A Doctor’s Perspective: How Mobile Messaging is Providing Faster and More Cost Effective Care in Hospitals
Dr Michiel van de Sande, oncological orthopaedic surgeon at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands explains how mobile messaging has transformed the way in which he and his colleagues practice medicine, giving him unrivalled access to specialists across the country.
Doctors are undeniably busy, consulting and treating a record number of patients every day; figures show that the NHS is dealing with over 1m patients every 36 hours. Similar to those practicing in the Netherlands, physicians in the UK are more often than not walking hospital corridors going from patient to patient, and often working in different locations rather than sitting behind a desk. This makes more traditional methods of communication more difficult to manage, and in some cases could lead to unnecessary delays in treatment.
Mobile messaging has been a staple since SMS was launched in the 90s, and we are now increasingly ‘connected’ and available 24/7. Not surprisingly, research has shown that more than 72% of British doctors want to use a secure messenger for their work; the convenience and speed at which we can collaborate and find solutions makes it an incomparable way to communicate….