Digital Communication

There are few aspects of society, including clinical medicine, still untouched by digital communication and the Internet. It would seem that the important and intimate conversations in a doctor’s office or at the bedside should be one of the last refuges to provide private and exclusive face-to-face discourse between two humans, free of the distraction and distance of the computer. But that is changing. From computers in the exam room to electronic medical records, to email exchanges with patients and medical apps, computers are ever present in the delivery of healthcare. Of course, information technology has revolutionized medicine, and the advantages for patients and physicians are numerous. Through patient portals, patients can now look at their lab results, learn more about their diagnosis, and ask relevant questions; physicians can respond quickly to emailed questions; and patients can inform themselves about surgery by watching online videos. Apps monitor physiological data points; robots deliver medications and perform surgery; and artificial intelligence plays a bigger role in the analysis of complex healthcare data. Many physicians have jumped on board with social media, where they can have a variety of professional and personal interactions. It seems that those in medicine have readily adapted to the electronic universe. But how has it affected physicians’ behavior, expectations for access and processing of information, and most important, relationships with their patients? This chapter explores those topics and takes a closer look at the different ways in which medical professionals are communicating and interacting in the digital universe.