Some patient can walk and chew gum at the same time. Personally I would be offended. Just as I am when a patient try's to record me and not ask permission.
I dictate my letters in front of the patient and offer them a copy as a gold standard. I would there expect them to fill the app in after the consult while the info is fresh in their minds.
Just the point. The patient takes the App in to write down just what the consultant said before it is forgotten. Works wonders when you get home and your better half or Mum asks what did the doctor say? The codes are NHS OPCS codes.
That would be great no doubt. I agree that doctors in particular should have good communication skills. I am always trying to improve mine and if you were to review the app you would see that for a patient attending a consultation about a knee problem the ability to retain the information provided and have it at hand is enhanced by the App.
However, many patients are like rabbits in headlights. They forget what has been said in the 15 minute consult allowed in the NHS. They then get home and a partner asks what the doctor said?
This gives the patient the ability to save the diagnosis and proposed treatment in their PDA. They can save important contact details and appointments.
Not many will know the questions to ask a surgeon at the next consult, what to take in to hospital, what rehab to do after. It is all in this App to use with your consultant to get the best patient-doctor interaction possible.
Ultimately, it will help to either reassure a patient or expose a doctors shortfalls.
You are correct. There is no chance of the digital world taking over the traditional medical skill of taking a History to elicit clinical symptoms, performing an Examination to elicit clinical signs and confirming a diagnosis with Special Investigations like an MRI. If so I would be out of a job.
The Knee Arthroscopy eSupport App is to educate and allow patients to collect their own essential information following knee injury. It is not for patients who self medicate after minor injury (the great majority). It is for athletes with persistent pain more than 6 weeks who have sought a professional opinion.
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John Hardy
