A Maine internist has distinguished himself by turning his exam room computers into time-saving patient education tools.
Dr. Mukesh Bhargava has developed a “show and tell” that helps patients learn how to examine themselves for skin, breast, and testicular cancers—and he used nothing more elaborate than commonly available software and a $20 microphone.
“We've created a short multimedia presentation that patients can view in the privacy of one of our three examination rooms,” said Dr. Bhargava, an internist in Sanford.
After each exam, Dr. Bhargava leaves the patient alone in the exam room to view the 2-minute presentation on a secure desktop computer. The half-dozen PowerPoint slides, which he narrates, walk the patient through the process of examining the skin for suspicious moles, or performing a breast or testicular self-exam.
Patients appreciate the presentation, Dr. Bhargava said, noting that it “reinforces the importance of proper self-care and saves me time in the process. They say this is more helpful than a handout, and they appreciate the fact that it is their own doctor doing the narration,” he said in an interview.
“All the literature says that medical advice carries more weight when it's your own doctor that's giving it,” he added.
There's no danger that a patient will access electronic medical records or other sensitive data, which are securely locked and password protected, he explained.
Dr. Bhargava welcomes inquiries about his multimedia project. You can reach Dr. Bhargava at mbhargava@gmail.com