There are not many things in life as stressful as a complex brain or spine diagnosis. We understand what it means and are here to bring you both world-class expertise and technologies that make the road to recovery easier, faster and smoother.
In fact, our globally sought-after group of brain and spine experts is constantly innovating new tools, techniques and technologies to advance patient care. In some cases, it literally takes us to be in your shoes to understand the extent of a problem in healthcare in order for us to provide a solution.
This was the case for Randall Porter, MD, and neurosurgeon at Barrow Brain and Spine. Dr. Porter developed The Medical Memory, a video platform to help patients retain and share valuable information related to their diagnosis and treatment.
The journey to being an entrepreneur started when Dr. Porter’s father was diagnosed with cancer, and he personally saw the frustration that many patients and family members face: he could not be there for all of his Dad’s medical appointments. That meant that he was left to depend on his father’s memory for insight into the specific diagnosis, recommended treatment and outlook for recovery.
But there was one large problem. Like most patients, Dr. Porter’s father was not particularly good at understanding and relaying this information. In fact, a study from the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine suggested that 40 to 80 percent of medical information provided by doctors is “forgotten immediately.” Worse, what is “remembered” is frequently incorrect.
So, Dr. Porter removed the middleman and frequently found himself on the phone with the doctor directly.
“I knew immediately how inefficient it was for physicians and their staff to have the same conversation twice – once with my father and once with me,” said Dr. Porter. “What I realized was that the most efficient process would involve a video of doctor-patient consultations.”
He decided to take action and make video a reality in the exam room. The Medical Memory is a robust, HIPAA-compliant technology solution that uses mobile apps to record patient-doctor interactions, as well as allow providers to leave one-way video messages. In the exam room, once the patient opts-in, the doctor records the important parts of the diagnosis and treatment plan. The video is then securely uploaded to the cloud for the patient to watch and share with family and caregivers. In the hospital, doctors can leave video messages for patients and family while rounding and record discharge instructions to ensure all the important details are captured.
“The Medical Memory is a way for doctors to deliver better care to their patients,” said Lucas Felt, president of The Medical Memory. “We are excited to bring this technology to all of the incredible physicians at Barrow Brain and Spine. It will not only help patients and caretakers in dealing with one of the most difficult medical diagnoses, but it will also allow physicians to share important cases with each other.”
The Medical Memory is free to patients at Barrow Brain and Spine. It’s the ideal way to share a diagnosis with family, friends, and other caretakers that have a vested interest in your recovery.
As a Barrow patient, you can feel confident we’ll exhaust every avenue to arrive at a proper diagnosis and treatment plan customized specifically for you. Request an appointment online and our Patient Navigator will guide you through the next steps.
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