Over the years I have been quick to judge the medical profession. Out of control rises in health care costs are strangling our economy, precipitating a national budget crisis and there is virtually no evidence that all of the money invested in health care has much of a payoff. While nearly 80% of all health care dollars are spend in the last year of life, hospital mortality rates have remained unchanged for 30 years. While there have been some dramatic breakthroughs in care of specific illnesses and there is anecdotal evidence of dramatic treatments for heart disease and cancer the medical profession continues to steadily march toward increased specialization and less bedside manner. It is so difficult to find general practitioners, now called family practice specialists, that the majority of Americans now cannot identify their primary care provider, but instead either leave that question blank or put the name of a group practice when asked.

The joke that is told – at least I hope it is a joke – that a man is admitted to the emergency room of a level 1 trauma center. It takes a CT scan, a consulting radiologist and an orthopedic consultation to determine that he has only one leg and was wearing a prosthetic leg when admitted. What makes the joke work is our fear that the specialists in an emergency room would fail to recognize the obvious.

The new “paperless” medical records mean that our physicians now spend their time looking at a computer screen when they are in the examining room and rarely make eye contact with us. One study indicated that the average length of time before a physician interrupts a patient’s conversation in an examining room is 18 seconds. Medical histories used to be conveyed by storytelling. Now they are contained on forms and in computers. A patient admitted to a hospital will spend more time reporting their date of birth repeatedly than they will have actual contact with a physician. The doctors spend the bulk of their time with the computers.

What we have gotten for all of the investment in contemporary medicine is more technology.

Now I am no Luddite. I face my computer screen every day. When my computer develops a problem it is repaired or replace the same day that it fails. I use a smartphone and I manage the church’s computer network and web site. I have my own personal web site and do much of my research for sermons online. My home as well as my office is equipped with high speed Internet with wireless routers.

But I am alarmed that in my visits to the hospital I see more and more machines and less and less actual personal contact. I was in the room visiting a patient yesterday when the doctor came in making rounds. He asked questions, without listening to the answers, did a cursory examination with his stethoscope and was out of the room less than 5 minutes after he entered. He never shook the hand of the patient. He did not ask about pain levels. He did not ask if the patient had any questions. I am not a doctor, but the patient received more touch from me than from the doctor. And unlike the doctor, I went away from the room with information about his support system including a sister who lives in Texas and a daughter who is currently traveling.

I am alarmed at the stories I hear of a person making multiple visits to multiple physicians over a period of years without receiving a diagnosis of an obvious illness. I am alarmed when a member of my congregation goes out of town for the most advanced cancer care available and comes back to report that he was unable to receive treatment for a skin rash, probably a side effect of a cancer medication, in the specialty hospital.

I realize that the proverb in Luke is out of place quoted in this context, but it rings in my ears: “Physician, heal yourself.” (Luke 4:23) I am aware that the things I am criticizing about modern medicine are charges that could easily be leveled at me. My profession has become enamored with technology.

I think it was probably Steve Jobs, at an Apple Developer’s Conference decades ago, who popularized the presentation delivered without notes, standing in front of a large projection screen holding a remote control device in his hand to advance the images on the screen. That is now the standard presentation mode all around the country from corporate annual meetings to TED talks. Increasingly we see it as the standard for churches. I have a colleague who serves a mainline congregation in our city that is on its 5th sanctuary image projection system in the last 15 years. Imagine if we asked to replace an organ or a piano every 3 years! There are congregations in our community with up to 5 screens in the worship space. Churches, like hospitals are spending significant portions of their budgets on technology.

I am quick to go for a technological solution to many problems that arise. I have been tempted to purchase a tablet computer to organize my notes, track my pastoral calls, and do other tasks.

But the truth is that every hour I spend updating the church web site, every hour I spend debugging network problems, and every dollar I spend on technology takes me away from my true calling, which is to serve the people of God. I spend less time in the homes of congregational members than I did a decade ago. And I serve a bigger congregation. Part of the change is that I spend more time responding to crises and more time visiting shut-ins, but the bottom line is that I don’t invest enough time just being with the people I serve. I am too eager to get back to the office and back in front of the computer to make up the slides for the display screens in the entryway and fellowship hall, to prepare presentations for board and committee meetings, or to check out the latest continuing education podcast.

Here is a note to myself: The next time I find myself thinking that technology is the solution to whatever challenge I am facing, I need to make 3 or 4 pastoral calls before placing an order for a new gadget.

Copyright © 2013 by Ted Huffman. I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.