New PHR technology too much for my parent's generation? I don't think so!

I was reading and responding to Regina Holliday's latest post, Rosa Parks in Health Care, when I read this:

The paper transfer has been used for years. The poor, the illiterate and elderly were comfortable with the current system and would not be able to understand a new electronic version. Those favoring change pointed out the favorable outcome of less wait time, faster processing and ability to aggregate data. All these argument fluttered around us, as we said goodbye to the paper version of the National Capital Metrobus transfer and hello to the Metro Smartrip Card.

It occurred to me that my parent's generation have adapted to a lot of technology over the years.  My parents were born in 1937. I decided to see if I could list just some of the things they have adopted and adapted to during their lives since then:

1. electricity and all that came with it
2. light bulbs
3. ball point pen
4. ViewMaster
5. fiberglass
6. electric tools
7. vacuum cleaner
8. indoor plumbing
9. indoor toilets
10. home cameras
11. polaroid camera
12. modern refrigerator (they used the spring house until then)
13. electric washer and dryer (I remember my mother using a wringer washer and hanging clothes on the line)
14. widespread use of the telephone
15. jukebox
16. record player
17. electric skillets, mixers, and more
18. television
19. communications satellites
20. color television
21. 8-track players
22. cassette player
23. DNA sequencing/typing
24. video cameras
25. walkman
26. use of x-ray and CD imaging
27. Magnetic resonance imaging
28. credit cards
29. air travel
30. crockpots
31. electric (home) hair dryers, curling irons, etc.
32. bar codes
33. calculators
34. scientific calculators
35. batteries
36. rechargeable batteries
37. solar powered chargers and calculators (and more)
38. digital thermometers
39. super glue
40. post-it notes
41. velcro
42. integrated circuits
43. turbo-charged engines
44. jet engines
45. riding mowers
46. leaf blowers
47. edge trimmers and weed eaters
48. pacemakers
49. typewriter
50. electric typewriter
51. remote controls
52. word processors
53. electric dishwashers
54. home air conditioning (window units and central air)
55. video games
56. disposable camera
57. medical imaging of all sorts
58. computer
59. microchips
60. VCR (and even the BETA players)
61. camcorders
62. cable tv
63. satellite tv
64. PDA's
65. CD's and CD players
66. digital cameras
67. self-cleaning ovens
68. icemakers
69. microwave oven
70. ATMs and ATM cards
71. DVDs and DVD players
72. mp3 players
73. cell phones
74. smart phones
75. Wii (I can't forget that!)

And that's just to start.  For all that is listed above, we could all add a lot more, I'm sure.  What I'm trying to say is my parents' generation CAN adapt to PHRs/EMRs if they wish, especially if the technology is developed to work with the cell phone users*. They've adapted to and adopted a whole lot more than we have.   My parents can even tether a phone to their laptop while traveling in their RV.  They know where/how to find the best hot spots, too. 

We must remember that in 10 years there will be a whole new, technology-savvy group moving into the 65+ demographic.   Are we prepared for that?

*According to research done by PewInternet, 83% of adults have cell phones. 

Speaking of "googling".....

It's not just a proper noun anymore. "Google" is a verb. To google, googling, googled, have googled, will google, am googling....

Google had revolutionized information. Wait, let me rephrase. Google has revolutionized the usage and dissemination of information. Among other things, I teach database programming and design, and I often emphasize to my students how useless information is until it's properly organized and is retrievable in an understandable fashion. This is very true and an axiom that Google's designers took to heart.

Nowhere has Google transformed the huge repository of information collection, dissemination, and organization more than in the health industry. Do you want to save your health information and share it with your health care professionals? Try Google Health. But wait... Is Google good for your health records? My insurance company must think so: Google Health Signs on First Insurance Partner. So does my pharmacy: Walgreens (WAG) Partners with Google (GOOG) Provide Pharmacy Patients Access to Prescription History.

Looking for health resources? Try Google Directory. Or better yet, just "google" your symptoms. Something is sure to pop up. It did for me. That's how I found http://cushings-help.com/ . And it was with the support there that I found doctors who could help me.

Speaking of doctors. Yep, they "google", too. Doctors using Google to diagnose illnesses is an article based in Australia which says:

...a team at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane identified 26 difficult diagnostic cases published in the New England Journal of Medicine last year, including obscure conditions such as Cushing's syndrome and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

They selected three to five search terms from each case and did a Google search while blind to the correct diagnoses. Google gives users quick access to more than three billion medical articles.

The researchers then selected and recorded the three diagnoses that were ranked most prominently and appeared to fit the symptoms and signs, and compared the results with the correct diagnoses as published in the journal.

Google searches found the correct diagnosis in 15 (58 per cent) of cases. Respiratory and sleep physician Dr Hangwi Tang, who led the study, said: "Doctors adept at using the internet use Google to help them diagnose difficult cases."

Before you go bashing Australian doctors, you might want to read Googling Medical Topics Returns Decent Results by two US doctors. (Dr. Fink is an emergency physician at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ. Dr. Miller is an emergency physician at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, NJ.)

And although physicians are secretly Googling difficult medical situations, many aren't thrilled that we're doing the same thing . They have even coined a new term: Cyberchondriacs . I bristle at that a bit. I was asked by a physician one time if I was causing all my problems by "reading too much". I asked her if she had that problem in med school. I made my point.

While the media has made the term demeaning, the Harris Poll thinks otherwise: "Data from other Harris Interactive research show that, increasingly, cyberchondriacs are using the sites of established organizations – academic, governmental, pharmaceutical, etc. – rather than using "pure ehealth" sites."

But back to "Googling"...... Some physicians have bridged the gap between patient "googling" and their own "googling". They are saving time with smarter googling.

"When FP Jeff Pearson in suburban San Diego wants to teach a patient about the characteristics of a suspicious-looking mole during an office visit, he types a phrase like "malignant mole" in a little box on his computer screen, and a click later, an array of images appears."

There is something for all of us when we go "googling". Information is always valuable. There are information Nazis who would prefer to keep it to themselves to dole out at will, but D-day has come for them. Or is that G-day? Health information for all is here, and that includes "googling for all".

I wonder if "google" is now in the dictionary........