#ISCRIBE JOB NEW YORK FULL#

Doctors are often festooned with beepers, cell phones and mini-tape recorders and hand-held computers, said Dr. The new industry based on hand-held devices may be more attuned to the way that doctors actually spend their workdays. But the drug companies discovered that their sales pitches were often seen only by computer savvy underlings in the doctor's office who had little or no influence on the choice of drugs ordered by the physician. Computer-challenged physicians have raised serious problems for companies like WebMD and Medscape, which had based their businesses on the concept of using Web sites to assemble audiences of doctors for drug advertisers. ''Physicians have grown up since medical school dictating or writing and not typing, said Donna Whiteford, a vice president of Merck-Medco.Įase of use is no small consideration. And with an ear toward the many physicians who are put off by keyboards and tiny screens, some hand-held units even record and take voice dictation. Other companies are testing programs that provide patient charts, incorporate the doctor's notes and keep track of the doctor's time with patients for billing purposes. Several companies are introducing advanced programs that, while a patient looks on, can let a doctor prepare a prescription to be printed, submitted by fax or, in the future, transmitted by wireless Internet links. Jarvis, a resident physician at a University of Wisconsin clinic, consults to check drug interactions, appropriate doses and side effects.

#ISCRIBE JOB NEW YORK FULL#

At least 50 companies, mostly start-ups, are responding to the trend toward the digital doctor.ĭoctors as a group are a potentially receptive audience: Industry data indicates that a full 20 percent of American physicians already carry hand-held devices, if only to keep track of schedules and stock holdings.Īlready, 90,000 doctors have downloaded a free early version of ePocrates, the drug-reference software program for hand-held devices that Dr. But despite such issues, a new industry is emerging. (More than 3 in 10 of the three billion prescriptions each year have to be rechecked, by some estimates, because of confusion over a doctor's handwriting or insurance rules.)Ĭonsumers, meanwhile, might be able to avoid exasperating delays at the pharmacy if their doctors knew which drugs were covered by a patient's insurance before writing the prescription.Īs with most technologies, there are possible drawbacks, including the potential to further blur the ethics and privacy boundaries between physicians and companies that hope to cash in on the doctor-patient relationship.

But enthusiasts predict that eventually incorporating hand-held computers into wired or wireless networks could someday yield enormous cost savings for doctors, health plans and insurers by reducing paperwork and expensive delays in approvals and payments. So far doctors are using the devices primarily for reference, writing prescriptions and keeping track of billing data. Proponents say hand-held computers can vastly improve patient safety by reducing mistakes that are blamed for thousands of deaths each year.

Iscribe job new york