About a decade ago EL was working with his mentor EK, a leading healthcare data scientist, on a project for an AI tool in healthcare. EL had been a startup founder and had worked for Microsoft for many years. Both were born in the USSR, emigrated to Israel, then to the US. So had some friends. Their friend RK had learned IT and encryption working for the Soviet rocket science program. Their doctor was also born in the USSR, became an internist, and emigrated to the US, learning English driving a cab while doing a second internal medicine residency, required to become a board-certified US physician.
So the two took their idea to their doctor. “Guys, I don’t need any artificial intelligence! I can’t get real intelligence! I can’t get records from the hospital, I can’t get the echo results from the cardiologist, I can’t figure out what is the blue pill my patient says he’s now taking….I need REAL intelligence!” This was a few years ago, but rest assured. It’s worse now!
The guys were stunned. They had no idea of the problems with information communication in healthcare, and decided to get together and do something for their doctor. “Why don’t the patients have the records? We could put a whole records file on a credit card chip!’ “Yes, great. What about security?” “Each card could have its own security code, and one for the company, and one for the doctor. Triple protection!” “OK, but there are 600 electronic record companies in the US. How can the patient’s records connect to ALL of them?” This required some thought. “Print! Every computer has a print function. We can build a mini-computer, plug it in with a USB cable, and emulate a printer so records can be printed to and from the system to any electronic records system.”
So they made those ideas a reality over about 18 months. How naïve to think that by thought experiment and then building a model they could change the way things are done! By then I was the Medical Director of a Clinical Integration Network with the hospital with over 600 physicians. The doc sent me an email: “I have couple of software guys I like you to meet.” One line. Verbatim. I almost ignored it, but he was in my network, and I was his Medical Director, so I invited him to have coffee on Friday at 0930 in the hospital cafeteria. They all showed up, and explained the above story. “Wow. It looks to me like you guys have invented the 21st Century solution to medical records!” “Oh, so you do understand!” said the data scientist. “Yes, but why are you talking to me?” “We think you can help us get a pilot at the hospital.” “You know, I think I can!” So, I took the idea to one of the quickest minds I know, the VP and Chief Information Officer. He listened for at least 90 seconds and decided. “Yes, we can do that.” 2015.
We set up a pilot with doctors in primary care, 2 here, 2 there, an orthopedist, a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, and recruited 300 patients. NONE of the patients I asked to participate turned me down. EVERYONE wanted to have their own personal health records on their own chip card!! Many patients thought the records systems should have been built this way in the first place! We got the hospital CEO to be a patient, get referred to a specialist, have a procedure, and have the pre-procedure records delivered on the card, and the procedure delivered back on the card. No faxes!! No paper!! It worked!!
Next, a bigger pilot with the Cancer Center, 6000 patients. Then we understood the roadblocks: the health information management department felt threatened that their jobs printing, scanning, filing faxes and paper would be eliminated. I.T. did NOT want to help us. They were already overwhelmed trying to keep what they had running and prevent infection by employee email, phishing, ransomware, etc. etc.
We realized we would have to bring the product directly to consumers. It is TOO HARD to get cooperation on a revolutionary improvement from a bogged down, uncreative, fearful, struggling healthcare system.
We converted the USB connected minicomputer in 8 months and with 20 software developers into a mobile app: syncMD. Debugged and working, it went to Apple’s Play store and Google’s online to patients for free about September 2017. Then we were referred by that CIO VP to the vendor copying records for the hospital. They could NOT believe that we could train their staff in 10 minutes, but we did. Instead of burning a DVD for patients, we helped them send the files to enrolled patients. Folks could download the app, register, and receive electronic copy of their requested records on their smartphone while they were in the records department, maybe 15 minutes altogether. Today, in the USA, ONE hospital, mine, has a webpage with one important unique feature. First, one chooses patient and visitor instead of provider. Then, from a dropdown menu, choose medical records. One page of writing appears, offering you, the patient, a choice: If you want your records, you can still have paper. If you want electronic, you have two options. We can burn a DVD (which your doctor will not have the ability to read, by the way, as there won’t be a drive, or they software will be incompatible, etc.) with your records on it, or you can go to syncMD.com, register and request your records, and we will send them to your smartphone. That hyperlink to syncMD.com in the middle of that page gets 60% of the patients today, with NO advertising.
What happens? Patients click on the link, get info from the website to download the FREE app and register, have their phone scan their ID, a photo of which is placed on a templated legal request, which is then FAXED (since hospitals cannot function with email or direct electronic communication) to the medical records department. They have 30 days to comply with sending the records by law. SyncMD will ping you when your records arrive. That’s all there is to it.
So how do you manage your records? You have choices, or can do nothing, show up at your doctor’s appointment, and ask your doc to navigate the web browser to syncMD.com. In the middle of the screen is a QR code. Push the blue button in the syncMD app, choose “Sync with a computer nearby”, and the camera on your phone opens. Just point it at that QR code. Your records appear INSTANTLY on the doctor’s screen. While you’re there, the doc can look at records, select from them, reject them, print them, file them, have them added to your files. The doc can also send you records. Indeed, you can add records by taking a picture of MyChart on your computer screen, scanning a document, or adding them electronically. You can categorize stuff and delete old news, etc.
So, why wouldn’t you do this? Why wouldn’t your doc WANT you to? The first answer is largely just inertia and your status. You’re a consumer when healthy, and see no need. Once you’re seeing a doctor you’re a patient, and all of a sudden when you’re injured or ill, and out of area, you are completely without records, a John Doe to that stranger in the ER, and they stat from scratch, order unnecessary tests, prescribe stuff you forgot or they didn’t know you’re allergic to, etc. etc. The second answer? The doc doesn’t know about the product, doesn’t believe it, hasn’t tried it, and is used to having to function in a horrible electronic system that is widely detested, and can’t believe anything will improve.
Why there are only some thousands of users and not billions is another story….
Changing the world takes awhile. Don’t give up!