Eric Topol MD's interview with prolific med scifi author Robin Cook MD (e.g. Coma) -- new book CELL on digital medicine

#cdom Robin Cook's new Medical Thriller is out today CELL the cell phone is going to be the doctor (not just an app). http://t.co/geWvnwDyOu
— CATHERINE COSTE (@cathcoste) February 4, 2014

Robin Cook's new medical thriller is out today!

CELL's author, on his Medscape interview yesterday (see video below):

Robin Cook MD: "It really is a fun book to read, even though it's dealing with some serious issues. One of them being: medicine is about to undergo an enormous change and to me it is really surprising how few people are anticipating that. Even in the medical profession itself! I have this sense that people really don't know and are still doing the same things than they shouldn't have done in the past. For example, they are making it really difficult to talk to your doctor. You are a patient and want to talk to your doctor. Most MD's (not all of them, but a lot of them) have erected the ability to shield themselves so whenever you call the office you always get the receptionist... or... if you are lucky to get the nurse!..."

Eric Topol MD: "Now what you are saying is that you get your smartphone and you pick your doctor avatar."

Robin Cook MD: "That's right, but most MD's don't realize that most patients no longer try to call their doctor. They are going on the Internet, or in social media. This is what I noticed, and this is the origin of what I thought about for Cell. The other thing is that the whole rationale for our healthcare system is supposed to be: lots of primary care doctors and a few specialists at the top of the pyramid. Our pyramid is upside down! Instead of getting a few great specialists and two super top specialists at the top of the pyramid, we get plenty of those, and only few primary care doctors. We have all these specialists and no primary care. And it's never been solved! And suddenly when I put all these things together I realized the solution for the primary care physicians is going to be the smartphone. Not just an app to moderate/monitor your blood pressure, ok, you can do that, not just an app to take a picture of your ears. The cell phone can do all of that together. And why not -- we have Siri -- take it one step beyond? We are looking for primary physicians, we are looking to lower costs, we want to incorporate genomics... Now the technology is coming down the line. IT is advancing rapidly, with the wireless sensors etc. This convergence of all these things...

I woke up in the middle of the night at 3 o'clock in the morning, thinking: 'The cell phone is going to be the doctor!' Now, how do I make this entertaining?"

Awesome interview, loved the fun here (and the depth), very informative, too! Loved reading Coma, Nano and other Robin Cook medical thrillers. Will read Cell asap :-)

My interview with prolific med scifi author Robin Cook MD (e.g. Coma)--new book CELL on digital medicine http://t.co/Re9JqajVcQ @Medscape
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) February 3, 2014

"Coma" (topic: "brain death")

Coma Author-Physician on His New Medical Thriller, Cell

Find this e-book on Amazon

'Coma' Author-Physician on His New Medical Thriller, 'Cell' http://t.co/8lKSmGubGd
— theheartorg-Medscape (@theheartorg) February 3, 2014