My trip to the hospital this weekend perfectly illustrates the total communication breakdown in healthcare. My dad was admitted on Friday because of very low blood pressure. He has several serious health issues. He and my mom are trying to cope as best they can.

As my mother and sister and I tried to gather information about his condition, we slammed into the problem everyone has when a loved one is in the hospital. The only way to talk to the doctor is to stake out the hospital room and wait. Too bad if you have a job, too bad if you have other people depending on you, too bad if you have any responsibilities AT ALL outside the hospital. If you can’t move into the visitor’s chair, you can’t get any information about what is happening.

Everyone I spoke with agreed: The only way to get information is to station yourself at the bedside and not move until the doctor darkens the doorway. The nurses can only share so much information.

There has been lots of talk about tracking objects via the Internet. Let’s get doctors on the Internet of things right now. To get admitting privileges at a hospital, a doctor must agree to having an RFID chip in her badge. Patients and family members should automatically get accounts on the RFID tracking system. A text alert should go out to a family member as soon as the doctor enters the hospital to start rounds. He or she could race to the hospital to try to catch the doctor.

I can see it now: You could track the doctor’s movements online with a map of the hospital, almost like a game of PacMan. Quick, he’s on the fourth floor. If we hurry, we can catch up!

With even 5 minutes notice, some people could rush to a video chat room and have a face-to-face conversation with the doctor and the patient. Almost as good as being there! Is any EHR system incorporating this into the patient portal?

Even this solution would only help some people – those who work at a desk, have a good Internet connection and are familiar with online video conferencing. If a caregiver is working in the field, in a store, or simply doesn’t have Internet access, this won’t make it easier for him or her to get information from a doctor.

I’m sure doctors would hate this kind of tracking – I would. But the current situation is horrible – completely and totally frustrating. There are already companies working on RFID tracking systems to monitor handwashing. Good communication is right up there on the priority list.

The nurse who was caring for my father had a chip in her ID badge. When I went looking for her, the nurse at the desk said, “Oh, it looks like she is in his room now.” The doctor who was checking on my dad’s condition, however, has his own outside practice. The nurse said he could show up at the hospital any time between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Where is this working? What hospital — or startup! or doctor! — has a solution to this? It is hard enough to watch your mom or dad or sister or brother suffer. The intense frustration of trying to communicate with the doctor makes this situation even worse.
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