Connecting The Dots of Healthcare

Day three of my NSA convention found me attending two memorable general sessions. The first was with Dan Burrus, CSP, CPAE. I had heard Dan speak a number of years ago and didn’t want to miss it. So before my Oakstone Teleconference on Physician Documentation at 1pm Eastern, (10am Pacific), I zipped in to hear Dan speak. Dan is a futurist. As he puts it, he talks about things he’s sure will happen, and if he’s not sure what will happen, he avoids those subjects.

But this, you’ll want to know. We’ve all heard about the law that states computer processing power doubles every 18 months and undergoes a 50% drop in price. But we are teetering on the edge of this exponential growth spurt. Same goes with memory, but the exponential curve is even sharper. And if you think that curve is sharp, storage is even sharper. Why is this important?

The X-Box your children are playing with, only a few years ago would be priced in the multiple millions of dollars. Today it’s a “toy.” And here they are on their summer vacations in a 3-D virtual reality playing games with other kids around the globe that they can verbally communicate with through the power of the internet. When they go back to school, it will be like going back in time. And when the processing speed, memory, and storage hits the exponential growth of the curve, even the X-Boxes, Playstations, or Game Cubes or Wii will look like Pac-Man prototypes. The affordable, powerful computers of the future, (and we’re only talking a few years away), will be nothing short of astounding.

But here is the real shocker. Think about it. The “technology” we adults see with computers, aren’t even viewed as “technology” by our kids. They think of computers as, quoting Dan, “like we think about toasters.” It’s not technology unless it’s something you’ve never seen before. So even with the advent of the iPhone, just think how absolutely cool things will be a few years ago when our kids will look at something they would call “technology.”

The afternoon general session featured Ross Shafer, a six time Emmy Award Winning comedian who was also a TV broadcaster in Seattle and spoke on how to make a speaking performance stellar. A lesson he taught was that “you’re always on camera.” He showed a short clip of a major international TV correspondent before a take. The newsman didn’t know tape was running when he cleared his throat, hocked a lugie, and then cleared his nose… er… how to put this…. “Farmer John” style, without the assistance of a Kleenex or handkerchief. Bare handed, so to speak. Both nostrils. And there it was, captured in living color.

Putting these to seemingly disparate speech excerpts together, there is a point. Actions that we take as individuals or healthcare businesses are scrutinized, constantly. And if an embarrassment occurs, with the communication power of the internet plus the increasingly raw power of computers, (including camera phones), coupled with social networking such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, watch out!

While we may be worrying about what Medicare may publish on it’s website about our quality or service, with quality measurements and HCAHPS, that’s not even on the same quantum scale of how fast a damaging message can be spread from friend to friend, or nameless person to the entire virtual world. And it will happen even faster in the future.

Worried about customer service? Give a kid a chance to record crummy treatment with a camera phone and access to the internet is a perfect storm. Be careful when you blow your nose or do something that could be embarrassing if shown to a rabid public even if you don’t think you’re on camera. Because if you do, by the time you get home, your kids may be enjoying it on YouTube!