Medicine 2.0 - Back to Housecalls
I usually write a lot about technology’s role in shaping the publishing world, but of course technology is shaping all industries. A Twitter friend pointed me to an HISTalk article about Jay Parkinson, M.D. and how he is using technology to change the way he practices medicine - and I don’t mean fancy diagnostic machines or expensive scanners. This doctor makes housecalls.
On Getting Patient Information
It’s great because they submit all their information ahead of time, so I pretty much know what’s going on prior to the meeting. I know what to talk about, what points to hit, what things I can skip over that other physicians would concentrate on and waste time on. They spend 10-15 minutes giving me all their health information via an online form.
On his technology bag of tricks
It’s very basic, freely available technology. I have a Macbook and an iPhone. IM programs, like ATM and iChat for the Mac. I just use regular e-mail, Gmail in fact, because it’s very powerful.
I use a website called Formspring for my online forms. It’s very simply drag and drop forms creation. Any form can be made in three minutes or so. It uses skip branch logic, so questions can appear or disappear based on responses to previous questions.
On making a living on $200 housecalls
Sure. Look, I have no overhead whatsoever. If I charge $200 a visit, $195 of that is straight profit. I think that’s a pretty good living. If I see eight patients a day, that’s $1600. Without having staff, an office, billers … it becomes a very easily doable practice. I definitely designed the business model looking at that. The concept of doing the housecall was a way to open a practice without putting $300,000 upfront. I started this whole thing for less than $1,500.
(Photo credit happysnappr)
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Remarkable really. Invariably, for me, the best use of technology is blatant reinvention of all but forgotten convention. I suppose it’s the juxtaposition of old and new that holds appeal for me.
Publishing segue: Oddly one of my favorite examples is a mom and pop bookstore in the U.K. called, Persephone Books. A very friendly and knowledgeable group of old-school book lovers that reinvented themselves globally through the embrace of online technology—without diminishing their hands-on charm.