Adventures of a Physician and His iPhone... Part I

By Tripp Jennings, MD, ER Physician, Medical Technology Guru

So I am sitting at Regan National after spending 6 hours on The Hill visiting every single one of our Congressman and discussing healthcare issues that impact our patients in South Carolina.  Despite having to literally run back and forth across the Capitol in 89 degree weather (in a suit) frantically trying not to miss any scheduled meetings, I found every office easily with my iPhone app…this included navigating all of the now closed building entrances that occurred as a result of sequestration.  I even had a chance to review the voting record for the next meeting and an online bio of each member that I was about to meet.  I scanned every business card that I received and thanks to Optical Character Recognition apps that are now free, all of them were put into my address book with two clicks.  I even sent thank you e-notes between meetings, so I wouldn’t neglect to do so later. 

I had to leave quickly after the last meeting to take a cab back to the hotel and grab my bag and then head to the airport.  Unfortunately, this coincided with DC rush hour.  I anxiously watched the progress of the cab on the iPhone map as we traveled the 12 mile roundtrip.  The minutes ticked away and I became increasingly nervous, but I could keep myself somewhat calm by watching the progress, double checking the flight time, and looking at the DC traffic status on the Beltway app.  I arrived just in time at security, scanned the electronic boarding pass image on phone and hurried to the gate.  Luck kept heading my way and I couldn’t help but feel like a king as I scored the last seat beside the “Samsung Charging Station.”  I plugged in my iPhone, iPad, and MacAir and settled in for a brief 15 minute wait.  Pretty good day.  All is well and I am ready to get home. 

Suddenly the entire charging station began to rumble as all of my devices and all the other ones plugged in began to vibrate, rumble, chirp, rap, squeak, and ding.  I grabbed my phone and saw the news.  “THANK YOU FOR YOU CHOOSING US AIRWAYS.  YOUR FLIGHT HAS BEEN DELAYED 3 HOURS DUE TO CREW AVAILABILITY”.  What the heck does that mean!?  Crew availability?!

I wish I had the ability not to get mad, but I admit that for several minutes it was all I could do to control my anger.  I didn’t scream…but I wanted to!  I didn’t yell, but I did think some pretty nasty thoughts.   Twice I stood up to go find someone, but I realized they wouldn’t be able to help.   In my mind, I instantly formulated several flagrant emails to US Airways.  

My wife almost immediately texted me (since she gets updates on my flight changes sent to her phone) and said, “Sorry… know your mad, but probably best not to fly without the crew’ : )   Its infuriating when she says the perfect thing.

I calmed a bit and decided that I would spend the time trying to catch up on the 113 new emails that I had been trying to avoid until the next morning.  The first email was a complaint about the EMR at work, the second was too, and the third…fourth….

Surely all of them couldn’t be like this!  

 

I took another deep sigh and began the daily process of sorting out functionality vs connectivity vs understanding vs desire vs staffing vs general discontent with everything.  After a few minutes, I couldn’t help but realize the irony of how much technology had truly assisted me that day and made my life easier.  And now, how much it was making me wish I was modern day luddite.   As I cringed at some of the hyperbole and rhetoric in the emails, I realized these were the same thoughts I had just felt towards US Air.  I can’t imagine life without air travel or living life without technology in healthcare , but at times I certainly do dream.

Bottom line, technology is colliding with healthcare at the same time healthcare is going through radical change.  I look forward to sharing my immense excitement and torrid frustration with all of it.

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong -- because someday you will have been all of these. GW Carver