Patient care information systems and physicians: the transition from technology icon to health care instrument

We have discussed several important transitions now occurring in PCIS that promise to improve the utility and availability of these systems for the average physician. Charles Babbage developed the first computers as "thinking machines" so that we may extend our ability to grapple with more and more complex problems. If current trends continue, we will finally witness the evolution of patient care computing from information icons of the few to clinical instruments improving the quality of medical decision making and care for all patients.