The New Curbside Consult: When Technology Steps In
Chance meetings in hospital hallways to seek a second opinion regarding a patient’s care have been replaced by instant access to thousands of doctors in real time
By Linda Girgis, MD, FAAFP
As doctors, we are all familiar with curbside consults – the casual conversation with a colleague in the hospital hallway or a quick call to ask a question regarding a patient. These consults are usually no more than a simple question and answer, and the patient is never seen by the consulting doctor.
Technology has greatly advanced the way we perform curbside consults. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook – where we can pose questions and hope someone chimes in – or sending a direct message to a specific person whose opinion we value are just two examples. There are also online communities of physicians which make it possible to connect and get several opinions from colleagues representing different specialties in minutes.
Sermo, a site exclusive to physicians that is passionate about social media and its impact on healthcare, is one such community. As a result of it being bought by WorldOne last year, Sermo now has more than 200,000 licensed physicians participating and is facilitating collaboration in medicine like never before.
Sermo utilizes iConsult, a technology that allows doctors to post cases and pictures from their iPhones right at the patient's bedside. Perhaps one of the most amazing uses of iConsult is the presentation of cases from Floating Doctors in a remote village in Panama. This documentary shows how curbside consults are being taken to new levels through the combined use of this technology and social media.
I use the iConsult app was well, and it has greatly improved my efficiency and reduced the time it takes to get a second opinion. Prior to this technology, my receptionist would have to call the specialists’ office, speak with his/her staff, and try to connect to the doctor to ask a quick question. Oftentimes, that doctor would be busy with a patient and we would end up calling back and forth trying to connect. Now, I can log on and post the same case and get several expert opinions, many times while the patient is still in the office.
For example, I had a three-year-old with an atypical rash and posted the case with pictures on Sermo. I was seeing this patient during the evening, a time I typically not have been able to get a curbside consult.
Within 15-20 minutes, I had comments from a number of dermatologists from different parts of the country confirming my diagnosis and treatment plan. Additionally, a few doctors suggested diagnoses that I had not considered. So if the patient returned with no improvement, I had an alternate plan of action to follow. This access to multiple specialists has greatly improved patient care and reduced time drains that could be spent doing something else.
According to Jonathan Michaeli, Senior VP of Global Community for WorldOne, "The technology backbone (Sermo utilizes) is very robust and scalable, but the special ingredient is the community of experts with the medical knowledge and wisdom, accompanied by their high levels of engagement, to help their colleagues provide better care for their patients in near real-time.”
Thanks to this technology, gone are the days of playing phone tag with colleagues hoping to get a quick answer to help better treat a patient. No more hoping to meet another doctor during hospital rounds to ask their opinion. Now, we have the power to curbside multiple experts around the world at our fingertips with just a few, simple keystrokes.
About The Author
Linda Girgis, MD, FAAFP, is a board certified family doctor with Girgis Family Practice. Dr. Girgis studied medicine at St. George's University School of Medicine and served her residency at Sacred Heart Hospital/Temple University Program in Allentown, PA.