This is a rant ...
I have used software with and without pick lists; pick lists are MUCH SLOWER.
They require taking your hands off the keyboard
They are often long
The software often fails to handle the "folding" of the list well for many
reasons.
Afterward, the hands must go back on the keyboard
The pick list is just one more opportunity for bugs to show up.
Example 1: The Federal Aviation Administration Medical Examiner software uses pick
lists in several places
for data entry of the 8500-8 form (used for pilot exams). The number of manual
operations required to choose
a pick list item, and the number of movements requiring precise accuracy, are far more
than the number of
operations necessary to type in the name of a short item.
Example 2: The Medical Letter drug interactions web site, which I've been using for
almost 2 years, allows
the entry of up to six drug names and does not use pick lists. I have found these to
be extremely fast,
responsive, and bug free. This does require that one learn how to spell drug names,
but to do so is well
within the intellectual range of any person with at least a baccalaureate degree, and
only one or two
iterations are generally required to learn the spelling, or the victim is not paying
attention to his own
spelling behavior.
In general, interface designers create more work in the name of "ease" than efficiency
experts can ever remove
in the name of ergonomics.
amarcelo wrote:
>
> In my field of practice, I could not remember more than two instances when
> I had to order anti-psychotic drugs for my patients (primarily because I
> am not a psychiatrist.
If you can't remember a drug well enough to spell it, you cannot remember it
well enough to prescribe it. We
doc must know the therapeutic effects, the expected and the common idiosyncratic side
effects, the major drug
and food interactions, and the indications. To know the spelling is a small
additional morsel of information,
one which signals that perhaps the doc is capable of attending to and retaining small,
important nuggets of
information. We should not create pick lists that help a professional bypass the
knowledge-refreshment
process.
Horst wrote:
>
> > Doctors (and other health professionals) tend to be rather computer illiterate AND
>impatient. They want everything spoonfed by the application, and that without delay.
>Understandable, I have the same demands.
We all need to grow up at some point... :)
To make software more complex because the user imagines it should bring all desired
services on a platter as
soon as the thought strikes is one of the driving forces in bloatware and in
ergonomically frustrating
interfaces, as the programmer desperately tries to please everyone in every
conceivable way and ends up
pleasing no one.
End of paternalistic rant...
> > Now, when I choose a drug to prescribe or a patient, I will choose from a pick
>list ("combo box" type). Both in case of patients and drugs I will select from
>several tens of thousands of values. The pick list has to show alternatives from the
>second letter entered already for resons I'll explain later - that usually leaves a
>_lot_ of possible entries. Of course, everything has to appear instantly on the
>screen.
...clip...
> >
> > If you have a patent solution for these ultra-long pick lists, please let me know.
> > The problem unfortunately does not stop here. Desopite [despite] their education
>level, doctors (and nurses even more) seem to be somewhat dyslectic. I can stop
>beeing falbberghasted [[flabbergasted] how many variations of the spelling of words
>like "Amitriptyline" they come up with. The point is, they start entering Amy... and
>the pick list does not show the desired drugs. Similar problem with names.
> >
> > Now, you might say, that's simple! Use soundex, ... clip...
Spell-checking algorithms probably have the best chance of working, especially as you
can have a small and
limited lexicon (all known drug names) rather than the entire English language. If
you combine this with
common mis-spellings and permit user-chosen autocorrections, like
amytrypliline>amitriptyline and
gentamycin>gentamicin, you can, I think, get closer.
A more interesting task is to make drug lists from therapeutic classes, and permit
browsing by therapeutic
class, which is helpful sometimes in relieving a mental block.
One scheme of drug classes (incomplete, without drug names; designed for internal
medicine outpatient
practice) is appended:
1. Allergic disorders
1A Antiallergic drugs
see also dermatitis, 4A;pruritis, 4E; ocular inflammation, 8C; asthma, 18A;
allergic rhinitis, 18C & 18D
2. Cardiovascular System
2A. Antihypertensives
2A1. Diuretics (=2B)
2A2. Calcium-channel blockers (=2C1)
2A3. ACE inhibitors
2A4. ARB's
2A5. Beta-blockers (= 2C2)
2A6. Alpha-1 Antagonists
2A7. Centrally-acting antihypertensives
2B. Diuretics
2C. Antianginals
2C1. Calcium Channel Blockers (=2A2)
2C2. Beta blockers (=2A5)
2C3. Nitrates
2D.. Antiarrhythmics
2E. Anticoagulants/antithrombotics
2F. Hypolipidemic agents (lipid-lowering agents)
2G. Circulatory/perfusion agents
3. Central nervous system
3A. Hypnotics & Sedatives
3B. Anxiolytics
3C. Antipsychotics
3D. Mood Disorders/ OCD
3E. Anticonvulsants
3F. Antiparkinsonian Agents
3G. Alzheimer's dementia
3H. ADHD/narcolepsy
4. Dermatological disorders
4A. Topical steroids
4A1. Low potency
4A2. Intermediate potency
4A3. High potency.
4A4. Super high potency
4B Acne preparations
4C. Topical anti-infectives/antifungals
4D. Psoriasis treatments
4E. Emollients and antipruritics
4F. Scabicides/pediculocides
4G. Wart treatments
4H. Miscellaneous dermatologicals
5. Diagnostic agents.
6. Ear disorders
7. Endocrine disorders
7A. Diabetes treatments.
7B. Systemic corticosteroids
7C. Thyroid drugs
8. Eye treatments
8A. Ophthalmic inti-infectives
8B. Glaucoma agents
8C. Ophthalmic anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory drugs
8D. Mydriatics
8E. Ocular lubricants
9. Gastrointestinal treatments
9A. Acid reduction
9B. GI motility agents
9C. Laxatives
9D. Antidiarrheals
9E. Colorectal agents
9E. Antiemetics (some would put this under 3, Central Nervous System)
9F. Enzymes, bile modifiers
10. Immune system, including vaccines
11. Antibiologics
11A. Antibiotics and antibacterials
11A1. Cephalosporins
11A2. Penicillins
11A3. Macrolides
11A4. Quinolones
11A5. Sulfonamides
11A6. Tetracyclines
11A7. Aminoglycosides
11B. Anti-fungals
11C. Antimalarials
11D. Anthelminthics
11E. Amebacides
11F. Antivirals
11G. Antituberculars
12. Musculoskeletal agents
12A. Anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's)
12B. Gout remedies
12C. Muscle relaxants and agonists
12D. Bone disorder treatments
13. Antineoplastic agents
14. Nutrition
15. Ob/Gyn
15A. Contraceptives
15B. Vaginal anti-infectives
15C. Menopausal treatments
16. Analgesics
16A. Non-narcotic analgesics (12A is a subset of this class)
16B. Narcotic analgesics (some people class this under 3, CNS) Brown
16C. Migraine remedies (some people class this under 3, CNS)
17. Antidotes
18. Respiratory disorders
18A. Anti-asthmatics
18B. Antitussives
18C. Cold remedies
19. Urologic drugs
19A. Erectile dysfunction
19B. Incontinence
19C. Retention
