Imagine the horror felt by physicians in 1935 when a young upstart nurse boldly tried to use a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff to take a patient's blood pressure. It’s the same annoyance all over again felt by today’s physician at being presented a reprint of a web-based report.
I see the same erosion of physician-as-dictator in the growing availability of heart scans to uncover hidden heart disease. For the first time in history, anybody is able to determine─even without a doctor’s order─whether early coronary atherosclerotic plaque is present.
Heart scans make detection of coronary heart disease a 30 second, hold-your-breath-once proposition. No longer do you and your doctor have to rely on shaky predictions provided by looking just at risk factors.
But, heart scans are the blood pressure cuff of 1910: still fairly new and thereby a source of discomfort for your doctor generally content with cholesterol, stress tests, and waiting for you to “tell” him/her when it’s time for a hospital heart procedure (meaning the appearance of symptoms).
Technology has a way of marching on. It will encounter resistance, bumps, and blind-alleys, but it will go on. For now, recognize that you, courtesy of the internet, have access to the same information that your doctor has. A shift in “power” is occurring that is putting more knowledge, insight, and healthcare decision-making ability into your own hands.
Like this post? Read more from Dr. Davis:
Google Health: Health Empowerment or Health Intrusion
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