You can’t shake hands with an Iphone

Posted by Emily Myers on April 10, 2013

Thursday April 4, Members of the Chadds Ford Business Association met at Crozer Medical Plaza to hear about the new health initiatives that are now available locally at the Brinton Lake complex in Concord Township. The emphasis was on the human connection that makes all of the state of the art technology most effective for patient treatment and recovery.

The first clue that there was something unique about the facility was the glow coming from the fireplace in the patient waiting room. The chairs were comfortable, and it would be easy to imagine the setting as a living room in a home.

Another effort to humanize the ever-increasing technology in medicine is the use of a navigator/coordinator. Trained nurse, Maria Malloy helps cancer patients throughout their course of treatment that might involve several different specialties. In response to patients’ requests, she is forming a support group for survivors.

“Our medical services are provided with the emphasis on keeping patients out of the hospital," said Rick Hassold, assistant vice president of real estate services. The Brinton Lake complex houses 35 specialties plus a Colonoscopy Center, Imaging Services and multi-specialty Surgery Center. "This freestanding ambulatory care site has more specialists in one place than any other on the tri-state area,” said Hassold.

It may not take an advanced degree to know you can’t shake hands with an Iphone, but Dr. Blane A. Sessions knows that and a lot of other interesting information about his specialty, hands.

Sessions’ practice sees a lot of injuries from excessive use of technology, specifically tendonitis from texting with thumbs. Keyboard typing has been exonerated as a cause for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome according to the latest research.

Sessions said that the human touch is even more important now that people spend so much time with social media and texting one another. Nothing replaces a handshake and direct eye contact for developing a relationship. “Social media may bring patients to the office, but the relationship with the doctor makes them want to stay for treatment.”

Sessions ended his presentation with a little humor illustrating the important of hands. "Whether you are heavy-handed or high-handed, engage in sleight of hand to avoid a hand-to-mouth existence, you might have to show your hand to gain the upper hand. Don’t get caught red-handed, or try to wash your hands of a mistake, because if you bite the hand that feeds you, things could get out of hand."

The audience gave the speakers a warm hand of applause.

Photo: Deborah Love, director of marketing for burns and behavioral health, stands in front of the hearth that represents home. “We are bringing our tertiary care services that Crozer is known for to your closer to home,” Love said.

Full disclosure: Crozer and the Chadds Ford Business Association are advertisers on ChaddsFordLive.com

About Emily Myers

Emily Myers has lived and worked in Chadds Ford for over thirty five years. She founded the parent company of Chadds Ford Live, Decision Design Research, Inc., in 1982. ChaddsFordLive.com represents the confluence of Myers' long time, deep involvement in technology and community. Myers was a founding member of the Chadds Ford Business Association and currently serves on its board of directors. Her hobbies include bridge, golf, photography and Tai Chi. She lives with her husband, Jim Lebedda, in Chadds Ford Township.