Abstract
In this paper, we explore what may happen when people who are ostensibly “well” bring data from digital self-tracking technologies to medical consultations. On the basis of a fictional case narrative, we explore how multiple “voices”, in a Bakhtinian sense of the term, inscribed in the self-tracking devices are activated, negotiated, evaluated and re-imagined in the context of care. The digital metrics “speak” precision, objectivity and urgency in ways that challenge conventional, normative understandings of doctors’ professional role and the patient-doctor relationship.Our theorizing is firmly grounded in our professional experience and informed by recent research on self-tracking, Mol’s research on the ways in which technology has become integral to medical care, Bakhtinian theory and medical professionalism, and it contributes to current professional debates regarding medical overuse and its potential to harm patients. Further research is needed to illuminate the consequences of digital self-tracking technologies for patient-professional consultations in practice.
Highlights
Our theorizing is firmly grounded in our professional experience and informed by recent research on self-tracking, Mol’s research on the ways in which technology has become integral to medical care, Bakhtinian theory and medical professionalism, and it contributes to current professional debates regarding medical overuse and its potential to harm patients
Further research is needed to illuminate the consequences of digital self-tracking technologies for patient-professional consultations in practice
The case narrative is an exemplar derived from our collective professional experience
Summary
Professional responsibility, health technologies, digital consumer health, Bakhtin. We explore how digital consumer technologies for self-monitoring or self-tracking such as those used by Thomas in the case story above may affect the professional-patient relationship in medicine. How do the parties (patient, doctor and digital self-tracking technology) share the responsibility for the patient’s health, and from where does this responsibility derive?. While we share many of Mol’s perspectives, our analysis focuses on self-tracking technologies in a specific context of use, by people who are ostensibly fit and well In this case, the threat to the health of the person seeking help is far less obvious than in the case of diabetes and other chronic diseases that are the subject of medical care in Mol’s studies. He remains convinced the training logs and pulse recordings show something is wrong; one cannot dismiss plain numbers
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