Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Medicine and the examples of unintended effects of technology

Mike Koriwchak, MD
Tech
July 3, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

The interaction of humans and technology will always be unpredictable.  A few months ago this thought was driven home to me in a rather malodorous manner.

I have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and use a CPAP machine every night to sleep comfortably.  With OSA your airway collapses when you fall asleep.  A CPAP machine is a small technological marvel, quietly delivering heated, humidified air under gentle pressure through a nasal mask to keep your airway open while you sleep.

One night while using the CPAP I was ripped out of a deep sleep by the worst odor I have ever encountered.  How bad does a smell have to be to violently awaken you?  Dazed and confused I sat up, clawed my CPAP mask off, gulped a few breaths and waited for the purple haze to clear.  I looked down towards the floor next to the bed and realized with horror what had happened.

Our dog, Jade, is a Labrador who has blessed our household for nearly 14 years.  Out of affection and respect for her sheer endurance no one begrudges old Jade her habit of passing gas almost continuously.

On the floor was Jade, sleeping comfortably with her posterior positioned next to my CPAP machine on the floor.  Jade’s colonic gift had been sucked into my CPAP machine, heated, humidified and rammed up my nose into my gray matter.  We are not sure yet if the brain damage is permanent or not.  My wife and kids insist I’m no worse off than I was to start with.

History contains many other examples of technology’s unpredictable effects.  Remember the “paperless office?”  For several years in the early 1990’s, when PCs were new and word processors were first introduced, it was widely accepted that offices would soon have no need for paper.   Just write your document on the computer, save it to your floppy disk (remember those? They were actually floppy back then) and deliver the floppy disk to the recipient, who would read your document on screen.  Who needs to print documents anymore?  Paper manufacturers were in a panic, sure that demand for their products was about to disappear.

As anyone over 40 years old remembers, the opposite happened.  Office workers were happy to create documents on a computer screen but were unwilling to read them there; all documents still got printed eventually.   Then we became obsessed with creating perfect documents.  If a 20-page report had one comma out of place, fix the comma and reprint the entire document.  Then find another mistake and reprint 20 pages again.  Paper use skyrocketed.  Today the paperless office remains an unreachable goal, an ethereal concept, a star by which you can navigate but that you will never reach.

Medicine is replete with examples of unintended effects of technology.   A 5-minute web search produces a long list of unexpected medical outcomes such as heart problems from Fen-Phen and heavy metal poisoning from prosthetic hips.  Even something as seemingly benign as an over the counter zinc-containing nasal spray has been found to cause permanent loss of smell.

It comes as no surprise, then, that when we physicians contemplate EMR we see the introduction of an unpredictable technological force into the unpredictable environment of medicine.   That raises more questions than answers.  Will EMR free us to be real doctors again or make us slaves to data capture?  Will health information exchanges give us the information we need at our fingertips, or will we be barraged with terabytes of useless data?  Will e-prescribing be a blessing or a nuisance?   Pardon us for not buying into the IT euphoria.   Our patients and we will have to bear the consequences more than anyone else.  As stewards of the health care system we recommend proceeding with some caution.

Mike Koriwchak is an otolaryngologist who blogs at the Wired EMR Practice.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

KevinMD posts of the week, July 3, 2011

July 3, 2011 Kevin 1
…
Next

Medicare should stop paying for prostate cancer screening in men over age 75

July 3, 2011 Kevin 29
…

Tagged as: Health IT

Post navigation

< Previous Post
KevinMD posts of the week, July 3, 2011
Next Post >
Medicare should stop paying for prostate cancer screening in men over age 75

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Mike Koriwchak, MD

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Legal weaknesses of an electronic medical record

    Mike Koriwchak, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Should older doctors be allowed to opt out of EMR?

    Mike Koriwchak, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Build EMR functionality into the exam room

    Mike Koriwchak, MD

More in Tech

  • The future of clinical care: AI’s role in easing physician workload

    Michael Wakeman
  • Why Grok 4 could be the next leap for HIPAA-compliant clinical AI

    Harvey Castro, MD, MBA
  • AI is already replacing doctors—just not how you think

    Bhargav Raman, MD, MBA
  • A mind to guide the machine: Why physicians must help shape artificial intelligence in medicine

    Shanice Spence-Miller, MD
  • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

    Vineet Vishwanath
  • The promise and perils of AI in health care: Why we need better testing standards

    Max Rollwage, PhD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Clinical ghosts and why they haunt our exam rooms

      Kara Wada, MD | Conditions
    • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

      Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH | Conditions
    • Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

      Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 4 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Clinical ghosts and why they haunt our exam rooms

      Kara Wada, MD | Conditions
    • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

      Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH | Conditions
    • Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

      Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Medicine and the examples of unintended effects of technology
4 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...