I’m a big Pinterest fan. When I meet someone who doesn’t have a Pinterest account I tell them, “Good! It will suck away all your time.” It’s by far my favorite way to squander time on the Web. For some reason, one painted rock pin can lead me down the Pinterest rabbit hole, and I will be on there for hours. One link leads me to another and to another and the next thing I know my computer has used up its battery charge.
This is probably the reason I try to avoid StumbleUpon. It has the same allure to me as Pinterest. One interesting thing leads me to another and another…. It’s another place I could spend all day reading article after article. But for you loyal HL7Standards.com readers, I’ve decided to put my time-management skills at risk and see where StumbleUpon would take me regarding Health IT info on the Web. Here are five articles that I hope you’ll read (or at least skim). I’m sharing my thoughts on them, and I know our readers have strong opinions, so please share them too. Love it or hate it, we want to hear your ideas!
This New York Times article by Danielle Ofri, MD, talks about the common concern that computers are a barrier to clinician-patient interaction. I’ve personally heard this concern from many health care providers. They feel like the computer is a “wall” between the patient and provider, that the patients dislike the computer and the feeling that the technology makes the interaction less genuine.
The more I hear this argument, the less I think it holds water. Maybe 10 years ago this was an issue but now people are so comfortable using computers, tablets and smartphones in their own lives that I don’t think a computer in health care is anxiety producing. I think patients don’t mind computers if the health care provider takes time to make eye-contact while asking questions and keeps the computer off to the side of the desk so they aren’t putting up a physical barrier.
Remember those pre-computer days when patient assessments were kept on paper and a clipboard? We still heard complaints about providers not making eye-contact and focusing on reading-off questions, checking squares and having “poor bedside manner.” What do you think? Does the computer as a barrier argument still hold water?
- Burnout Among Health IT Professionals - January 13, 2015
- Gathering Together to Create a Family Health History - December 2, 2014