Read Online Cell by Robin Cook - Free Book Online Page A

knowledge and make a diagnosis in less than half a second. I don’t mean to offend you, George, but with a choice of being treated between you or iDoc, I choose iDoc.”
    â€œWell . . . ,” George said, clearing his throat. “I appreciate your candor. Point taken.” He wasn’t offended so much as surprised at her frankness. If iDoc was half as good as they claimed, she was right. He decided to ask how iDoc would affect him if he were sick, thinking of his stint in the ER beginning the next day. “How does it work when someone has to go to the emergency room?”
    â€œIt’s simple. If the hospital is owned by Amalgamated Healthcare, which is a distinct possibility, since we’ve bought up a number of hospital chains, we’ll soon have an integrated and automatic wireless hookup. iDoc will know when a client-patient enters one of our hospitals, and it will alert the staff because iDoc will have sent the patient to the hospital in the first place. Theoretically, client-patients will not even have to approach anyone on staff; they can just take a seat. The appropriate personnel will be alerted to their presence and can locate them by both GPS and facial recognition. Staff will know why that individual is there, if not by iDoc vital sign readings and known medical history, then by having been told why the patient asked to go to the ER. iDoc will forward that information through the appropriate channels. Basically, you will be triaged immediately upon entering the facility. If it is not an Amalgamated hospital, the iDoc physician will consult directly with the emergency room physician, explaining why the patient needed emergency care, or the patient’s medical history and vital stats can be downloaded by a licensed handheld device provided to the ER by Amalgamated. The information can then be uploaded into the hospital’s computer system and accessed by the ER staff. Handheld downloads are how our beta testers are operating now.”
    George tried to think of other reasons why he thought iDoc wouldn’t work as well as Paula believed, but he couldn’t come up with any. He wasn’t sure exactly why he hoped the system would fail, although he guessed it had something to do with his viewing it as competition. He changed the subject: “Are you really an iDoc user or was that story you told about strep for effect?”
    â€œI absolutely am an iDoc user, and I love it like everyone else.”
    â€œLet me see it?”
    â€œNot concerned about HIPAA, huh?” Paula teased as she pulled out her phone and opened the app. She held the phone up a foot away with the screen facing her and asked: “How are my vital signs today?”
    A crisp but caring woman’s voice responded in a slight English accent. “Hello, Paula. Your phone is on speaker. May I proceed?”
    â€œYes. Speakerphone is fine.” She glanced at George and turned the phone so that he could see the screen. On it was an animated image of an attractive woman in a white doctor’s coat. Speaking to George, Paula whispered: “I always loved English accents. They seem so authoritative and reassuring.”
    â€œExcellent,” Paula’s iDoc doctor responded to Paula’s giving permission to proceed. “Your vital signs are entirely normal, but about an hour earlier, there was the suggestion of anxiety, not enough to warn you about but enough to alert me that something out of the ordinary was happening. I also noticed that your sleep was interrupted last night. Your periods of deep sleep were shorter than usual. How are you feeling?”
    â€œMuch better. I was anxious about a big presentation I had to give this morning. I should have given you warning.”
    â€œI do appreciate as much information as possible in advance.”
    â€œOkay. Bye.” Paula closed the app.
    George grinned, impressed. The short interaction was uniquely personable.