AFAIK there hasn't been any real research completed on this, yet. There is a study that has been funded by CIHR (http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/) but is just getting underway that directly addresses the issue of whether or not information technology (specifically electronic medical records) improves patient care. They are recruiting clinics in British Columbia for the three arms of the study.
You can get more details about the ICE study at: http://www.path.ubc.ca/studies/ Cheers, Tim On Fri, 2005-05-06 at 09:29, Greg Woodhouse wrote: > 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] > -- Tim Cook Key ID 0203DEEC @ http://www.keyserver.net & http://keyserver.mine.nu Get the key from: http://24.85.34.168:28080/Nikki_and_Tim/twcook_publickey.txt/file_view
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