Simple Yet Impressive :: Electronic Medical Records
Take a look at the daily news and you will likely find at least one or two stories about advances in medical technology that will leave you amazed.
Tonight I had the opportunity for something that seems somewhat simple in this day and age yet I still found to be rather impressive, at least considering previous experiences when visiting the doctor or hospital.
Early this evening we were all outside enjoying the slightly warmer temperatures with a few of the neighbors. The kids were busy practicing riding up and down a small ramp on their skateboards while the parents all enjoyed some conversation.
Our oldest son was coming down the ramp when he lost his balance and took a spill. When he came down, he landed awkwardly on his wrist and grabbed it in pain. After sitting with the parents for awhile - which usually cures any child of their injury - he was still in pain when he moved his hand.
With the doctor offices closed for the evening, we took him over to the hospitals urgent care facility to have them check out his wrist.
They performed an x-ray on his arm and fortunately they did not see any fractures, although they recommended a follow-up in a few days because he had more pain than would be normal with a sprain.
What is so impressive about this experience?
Nothing so far.
However, when it came time to leave the facility and receive our paperwork, we also received a DVD that contained an electronic copy of the x-ray. In addition, there is an audio clip from the technician explaining the x-ray and their diagnosis.
While this seems like something so simple, I had never had an experience where we received an x-ray and within minutes had our own electronic copy on a DVD. This is something that I have complained about in the past when doctors would send you on a chase to retrieve records from another office or hospital so they could review them.
Now when we visit our son’s regular family doctor, we can take the DVD with and provide a look at the x-ray of his arm. When my son wants to brag to his friends about his x-ray, he can pull up a picture of it on the computer and show them. When I want to write a blog post, I can talk about how this basic service has left me impressed. 
*** Update *** When our son woke up this morning he was still in a good deal of pain so my wife called his normal doctor. After seeing the pain he was in they ordered up another x-ray and his wrist is fractured. They are on their way to get a cast right now - looks like baseball season is over early.
That is definitely pretty cool! Hope your son is OK and feels better! I think this is a pretty good idea to make it easy to store and access information at a later date and allowing the patient to have a copy/access to it and make it easy for other medical professionals to get without all the privacy and security concerns of other methods.
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Next thing you know, it’ll be cool on facebook and myspace to post your x-rays…
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Glad your son didnt break anything. Hope he gets to feeling better soon. Poor thing!
Hopefully your son’s wrist will feel better soon. When I was at the Mayo Clinic a couple years ago, it was amazing how all their patient records, x-rays, scans, etc. are computerized and accessible from any office throughout the facility. And I recently saw signs in my clinic at home that something like “Excuse the mess, we’re converting to electronic medical records.” Considering the savings in paper, time, and money, electronic record keeping shouldn’t be a think of the future. It should be a thing of the present.
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Derek, I continue to get surprised by many such things that happen now a days. Most of my friends can not believe that I hardly ever go out shopping and most of my shopping and ticket booking, is done online. Many things that people like me take for granted are actually remarkable modern developments as your experience shows.
All, thanks for the comments. I just posted an update above but after seeing his regular doctor and getting another x-ray he has a fractured wrist and is on his way to get a cast.
Just in time for summer!
Dang! That’s not cool! Did your regular doctor have anything to say about the DVD?
Nick’s last blog post..DTMF Tone Workaround
I didn’t confirm with my wife but I don’t think they even looked at the DVD. When his doctor touched his arm and saw him wince in pain, he said he would be shocked if there wasn’t a fracture and sent him for the 2nd x-ray.
The difference between a GP or a regularly visited paediatrician and modern technology! The old fashioned GP’s diagnostic skills were amazing. Today’s doctors want all tests done before they can diagnose properly, and in this case, obviously, improperly!
Oh no!
here is to a fast and speedy recovery…
Well, good story with a bad ending
Baseball season over? Nah, he must have another arm he can throw with?
Have to agree with you on the technology though. I had a MRI last year to scan a slipped disc and the results were so clear. Certainly made the surgeon’s life easier when he removed it!
Hope the boy gets well soon though.
Lol, last night I was asking him if he thought he could still throw a ball with the cast on his arm. But I did suggest that he could still play first base as that typically involves very little throwing. Of course batting would be an issue.
I’d imagine an arm in a cast just before first base might stop the odd quick run.
(I say that as Brit who doesn’t even know what RBI is - sounds like a repetitive strain injury!)
When I was a young boy I too had to be in plaster cast with a fracture for a couple of months. Since the right hand was out of action, I learned to use the left one quite well and that experience still serves me. I can call myself semi ambidextrous! Perhaps your son too will eventually! Some good usually comes out of bad situations.
Hope your boy get well soon. Is there additional cost for the DVD?
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No additional cost, although I am sure they wrap it into their fee some way or another.
We’re actually going to call the first place and submit a complaint that we paid for their service and they missed a clear fracture. The people at the second facility were amazed that they missed it the first time.
I agreed. They must have included the fee somewhere. There is no free lunch in the world.
That sucks… but that was so cool!!! You know what I meant.
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I know exactly what you mean.
I hope you son will be better soon. But the dvd is really cool
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I hope your son is feeling better and must by now have a cast for all his friends to sign.
As for the DVD,it is an excellent way to keep your medical records on instant recall.
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The added service is great. But I wonder why the fracture was not diagnosed the first time. Hope he gets better soon.
I always feel that all is not well with my world when the kids are not well, so i hope your son is all better very soon.
Hope there would be machine like that in my country but i know that it will come to us ages due to its price.
This must be a relatively new advancement because when I had my X-Ray I didn’t get a DVD. That’s really great though, because then you can have in-depth knowledge of your injury for years and years to come.
I’m sorry to hear about what happened to your son. When i was 17, i had to stop playing basketball because of a groin injury and it seemed like my injury was taking forever to heal. For kids, going through something like that can really depress them if they’re not occupying their minds with something else.
And on another note, it’s cool that medical technology is so advanced now, but it makes me kinda sad because i wish that it was this advanced years ago. It would have made everyone’s life alot easier.
I’ve just started back with cricket after a disc op in October - back is fine, it’s just the rest of my body that is struggling, especially Achilles tendons. Anyone know a good cure for sore Achilles?
I’ve never seen an x ray on a DVD before but that is a great idea. It seems a lot more practical then a giant x ray that is likely to get bent or lost. I also imagine they can also fit a lot of before and after pictures on there as well.
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