Facilitating physician access to medical reference information.

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Information Systems
• Physician Information Behavior

Background:

• Medical reference information is transitioning from print to digital formats.
• Kaiser Permanente (KP) physicians face challenges accessing both traditional and computer-based resources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand physician information-seeking behaviors.
• To identify barriers limiting the use of print and computer-based medical reference resources.

Main Methods:

• Conducted quality-improvement surveys among full-time KP physicians in 2002-2003.
• Utilized data from telephone interviews and focus groups to design surveys.
• Achieved high physician response rates exceeding 83% via mail and email.

Main Results:

• 89% of physicians frequently used online resources for patient care, clinical decisions, knowledge updates, and patient education.
• Younger physicians demonstrated a higher preference for online information compared to older physicians.
• Lack of time, complex access, and resource unawareness were identified as key obstacles.

Conclusions:

• A significant gap exists between physician information needs and current resource availability.
• Despite a shift to computer-based resources, barriers hinder their effective utilization.
• Clinicians require accessible, user-friendly, and remotely available medical reference systems.