EHR Visualization: “Google-Earth for the Body”

Check out the IEEE Spectrum article Visualizing Electronic Health Records With "Google-Earth for the Body".

Image: IBM

The 3-D coordinates in the model are mapped to anatomical concepts, which serve as an index onto the electronic health record. This means that you can retrieve the information by just clicking on the relevant anatomical part. It’s both 3-D navigation and a 3-D indexed map.

Interesting stuff. Especially the general discussion about physician and patient acceptance of EHR systems in the clinic.

Many doctors complain that eHRs have turned them into clerks, while patients say that doctors using these automated systems seem more interested in typing on their computer keyboard than in listening to their health problems.

Also, I wonder how applicable the European experience with exposing patients to this 3D mapping technology would be to US doctors?

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