[Structured documentation of findings and user acceptance--results of a study of abdominal ultrasound]

Structured reporting of medical findings is known to have positive effects on data quality, whereas user acceptance tends to be low because of time requirements. This paper presents the results of a survey among 19 physicians who worked for 14 months with a computer system using structured data input for abdominal ultrasonography. During this time, they prepared 8.827 reports. The two most important results are that it is feasible to realize well accepted documentation systems with high data quality by using modern computer technology, and that graphic user interfaces tend to increase user acceptance. For comparable systems, evaluation studies are suggested.