Use of information technology in New Zealand emergency departments

To determine previous computer training and current computer confidence of emergency medicine (EM) specialists and trainees, and to determine the accessibility of computer and Internet resources in New Zealand ED.

A prospective, cross-sectional study of all New Zealand EM specialists and trainees between July 2005 and October 2005, using a 47-item postal questionnaire. Descriptive statistics with 95% confidence intervals were compiled. Fisher's exact test was used to compare proportions, with t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test to compare continuous variables.

A total of 226 EM specialists and trainees were sent questionnaires. In total, 144 (62 specialists and 82 trainees) out of 224 were analysed (response rate 64.3%). The majority of respondents (136, 94.4% (95% CI 89.4-97.6)) had access to a computer at home. Almost all respondents (143, 99.3% (95% CI 96.2-100.0)) also had computer access in the ED 24 h/day. The vast majority (140, 97.2% (95% CI 93.0-99.2)) had access to medical educational materials via the Internet in the ED 24 h/day. Most respondents had limited prior computer training. Respondents felt most confident using word processing and e-mail/communications applications, and least confident using statistical and graphics programs. Compared with specialists, trainees were significantly less confident with spreadsheets (P = 0.002), literature searching (P = 0.034), and e-mail/communications (P = 0.040).

Increased access to computer technology has not been parallelled by increased confidence in the use of computers among EM specialists and trainees. Training must address gaps in computer literacy if computer technology is to be used to its full potential.