By Alexandra Caufin
Shutterstock.com Dr. Jayne Lee is not quite a teleporter but she’s about as close as it gets. A major proponent of telemedicine, Lee is a Paris-dwelling physician who treats her patients in North Carolina and Kentucky straight from France using robotic technology. And she’s not alone. In December 2013, the tv-famous psychiatrist Dr. Phil McGraw made headlines by announcing his role as advisor to Doctor on Demand, a new enterprise designed to provide care via mobile medicine.
In a world where society’s inevitable adoption of technology has made it possible to completely reinvent how we communicate, socialize and learn, healthcare is no exception. McGraw and Lee may seem like cutting edge futurists, but they are just two unique stories of the many healthcare professionals turning to technology to improve quality of care. 45% of clinicians now use smartphones and tablets to collect data at their patients’ bedsides. In fact, nearly all healthcare IT professionals report that their organizations supply mobile devices to clinicians to support day-to-day work activities, and 2 out of 3 have an official mobile technology plan in place.
We’re not just seeing technology being used in patient care, medical education is going digital as well. In 2012, for example, 40% of practicing physicians in North America were using online Continuing Medical Education (CME) to satisfy their annual requirements, up dramatically from 18% in 2005. By evolving the way that we deliver medical education, we are seeing real potential to in turn evolve the way we heal, treat and give care. Here are the four reasons why technology will continue to transform medical education and thus, the face of healthcare this year.
In a world where society’s inevitable adoption of technology has made it possible to completely reinvent how we communicate, socialize and learn, healthcare is no exception. McGraw and Lee may seem like cutting edge futurists, but they are just two unique stories of the many healthcare professionals turning to technology to improve quality of care. 45% of clinicians now use smartphones and tablets to collect data at their patients’ bedsides. In fact, nearly all healthcare IT professionals report that their organizations supply mobile devices to clinicians to support day-to-day work activities, and 2 out of 3 have an official mobile technology plan in place.
We’re not just seeing technology being used in patient care, medical education is going digital as well. In 2012, for example, 40% of practicing physicians in North America were using online Continuing Medical Education (CME) to satisfy their annual requirements, up dramatically from 18% in 2005. By evolving the way that we deliver medical education, we are seeing real potential to in turn evolve the way we heal, treat and give care. Here are the four reasons why technology will continue to transform medical education and thus, the face of healthcare this year.
MOBILE CHARGED MEDICINE
Some studies indicate that as much as 80% of physicians have implemented mobile technology approaches in providing patient care, improving ease in communication, data-taking and the sharing of information. With mobile devices already in their hands, healthcare professionals will have greater access to a ripening ecosystem of digital medical education, unify their working life with their continued pursuit of knowledge.
Some studies indicate that as much as 80% of physicians have implemented mobile technology approaches in providing patient care, improving ease in communication, data-taking and the sharing of information. With mobile devices already in their hands, healthcare professionals will have greater access to a ripening ecosystem of digital medical education, unify their working life with their continued pursuit of knowledge.
 CME FOR A MODERN WORLD With increasingly longer wait times across North America, physicians are overbooked and scrambling to manage busy practices, and thus attending onsite CME is becoming less and less feasible. Many are turning to the anytime, anywhere, self-paced convenience that online CME offers to on-the-go professionals. As technology continues to develop with applications like interactive webinars, livestream lectures and learner-centred platforms, online CME becomes the central environment for collaboration and knowledge sharing. |  THE ECONOMIC EDGE If we're talking dollars and cents, the ability to participate in CME remotely has resulted in sizeable cost savings, both for learners and course developers, sometimes as much as 50%, when compared with in-class equivalents. With budget cuts and the downsizing that healthcare organizations are facing, saving money on education programs is a welcomed benefit. Ten years ago, course creation tools were labour intensive, and producing just one hour of online content could have easily cost $10,000. Better creation technology has made it far easier, faster and more inexpensive to develop online courses for medical professionals. |
ENHANCED ACHIEVEMENT, ENHANCED CARE
The million-dollar question: are online CMEs as effective as their traditional in-class counterparts? Available research suggests yes, especially in terms of enhancing the learning experience in the medical sector. Put it this way: we now have a robot that can virtually enable a doctor to do her rounds from across the world. We have the technologies, and it does seem as though the ability to create online education that is as engaging, as involved, and as impactful as in-classroom learning, is very real. In some cases, achievement levels stand to be superseded because of a greater access, a superior method of information exchange, and more tools to facilitate collaboration with peers.
The million-dollar question: are online CMEs as effective as their traditional in-class counterparts? Available research suggests yes, especially in terms of enhancing the learning experience in the medical sector. Put it this way: we now have a robot that can virtually enable a doctor to do her rounds from across the world. We have the technologies, and it does seem as though the ability to create online education that is as engaging, as involved, and as impactful as in-classroom learning, is very real. In some cases, achievement levels stand to be superseded because of a greater access, a superior method of information exchange, and more tools to facilitate collaboration with peers.
