Introduction: The digital age has rendered paper medical keeping obsolete. Our objective was to develop a digital video method of maintaining medical records that had wide application within the healthcare environment. This method would have to be particularly useful in the neurosurgical environment, where constant communication between doctors and patients is essential.
Methods: We deployed a screen sharing and screen capture software platform that greatly enhanced doctor-to-doctor and doctor-to-patient communication by means of capturing what was seen on the computer screen at the time of the clinical consultation sessions to a standardized computer audio/video file. This file, named as virtual office visit (“VoV”), was then shared in a HIPAA compliant way with other users, archived, and /or published to a web page for viewing.
Results: The VoVs were conducted between January 2011 and February 2013. There were total of 169 patients enrolled of which 112 were females and 57 were males (mean age of 53.1 years), with a diagnosis of cerebrovascular problems in majority of the cases. All patients received a VoV and we were able to contact 96 patients of which 61/96 (63.5%) viewed the podcast and reported that it was beneficial to their understanding of their illness with an average rating of 4.9/5. Patient comments included "standout technology", "amazing" and "it was very simple to use”. Of the 35 who did not view the podcast, most patients claimed to have not received an email link.
Conclusions: Through linkage to key words and associated medical records, audio /video files from digital capture of a computer screen, along with user mouse movement and voiceover narration, can become "medical highlight reels" or a "virtual office visit." These not only convey visual information but also convey context of not easily quantifiable observations while still maintaining focus on the individual case being reviewed.
Patient Care: By providing better doctor to doctor and doctor to patient communication in the form of an easily accesible medical highlight reel.
Learning Objectives: By the conclusion of this session participants should be able to: describe the importance of doctor-to-doctor and doctor-to-patient communication by means of capturing what is seen on the computer screen to a standardized computer audio/video file during the clinical consultation session.