by Matthew Rehrl MD | Big Data, Deontology, EHR, Healthcare Ethics, Philosophy
No, says the Deontologist. Yes, says the Utilitarian. Consider the following question: We know that bariatric surgery offers significant benefits to patients with diabetes and obesity. These benefits include a 68% lower cardiovascular mortality. (Ref: Association...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Digital Trust Networks, EHR, Telemedicine
Here;s my hierarchy—from best to worst—for the efficient transfer of information between two people who don’t know each other well: Face-to-face conversation (Best!).Phone conversation. ↓ Email. ↓ Text messaging (Worst!). The gaps I placed above between phone/email...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Creativity, EHR, Uncategorized
My wife, who uses a straw when drinking sodas, pointed out to me the central hole in the aluminum can’s tab can be used to stabilize her straw. But was the second, more central hole in the tab of the aluminum soda can designed specifically to hold a straw? No, per...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, EHR
I just ran across a nice Microsoft podcast, The New Surface Podcast Series!, by Alfred Ojukwu (@alojukwu). It reminded me of an idea I presented to some Microsoft folks years ago: What if, by using the Microsoft Surface Hub, we made the exam room the EHR? This...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Big Data, EHR
Patients have a fluid in their body called blood, which, because of the pumping action of the heart through the arteries cause cyclic transient pressure changes in these arteries. When a nurse physically puts a blood pressure cuff on you they are using a tool called a...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Big Data, EHR, Healthcare Ethics
I have no emotional attachment to the number known as BMI—the Body Mass Index. When I see it in print I feel neither pleasure nor anger, joy nor despair, hope nor fear. It is an index—a mathematical trick that lives in the same part of my brain as other indexes: the...
