Paging Dr. Luddite

Kard Robstad: Paging Dr. Luddite.

There have been a couple blog posts floating around the inter-tubes recently (like this one from C|Net News) concerning the digitalization of health care and the transition to EMR’s.  Some of them, however, have taken an interesting tack, pointing out that doctors, as a whole, are ‘luddites’.

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Are we that bad?  Unfortunately, we might be… 

First, granted- not everyone is technologically savvy, and granted that many doctors work well beyond the usual tenure of retirement, and those folks are less likely to be adept at mousing and typing, but in four years of medical school and two years of residency, I have definitely noticed that my peers, people in their mid-twenties and early thirties, are surprisingly lost when it comes to technology! 

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Hopefully we as a field will see the inevitable trajectory of our field and adapt accordingly, otherwise we could be in for quite a bumpy ride!

It is notable that the College of American Pathologists have come out strongly in favor of educating their members to the benefits and uses of new technology, and have made an active project out of promoting Information as a Disruptive Technology.

Comments

[Emmanuel M]

I totally agree with this assessment: physicians are very technophobic. I disagree, however, that it has to do with age: I know of many young doctors who do not use emails and cannot type a letter themselves, and I know of at least one retired physicians that is very computer literate.

This attitude is symbolized by one small object : the pager. Physicians are the only customers left for these devices but they will not give them up without a fight. Sad.