Intuitive information technology: enhancing clinician efficiency

Although medical technology is making great strides in improved diagnosis and treatment, the technologies used to document, communicate, and manage those activities are limiting its progress by converting clinicians into computer operators. In an environment of nurse and doctor shortages, reducing their efficiency is counter productive. Technology in healthcare that does not serve patients by improving cost, quality, or care delivery is technology that serves no purpose. Requiring clinicians to chart away from the bedside using technologies that do not feel intuitive, such as keyboarding and mouse use reduces efficiency of workflow, impedes direct care, and increases the cost of training. Intuitive forms of technology such as surface technology, voice activated charting, or digital pens, if embraced, could cause significant changes in healthcare workflows. Clinicians could be more focused on direct care and less utilized in clerical activity. The time it takes to access information could be decreased exponentially--and the opportunities to interact with that information would present a nearly endless horizon. This impact would be especially crucial in high acuity areas and emergency patient care situations. In short, technology should embrace familiar, natural movements and develop intuitive interfaces to improve effectiveness in the healthcare market of the future.