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Taking the Pulse

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Storing Health Records Online

Dr. John Selle, Internal Medicine| Taking the Pulse

Dr. John Selle is a primary care physician with a private practice in San Francisco. Dr. Selle believes technology is a healthy addition to his small business. Correspondent Sumi Das looks at the doctor’s tablet computer which he uses to record patient information and send electronic prescriptions to the pharmacy. Dr. Selle has also setup email and a web site for better communication with his patients.

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    AlbertoCan

    02/24/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Storing Health Records Online

    The inclusion of health IT in the stimulus plan means that our health system will finally enter the digital age and that health care providers will receive a down payment to help them adopt the technology rapidly and effectively. As Ms. Das points out in her piece, Health IT is expected to reduce fatal medical errors and improve the quality of care. Also worth pointing out is the fact that it's likely to lower costs and create jobs.


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Storing Health Records Online

Dr. John Selle is a primary care physician with a private practice in San Francisco. Dr. Selle believes technology is a healthy addition to his small business. Correspondent Sumi Das looks at the doctor’s tablet computer which he uses to record patient information and send electronic prescriptions to the pharmacy. Dr. Selle has also setup email and a web site for better communication with his patients.

Music Dr. John Selle: Alright, how are you guys doing? Sumi Das: Dr. John Selle is a primary care physician with a private practice. His day is full treating patience with all kinds of ailments whether it's high cholesterol... Dr. John Selle: I'll give you a sheet on some natural ways to lower your cholesterol. Sumi Das: Or a foot rush. Dr. John Selle: Does it hurt at all? Male Patient: There, it hurts. Sumi Das: The job has a lot of headaches. Dr. John Selle: I can send a prescription down for that. Sumi Das: But one of his remedies is business technology. Dr. John Selle: Try that for about a couple of weeks.

Music Dr. John Selle: Anything you want to talk about it. Have you been noticing any different? Sumi Das: Dr. Selle went to medical school at Western University of Health Sciences in Southern California. Medicine has always been an important part of his life. Dr. John Selle: I grew up in a medical family. My Mom was a nurse and my father was an orthopedic surgeon and I became interested in science, so I thought I want to be a scientist, but I realized I really like to work with people and the combination of science and working with people was -- the formula was medicine for me.

Music Sumi Das: During his residency, he realized he wanted to start his practice from the ground up. His hardware start up cost $6,000 and although there have been implementation challenges I.T. has been a healthy addition to his small business. Dr. John Selle: Basically, you know, it improves communication. In healthcare -- you know a lot of healthcare is communication with the patience, with other colleagues, with the front office. So, this really makes communication a lot more efficient and easy to do. Sumi Das: One of the ways Dr. Selle is able to stay more organized is with this tablet. He uses this device everywhere he goes in the office.

Music Dr. John Selle: This has a wireless antenna and access labs, x-rays and I can also access the Internet and look up any information that might come up as a question during a patient interview. It's very functional, it's my work course is easy everyday. Sumi Das: The information that he records on his tablet about a patient goes into an electronic health record. He pays a $300 monthly subscription fee for the service.

Music Sumi Das: He can also write prescriptions electronically, which cuts down on errors since doctor handwriting can be difficult to decipher. Dr. John Selle: It's nice because it sends the prescription within milliseconds to the pharmacy. I can do that right now just send that to the pharmacy. Sumi Das: Doctors are known for being difficult to reach with little time on their hands, but Dr. Selle is trying to change that perception by increasing patient communication using technology. One of the things he did was built a website and email system. Dr. John Selle: Patients can send me non-urgent messages or questions to the website. What happens is, I get an email saying to check the website because I have a message. Generally, the turn around time is about 72 business hours I tell the patients.

Music Sumi Das: Today, Dr. Selle's small business is in good health and he has his pulse on the future. Dr. John Selle: I would like to do more home-type, remote interaction with patients in their home. You had a question about an allergy to milk? Sumi Das: For BNET I'm Sumi Das.

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==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Techologies ====