EHR/EPD : “He’s got the book”

Paul Wallace (Kaiser Permanente) told a very interesting story, illustrating the changing role of the patient in Healthcare.He was one of the speakers of the “Vierde Nationale Congres over Ketenzorg op 2 juli 2010 te Utrecht”

Bologna (Italy) is already known for  800 years because of its role in Medicine. A Professor in those days was the one who knew everything, because he was the owner of “the book”. That distinguished him from other people. If you wanted to know something, you went tot the Professor, because he had “the book”.

About 500 years ago things got to change.Because the students had “the book”. This made the Professors very angry.They weren’t the only ones you had to go to, to understand how to treat the patients. “Those damned Students”.

About 15 years ago with the Internet, the patients had “the book”. Physicians said “” those damned patients”. Now that they have “the book“, they actually think that they know as much about therapy as I do.How dare they!

Our challenge and our opportuinity is to recognize this is a very special time!  For the first time in 500 years we can actually think about bringing in whole new ways of delivering care. Our job is to help them to understand and use the book well. A big change.

The EHR (EPD) creates many opportunities. How can we share the knowledege and information in the EHR.