Singing Doctor Doubles Use Of Asthma Treatment Protocols

Remember that catchy ‘90s song “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by one-hit-wonder Deep Blue Something? You’ll probably never think of it the same way again after watching this video made by British physician Tapas Mukherjee.

While working at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, the respiratory specialist was asked to look at why less than half of his colleagues were using the recommended guidelines for treating patients during severe asthma attacks.

Rather than reverting to traditional education methods — posters, presentations and handouts — to boost their adherence, Mukherjee turned to social media. He and a few colleagues converted the protocols into song lyrics set to the tune of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and recorded him singing it on his cellphone. They shot video at the hospital and in Mukherjee’s back yard, and edited together an essentially no-budget music video on a home computer (h/t to NPR’s Shots blog).

“We say, you start off with assessment,” he sings in the video, “of peak flow, resps and saturation, and please give steroids and O2.”

Once the video was uploaded to YouTube, colleagues began sharing it on Facebook and Twitter, and soon it was the No. 1 topic on Doctors.net.uk, a professional networking site for UK doctors.

He’s no Justin Timberlake, but Mukherjee’s video earned him some acclaim and, most importantly, delivered some results at the hospital. A follow-up audit that took place a few months after the video was release found that all of the 55 members of the staff involved were aware of the asthma treatment guidelines, and about 80 percent were using them. They also demonstrated improved knowledge on every category of questions, Tapas reported in a talk at DeMontfort University in Leicester.

He didn’t report on patient outcomes, but at least in the U.S., provider adherence to protocols have been linked to improved patient outcomes. Cheers to creativity, Dr. Mukherjee.

image: singer/shutterstock