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Information needs and information-seeking behavior of primary care physicians
Ana I González-González1, Martin Dawes, José Sánchez-Mateos
1Servicio Madrileño de la Salud, Madrid, Spain. agonzalez.gapm10@salud.madrid.org
Annals of Family Medicine
|August 1, 2007
Summary
Primary care physicians in Spain face significant information needs, with short consultation times limiting their ability to answer clinical questions. Improved information delivery methods are crucial for effective patient care.
Area of Science:
- Medical Informatics
- Primary Care Research
- Information Science
Background:
- Primary care physicians encounter numerous clinical questions during patient encounters.
- Short consultation times in primary care settings pose challenges to information seeking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To ascertain the information requirements of primary care physicians in Spain.
- To characterize the information-seeking behaviors of these physicians.
Main Methods:
- An observational study was conducted with 112 primary care physicians in Madrid, Spain.
- Video recordings of 3,511 consultations were analyzed to identify clinical questions and information sources.
- Physicians were followed up via telephone to track unanswered questions and information sources used.
Main Results:
- 635 clinical questions were identified across 3,511 consultations, averaging 0.18 questions per consultation.
- Diagnosis (53%) and treatment (26%) were the most common question topics.
- Physicians addressed only 22.8% of questions during consultations, with a 100% success rate within 2 minutes.
Conclusions:
- Physicians in short-consultation settings can only answer approximately 20% of their clinical questions.
- Enhanced strategies are needed to support information retrieval for primary care physicians facing time constraints.
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