Screen-time is impacting eye contact and the therapeutic alliance.
In the consultation room, the most powerful diagnostic tool isn’t always the stethoscope—it’s eye contact. Yet, we are increasingly becoming “data entry specialists” who happen to wear white coats. While Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are vital for data, they often act as a screen between us and the patient’s narrative.
When we “treat the screen” instead of the person, we miss the non-verbal cues—the subtle micro-expressions of pain or the hesitant pause before a patient shares their true concern. A patient who feels “unseen” is a patient who may leave out the most critical symptoms.
How do you balance the need for meticulous digital documentation with the need for authentic, human connection? Is a “Digital Detox” even possible in a high-volume OPD? What do u think about an AI scribe?
Very true, while digitalisation of medical data comes with an ease and accuracy yet the human touch in medicine should never be avoided and both should go hand in hand for the best possible patients cure.
Scribes , AI or Human should take up the job of managing the medical records. doctors should get the time to pick up the nonverbal cues from the patient.
I agree, @nazar. Using scribes or AI to handle the paperwork would be a huge help. It would finally give doctors the time to actually look at their patients and notice those important non-verbal cues.