MARISA WEISS
The delivery of a personalized, up-to-date “information prescription” through EMRs (electronic medical records) for each doctor visit deserves more attention from investors than it’s getting.
Patients prefer to get their medical information from their own doctor rather than through one-size-fits-all generic sources.
One promising advantage of EMRs is to “automatically” anticipate each patient’s medical-information needs based on their chief complaint or condition. The patient’s doctor can dispense this information at point of care or through a secure EMR portal.
Right now, this opportunity—to give the right information to the right person at the right time—is largely missed.
For example, let’s say a 40-year-old overweight, sedentary woman with a family history of breast cancer finds a new medical doctor with a content-embedded EMR system.
Her doctor could provide critical consumer-focused information about:
1) Detection: the importance of initiating annual digital (and possibly 3-D) screening mammography
2) Risk assessment: the value of genetic counseling (to assess the impact of her family history) as well as genetic testing (including selection of the various available testing panels), and
3) Prevention: the key immediate steps she can take to lower her risk, such as getting to and sticking to her ideal body weight (along with strategies to achieve these goals), exercising three to four hours a week (five to seven is better), consuming a Mediterranean diet, and limiting her alcohol consumption (ideally three or fewer drinks a week).
With a smart EMR system, the doctor can do a better job at patient education in the same amount of time.
Marisa C. Weiss (@drmarisaweiss) is the founder and president of Breastcancer.org. She is also director of breast radiation oncology and breast health outreach at the Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pa.
