Reduction of medical error at the point-of-care using electronic clinical information delivery

There is accumulating evidence that point-of-care delivery of clinical information such as evidence-based medicine, practice guidelines and drug information can streamline clinical practice and reduce preventable errors. In Australia, hospital-based physicians have -generally been slow to fully use these resources to enhance their clinical practice. Here we provide an introduction to the practical application of several hand-held and electronic information systems available to Australian physicians.