Patient Care from Anywhere!

By Dr. David Bales

While vacations are supposed to be a way to get away from it all, physicians may have those nagging medical cases that pop into their minds—"Did Mrs. Jones's biopsy show anything? And, if so, did my colleagues pick up on it and do something about it?" Those nagging questions never really leave my mind until I can personally do something about it. With web-based clinical messaging™, those questions can be put to rest very rapidly.

My wife and I were cruising in the Caribbean when I discovered that the ship had a business center with an Internet connection via satellite. The rates were very reasonable, so I checked some labs and forwarded them to colleagues just to be able to say I had done it! This was about 20 miles off the coast of Cuba!

Later in the year, we had the opportunity to travel to China, and I found that the hotels also had business centers. I was able to check on a biopsy—probably before the surgeon had seen it—and forward the information to not only my colleague who was covering my practice, but to the specialist that I wanted the patient to see.

Most large hotels throughout the world have Internet access, and many airports have a "Laptop Lane." With the time we now spend in airports after going through all of the security, it is very convenient to use your own laptop or use their computers to catch up on various clinical messages. If your patients have access via a secure web site (available from multiple sources including a benefit of AMA membership), you can check labs and notify them of results. Or even fill prescriptions via the Web from thousands of miles away!