Computer use in primary care lengthens consultations and increases generic prescribing

Computers are now widely used in primary care. Mitchell and Sullivan (p 279) systematically reviewed studies showing the effect of computers on primary care consultations. They found that computer use lengthened consultations, increased generic prescribing, and led to fewer unnecessary tests. The studies showed no negative impacts on the outcomes studied, but doctors and patients worried about computers' impact on privacy and on the doctor-patient relationship.

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Relevant Article

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

Elizabeth Mitchell and Frank Sullivan
BMJ 2001 322: 279-282. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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