Article about PDAs and use in Clinical environment

[Guest Ceds]

Hey everyone, I came across this article at the RCPSC website. I thought it was pretty interesting.

 

Original Article

Personal Digital Assistants: A Survey of How Useful Residents Think They Would be in the Clinical Environment

Nicole A. Cherry MD; Kyle R. Wanzel MD, MEd; Heather Shapiro MD, FRCSC --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Abstract

 

Background: Many licensing boards mandate the completion of personal logs for surgical experiences. Recently, personal digital assistants (PDAs) have been used for this purpose. There are no studies, however, on the reliability of using PDAs, nor are there reports of needs assessments conducted before the implementation of such programs.

 

Objective: To determine the usefulness of a PDA-based data collection system.

 

Method: The needs assessment consisted of a literature review, individual interviews, and a survey to determine residents' current method of data collection, their compliance, and their opinion of the usefulness of a PDA-based system.

 

Results: Most residents who record their clinical experiences use a paper-based procedural log. No residents use PDAs for this. Only 29.0 per cent of residents "always" record their operating room experiences, and even fewer record labour and delivery or ambulatory experiences. Timeliness is also an issue, as most residents update their logs at less than weekly intervals. Despite this, residents acknowledge the importance of recording this information for themselves and for the residency program. Residents think that a PDA-based system would be more accurate, more convenient, and more efficient than their current method of data collection. There are no barriers to the introduction of this technology.

 

Conclusion: Residents were logging their experiences more poorly then expected, with respect to timeliness and comprehensiveness. A PDA-based system can positively affect the frequency of recording clinical experiences.

 

This article has been peer-reviewed.