'll just click on the 'no' button ... There we go, I got a green box! Looks like we'll still be okay to implant his ICD and stay out of jail." She turned to the resident, beaming.
"Well, did you get that EP consult I asked you to get on Mr. Smith?" the resident asked.
"I didn't need to, it looks like he's good to go!" Sally announced.
"Great!" said the resident, impressed with Sally's performance. "So when does the device go in?"
"I'm not sure. As soon as the next iOS version becomes available I'll check the new software updates." said Sally.
"Awesome. You think his low grade fever will be a problem?"
"Let me check," said Sally, reaching for her iPhone again...
-Wes
2 comments:
Wow. All I can say is that is very scary that the resident team is relying on an "app for that" rather than consult with a specialist that has real world experience with actual patient interaction. Would the same individual sat there scouring her ACLS text or med school text books in lieu of a specialist consult? I think not. Just because the iPhone is portable doesn't make it better than clinical experience of a licensed physician/specialist?
Anony -
The post was a hypothetical example rather than a real one. (No "AUC" app exists to my knowledge at this time). Still, the point that I was trying to make is that there may be a tendency in the future to rely on Silicon Valley (or other engineers) exclusively for health care decision support rather than one's own history, physical examination, and assessment of appropriate laboratory studies.
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