No one likes to be sick, but it is encouraging that so much information is at our fingertips to help understand our ailments and more importantly how we can prevent becoming ill in the first place. The Internet is not enough though…
Last fall, I experienced a circumstance related to the care of my elderly mom that is replaying itself all across the country. She suffered from several chronic conditions the last few years of her life and had multiple hospital admissions. During one of the last visits, she fell and broke several bones which resulted in the need to be transferred from the hospital to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). My Dad and I were significantly traumatized after this fall, and learning the improbability of her recovery, but words cannot describe how mortified I was to learn that, upon arrival at the SNF, there were thirty (yes 30) pages of hand scribbled medical records waiting for us, and one very brave RN trying to decipher them! So, my Dad quickly became the resident expert on her condition, but he is not a doctor — bad news, right?
The good news is that this was a very professional organization and thankfully, my mom at least regained some of her mobility before she passed away a few months later. I hope that her ordeal will be a thing of the past very soon because there is technology available to change this right now, not in a few years, but right now.
Because of my work with technology, I’m optimistic that I will be around to see a time when Healthcare providers, those needing care and their families will be able to count on the right data being available at the right time.
Health Exchanges need more emphasis, and it is personal for me now.
I am at Oracle OpenWorld this week demonstrating Connected Care solutions. Learn More
