Last month, we were joined by three practicing physicians who shared their valuable perspectives on how digital tools like Doximity enhance collaboration, telehealth, and more. In case you missed the live event, we wanted to share their insights.
The Panelists:
- Dr. Tina Chu is a board-certified general pediatrician practicing in San Diego, CA.
- Dr. Munir Janmohamed is a cardiac critical care physician practicing in Sacramento, CA.
- Dr. Viviana Huang Chen is a family medicine physician and physician informaticist in Los Angeles, CA.
The Evolution of the Digital Landscape
The panelists shared their experiences with how resources, education, and communication have evolved throughout their careers. From the days when white coat pockets would be laden with medication guidebooks and Washington Manual reference texts to the then-innovative Palm Pilot came the eventual release of the iPhone, which revolutionized medicine. Adoption of the iPhone was quick within the medical community because it helped improve efficiency and patient care. Doximity was similarly revolutionary: in fact, the only technology that physicians adopted faster was the iPhone itself. Dr. Janmohamed said: “My pockets are a lot lighter in essence, but they're actually heavier with the tools that I have with Doximity.”
Medical education also benefited from this transition to digital tools. Dr. Huang Chen commented on how much medical information physicians are expected to keep up with. Especially as a primary care physician, she is often expected to know “a little bit about everything.” Doximity provides an avenue to facilitate keeping up with that massive amount of information in a digestible, curated, and convenient way. “If I get a minute or two in between patients, I can actually consume important information. To me, that is gold.”
Telehealth
Telehealth usage blossomed during the pandemic as a necessary accommodation for public health circumstances. However, telehealth has persisted as a valued method for delivery care that meets patients where they are, expands access, and saves time. That being said, not all telehealth tools are created equally. Our panel of physicians shared some of their favorite elements of Doximity Dialer.
Dialer Text
“There's a Dialer text feature now where you can send a secure text to a patient through their phone. I always ask my teenage patients: ‘Do you prefer to be contacted for your results by text or phone?’ 100% of the time, they say, ‘by text.’ Dialer text is a great, confidential, friendly way to reach these difficult-to-reach teenagers.” - Dr. Chu
Call Shielding
“I use Dialer because I don’t want to share my personal number. A lot of times, I might actually be working remotely, and I don't have a landline that shows my clinic number. I use Dialer, which not only blocks my own personal number from showing up when I call a patient, but it actually shows my clinic number which increases that pickup rate. They recognize the number and know, ‘Oh this is coming from the clinic, this is coming from my doctor, I should pick it up.’” - Dr. Huang Chen
Patient Friendly
“We now have plenty of data to look at telemedicine visits and show the feasibility and safety of using telemedicine as a means of providing care. I do have patients who will say, ‘I’m not very good at using technology,’ and I’ll say, ‘Do you check your text messages?’ Dialer is very easy for patients to use, and I’ve found a higher success rate with video visits with Dialer versus other platforms.” -Dr. Janmohamed
Generative AI
We’re experiencing the transformative power of another revolutionary digital tool: generative AI. We asked our physician panelists how they use DoximityGPT to streamline their work.
Timesaving Translation
“Administrative tasks and in-basket overload are probably one of the top things that burn primary care physicians out. Not having to write notes and see patients, because that's actually the fun part. For example, I have a large number of Spanish-speaking patients. As a native speaker, I can write them out. But I thought: wouldn’t it be so much easier if I punch my phrases into DoximityGPT and have it translate this test result to a patient in fourth-grade terms? Then, I can look at it very quickly, make some changes, approve it, and send it out. That truly has been such a time saver for me.” - Dr. Huang Chen
Creative Compliance
“I love DoximityGPT. I use it every single day in my clinic. I had a 5-year-old patient with asthma, and it was really difficult for them to take their inhaler. So, I actually used DoximityGPT to write a Dr. Seuss-style poem about why it's important to take your controller inhaler for asthma. It was such a fun poem. We read it together. It rhymed! There's no way I could have personally come up with it myself, and the patient was so excited. It was such a simple way to get them to take their inhaler rather than try other options or have them struggle with breathing and asthma. On the follow-up visit, I'm very proud to say that the patient was 100% compliant, taking it every morning and every night, reading the poem, and super excited about taking their inhaler. It completely reversed the course simply by just using DoximityGPT.” - Dr. Chu
Referral Relationships
Another core component of Doximity is the ability to connect with colleagues in a HIPAA-secure environment. Doximity facilitates virtual introductions and connections that can lead to referrals or collaborations. Our panelists shared their experiences collaborating with colleagues on Doximity.
“I find it tremendously useful for Doximity to help me connect with other colleagues. I have a real-life patient story where I had an 18-month-old patient come into the clinic with a mass on their back that just developed. After an ultrasound and an MRI, luckily, we figured out that it was not a cancerous lesion and it was a benign vascular malformation. And, right at this time, I received a message through the Doximity platform from a new interventional radiologist who was starting a new laser therapy program at our local children's hospital that would help treat some of these vascular lesions. Because he reached out to me, I sent my patient there. He ended up being a great candidate and was the inaugural patient to receive this laser therapy.
Because it was so new, I wouldn't have ever known about the program unless I received that message through Doximity. At the follow-up, thankfully, the lesion was completely gone. The mom was so grateful and so happy. I really don't feel like I did much, but I am so thankful to the power of Doximity for bringing awareness to that program and for connecting my patient to that program too and ultimately having a great outcome.” - Dr. Chu
Engaging Your Physicians
Finally, we asked our physician panelists for tips on how to get physician buy-in on marketing programs and initiatives. The physicians all agreed that getting folks in a room to actually introduce and teach a new tool or technology is crucial. As Dr. Huang Chen put it: “If you don’t know what Doximity can do for you, you’re not necessarily going to use it.” Dr. Chu joked, “If there’s free food, I’ll be there.” Dr. Janmohamed also pointed out the value of leaning on your physician champions. These engaged ambassadors can help spread word of mouth to help support your programs. Consider combining hands-on, in-person education sessions with lunch and physician ambassadors. And, your Doximity team is always available to provide additional resources for physician engagement.
For more physician perspectives, watch the full recorded webinar here.
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