Computer use must not affect doctor-patient relationship

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7298.1369

BMJ 2001;322:1369 ( 2 June )

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Computer use must not affect doctor-patient relationship

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Mitchell and Sullivan found no evidence that use of computers in consultations had negative effects on the patientoutcomes evaluated, and they concluded that doctors and patientswere generally positive about the use of computers.¹

Use of computers during general practice consultations improves the quality of care in some cases.² Benefits have beenshown in disease prevention, with an improvement in immunisationrates by up to 18% and in other preventive tasks by up to 50%³;in disease management, with more appropriate dosing for drugswith a narrow therapeutic range⁴; and in the management ofchronic physical illness for which there is a clear consensusregarding treatment protocols.⁵

Use of computers may, though, have detrimental effects on consultations. Consultation time is increased, and there is no appreciableincrease in patient satisfaction.³ Practitioners' responsesand the disclosure of information by the patient are both adverselyaffected,⁴ and . . . [Full text of this article]

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A descriptive feast but an evaluative famine: systematic review of published articles on primary care computing during 1980-97: Elizabeth Mitchell and Frank Sullivan
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