Photo Friday: Discrete Call, A Metaphor for Information Technology and Health IT

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This week’s photo was taken by DC Photographer MV Jantzen. It is a beautiful illustration of the challenge of the use of information technology in health care and in the workplace in general. It was taken during a Revolutionary War re-enactment here in the mid-Atlantic area.

For patients, it is a metaphor for the ways we ask them to be (or not be) involved in their care by restricting their access to 19th century technologies.

For health care providers and all employees, it is a metaphor for the restrictions we place on them when they leave the consumer IT sphere and enter the workplace IT sphere.

In most parts of health care, we are regularly asking patients, nurses, and doctors to forgo 21st century tools in favor of Revolutionary War gear.

Some companies, including British Petroleum, are exploring ways to support employees in leveraging all of the best tools to serve customers
. We should all come to work prepared to leverage the best tools available, and have fun doing it, without checking our 21st century clothes at the door.

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Ted Eytan, MD