Welcome to the Get Online Blog! After almost 6 months, I have finally jumped in, with both feet I might add. I would like to first of all take the time to thank all of our clients for making this blog possible. Without you, the inspiration for this company would have never materialized. I also want to thank our new readers; we look forward to learning from you and hope to tailor our services to fit your needs.
In the field of medicine, technology has advanced our ability to care for patients in leaps and bonds over the last century. However, physicians are not catching on to the information technology era. How many physicians out there participate in blog communities and sign up with RSS feeds? Let us take a step back. How many physicians have a phone where they can receive emails, a BlackBerry for example, and actually know how to use it? How many physicians have a website? Of those that have a website, how many are static – meaning, they do not change the information and have no interactive components like blogs, message boards, newsletters, etc.?
As physicians, we have a tremendous responsibility to our patients and communities. It is our duty to not only provide medical care, but to educate. Technology gives us so many avenues to reach out to our communities and across the world. Eventually, our younger generations will push the envelope of information technology. We should not wait for them. On the contrary, we must pave the road and lead our children into an era where they will find their comfort zone and achieve greater heights than we can ever imagine.
Until next time, I challenge you all to surprise your children by sending them an Instant Message when it is bedtime (yes, figuring out what an “Instant Message” is will be part of the challenge), and then go in and give them a warm hug and kiss – something technology will never be able to replace!
February 16th, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Hello! Thank you for joining the world of blogging with WordPress! We look forward to watching you grow and expand your horizons through the information technology boom created by bloggers and their blogs.
February 16th, 2009 at 8:41 PM
Great. Thank you for the comments. We are looking forward to contributing to the “blog world”, but more importantly, we hope to learn more about incorporating information technology into our clients’ businesses and lives.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Hello! Thank you for the post. I am an administrator for a medium sized primary care group. Our physicians are some of the smartest people that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and working with. Unfortunately, as you have stated, they are not stepping up to the information technology plate. I think it is because they just do not have the time. In your opinion, how can they spend time on blogs, emails, newsletters, developing websites, etc., when they do not even have enough time in the day to meet the responsibilities already on their plate?
February 17th, 2009 at 10:26 AM
I must agree. I do not have time to do any of this. I am just leaving a post to support Get Online Solutions, as they are a fantastic company and have helped me out tremendously. I think there is tremendous potential in information technology and the medical field. Being able to reach nearly “all” of our patients on a daily basis would be an incredible amount of power.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:55 PM
To Susan and Dr. B,
I do understand that time can be a prohibitive factor in implementing facets of information technology into a medical practice. I think it is important to clearly understand the benefits as they relate to your patients, practice, and community, not to mention our society. Using various IT tools can influence patient education, compliance, and outcomes while “saving” you time. In addition, marketing your practice via these outlets can be significantly cost effective. Finally, from a political perspective, patients need to know how their physicians believe various political agendas will affect their care. Being able to connect with your patients with the push of a button is a very powerful tool that we will be exploring on this blog, so stay tuned! Thank you for reading our blog and your participation.