That's certainly one way of looking at it! I wonder, is there a demonstrable improvement in quality that can be traced mback to the use of VistA or asnother HIS system. How can this be demonstrated?
--- Ignacio Valdes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Sure, but the introduction of anasthesia greatly increased the time a > > surgeon spent doing surgery. It also relieved tremendous suffering > and > greatly broadened what could be done with surgery as well as > improving > outcomes dramatically. The VA VistA experience with its dramatic and > demonostrable improvement with patient outcomes is an example. A > simplistic reply for me to this studies conclusion is: so what? > > -- IV > > On Fri, 06 May 2005 10:15:16 +0100 > "J. Antas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > A study published at the Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. (2005 > >Jan;49(1):62-5.) > > documents what seems to be an emerging (and rather unexpected) > >trend: > > Clinical IT (HIS) systems increase the time that healthcare workers > > spend documenting their activities and not the other way around. > > > > One could always argue that those systems bring other advantages to > > >the > > patient and to the care providers, but the fact still remains: they > > >take > > extra time from the healthcare providers and we should be aware of > >that. > > > > The article "Does the implementation of a clinical information > >system > > decrease the time intensive care nurses spend on documentation of > > care?", by Saarinen K, Aho M. of the Department of Intensive Care > > Medicine, Seinajoki Central Hospital, Seinajoki, Finland, reports: > > > > "BACKGROUND: The number of intensive care units (ICU) using a > >clinical > > information system (CIS) is increasing. It is believed that > >replacing > > manual charting with an automatic documentation system allocates > >nurses > > more time for patient care. The objective of this study was to > >measure > > changes in nurses' working time utilization after the > implementation > >of > > a CIS in a polyvalent ICU of a large Finnish central hospital. > >METHODS: > > An activity analysis-based comparison of the ICU nurses' working > >time > > utilization before and after the implementation of a CIS. > > .../... > > CONCLUSIONS: After the implementation of a CIS, an increase in the > >time > > nurses spent on documentation of care was detected, which suggests > a > > need for further development of the system. As all the measured > time > > changes were relatively small, any plans to reduce the ICU staff > >number > > with the aid of computers were not justified." > > > > Source URL: > > http://e-healthexpert.org/node/120 > > > > Links: > > PMID: 15675984 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] , "Does the > >implementation > > of a clinical information system decrease the time intensive care > >nurses > > spend on documentation of care?" > > > http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15675984&dopt=Abstract > > > > A practical man is a man who practices the errors of his forefathers. --Benjamin Disraeli ==== Greg Woodhouse [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
