April 20, 2006
Physicians Grow More Tech Savvy
Physicians are warming up to health IT in their everyday practices, according to a report released Wednesday by Manhattan Research, Information Week reports.
The report finds that physicians are using the Internet, especially Yahoo and Google, and that they often access online information during patient consultations.
In addition, the report finds that physicians are using digital music players, with approximately 40% reporting that they have used iPods or other digital music players. And 487,000 physicians reported that they use "new media," including streaming video, downloadable audio content and blogs.
Approximately 75% of physicians said they have used or are interested in using online customer service interfaces with pharmaceutical companies.
The report states, "Leading the shift toward the 'digitization' of health information, the data reveal continued growth of physicians using electronic medical records of electronic prescribing."