Consultations are no longer what they used to be…
A few years ago, Jan was referred to me. Since then, we have stayed in regular contact and he occasionally receives radiotherapy treatment for his chronic condition. Jan consistently gives valuable feedback, which keeps me reflecting as a physician. “What helps me so much is that you look at the test results together with me and take away my worries based on what we see,” he says. “You connect my symptom to the image, which helps me look at it with different feelings. It’s as if you redefine my complaint, so I can move forward again.”
Jan (not his real name) independently looks up his medical results and data. “It’s nice that I have access now, but not everything can be found,” he tells me. “I still have to request things myself regularly, which is a waste of everyone’s time and energy. Sometimes it even costs me the last bit of strength I actually need to recover. Still, it has given me a lot—so I keep doing it.”
Jan remembers how, thanks to digital access, he discovered duplicate medication. “People often assume healthcare professionals always have the complete overview, but that’s a misconception. My information doesn’t automatically travel with me digitally over time and across the doctors treating me. As a result, everyone has to keep asking again which medication I use!”
Enriching the consultation
It is not realistic to expect that a digital archive—once set up for financial administration—will also optimally support the consultation. For Jan, it does make sense that digital infrastructure should enrich the consultation and facilitate a shared interpretation of his health situation. But that is exactly what is missing. “Isn’t it strange,” Jan says as he looks at my radiotherapy software, “that you can calculate everything down to the millimeter, but an up-to-date medication overview still isn’t a given?”
For Jan, the greatest value of digital access lies in strengthening contact with his doctor. “That personal contact remains indispensable, but it has changed. Because I can now inform myself better—through Google, social media, and nowadays AI search engines—I can move forward independently more often. That helps me at many moments when I used to need doctors.”
Low-threshold contact
When Jan gets stuck, he especially appreciates the ease of low-threshold contact with his doctor. “For me, the consultation is an evaluation moment to determine the course together. That helps me return quickly to normal life, or find the courage to start an intensive treatment—even if that interrupts a holiday or work. That way I consciously commit to the process and I can move forward again.”
Jan keeps a general record of what he notices about his health and discusses it during the consultation. Sometimes this leads to new insights, or it makes his doctor think—for example when a slight increase in blood results coincides with his own experience. “That brings clarity: sometimes my feeling is right, sometimes it isn’t. If my suspicion is correct, it builds confidence; if not, the doctor helps me understand it differently.”
For example, Jan once waited to start antibiotics until after our conversation. We discussed his care together, the risk of severe side effects, searched online, and used his small diary notes to support why starting immediately was advisable. Within minutes, Jan felt reassured and took the first dose.
Trust
Even with routine PET-CT scans, it gives Jan confidence to discuss his symptoms and experiences using the images and to look for possible explanations together. I also notice my work improves, because I share my reasoning out loud while being questioned in an original way. Besides, I genuinely enjoy my profession—so I like talking about it. While looking at the scan, we discuss options, record a preliminary diagnosis, and plan the next steps. Certainty is rare, but the goal is to create calm and help Jan feel as healthy as possible in his situation.
Still, Jan and I observe that basic but crucial technology—technology that sustainably supports connectivity between patient and healthcare professional, and directly retains information from that relationship—still seems less attractive to developers and investors than “spectacular” applications. Think of AI-washing solutions such as chatbots promising to provide diagnoses, or algorithms promising to detect diseases. While it is precisely those less “attractive” applications that are so important in supporting both healthcare professional and patient throughout providing and receiving care.
