Big thanks to the Canada Health Infoway for sponsoring this post and, more importantly, bringing digital health technology to our health care.
If there’s one place we don’t want cutting edge technology, it’s in our doctor’s offices. Wait. What?
That doesn’t make any sense. And yet all the tech does seem a little weird at first, right? I remember the first time I brought my son in for his regular check-up and the doctor sat down in front of a laptop. She weighed him and measured his height. She listened to his breathing and looked into his eyes and ears. She asked if we had any concerns and then she sat down and started typing. It seemed strange.
It only took that one visit, though, for me to make the adjustment. Entering information into a computer isn’t really any different from making notes with a pen and paper once you get used to it. And it has already managed to save my behind!
I guess I was never very good about bringing in that immunization card to get updated with every shot. But by the time my second baby was born I was really, REALLY bad at it. Like, I know the very first shots she ever got — the ones she got the same day the doctor handed me that card — were checked off, but I think that was it. She’d never missed a shot, I just hadn’t ever remembered to bring that bloody card along.
When I registered her at school, I handed the secretary her immunization record and told her it wasn’t up-to-date. “Oh, they never are,” she said. “As long as she’s had her shots, it’s fine.” She made a copy of it for the records and we signed up for kindergarten just like that.
A year later, I get a letter in the mail threatening expulsion from school if my children didn’t catch up on their shots. Oh, shoot! Right. I’d better get on that.
Six months later, I got a very, very serious letter. Oh, shoot! But really, this time I’d better get on that. So I brought all the immunization records along with me to the next check-up and, without having to leave the room to pull files, my doctor pulled up all three of their records and updated their cards in no time flat.
I was THEN able to go online at home and update their vaccination records with Toronto Public Health and not even one kid ever needed to be expelled. What a good mom.
But that’s not all, to quote Dr. Seuss. Oh, no. That is not all.
Canada Health Infoway is helping to make our health system more digital. You’ve probably already used a digital health service somewhere, but the potential is very exciting. It includes:
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Getting lab and test results to your doctor faster than ever, because waiting really is the worst part
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Printed prescriptions because doctors’ handwriting is notorious for a reason
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Online appointment booking which I NEED because I only ever remember that I need to book anything between the hours of midnight and 7am
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Email and videoconference healthcare consulting which would be gold for any busy parent
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Patient portals to your own health records (so you don’t need to sneak a look when the doctor leaves the room)
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Smartphone apps that help you monitor your health (*cough* I find the calorie counting ones only work if you’re actually honest with yourself. Haven’t found an app for that yet.)
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General health information online which means no more Yahoo Answers
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And so much more
Just imagine having all your health records in one place. Future generations are going to wonder how we ever managed without this technology. I say, bring it on.
This post is brought to you by Canada Health Infoway, however the images and opinions are my own. For more information please visit www.betterhealthtogether.ca