April 02, 2005
Survey: Physicians Use Handhelds Mostly for Administrative Tasks
According to a survey by Forrester Research, the American Medical Association, and Healthcare IT News, at least 80% of physicians who use personal digital assistants and handheld devices use them for administrative tasks, such as managing address books and appointments, rather than clinical tasks.
1,300 physicians were part of a survey conducted from August 2004 to December 2004 which revealed that 16% of physicians who have handhelds and whose practices have an electronic medical record system use the devices to record patient data. Also, only 16% of physicians surveyed use the devices for electronic prescribing. The report noted that usability is the main barrier to adoption and that physicians complain about the number of screens they have to click through to record patient data.
However, 57% of respondents use PDAs or handhelds regularly for administrative tasks. Also, 60% of physicians surveyed who have e-prescribing systems use the devices for prescribing medications, and nearly 66% of physicians with handhelds check medical information frequently on the devices. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they use the devices to access clinical database information. Female physicians, older physicians, surgeons and those practicing in small offices are less likely to use the devices, the survery reports.
Posted by rsk at April 2, 2005 07:45 AM