Computer driving and the hunter-gatherer mentality: why clinicians find
computers unhelpful in consultations
GPs Dr Peter Tyerman and Dr Gillian Tyerman argue for user
interfaces that allow clinicians to multitask during consultations with
patients.
ABSTRACT
Man has been a hunter-gatherer for four million plus years and using IT
for about 50 years. The skills and abilities that enabled man to survive may
explain why the widespread clinical use of IT has proved so hard to achieve.
The redesign of clinical information systems to use the skill of human minds
may make it possible to integrate IT into the clinical process rather than
being an add-on function. Success will create huge advantages to patient
care; failure could see IT continue to be a high-cost problem leading to
increasing medical mistakes.
Br J Healthcare Comput Info Manage 2005; 22(4): 18–20 |
