BY LESLIE CHAMPLIN
Today's patients like the computer. They'll tell it secrets never divulged to a person. They grant computers an educational authority not often given to a person. And the physician who capitalizes on patients' affinity for the keyboard and screen will enhance not only office efficiency and patient care but also the quality of patient education efforts.
Why? Because computerized records completed by the patient enable the physician to gather information in greater detail with less time and fewer staff, said FP John Bachman, M.D., the Sanders Professor of Primary Care at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
 Invaluable tool -- FP Tim Dudley, M.D., right, demonstrates use of a PDA in teaching "patient" John Nagle of Denver during the recent Conference on Patient Education. |
"The patient does data entry," Bachman said at the recent Conference on Patient Education here. "The computer collects more data than the clinician. It obtains better-quality information on socially sensitive topics because it's completely impersonal. And it's faster for the patient." Using computers eliminates the need for patients to repeat their medical history and complaint to the receptionist, the nurse and the physician during each visit.
Patient education starts when the patient enters health information or a chief medical complaint on a home computer or in the waiting room before the doctor's appointment. From that moment forward, an integrated system can begin searching for educational materials that will meet the patient's needs, Bachman said.
By the time the physician examines the patient; enters a diagnosis; and, if needed, writes a prescription into the computer, much of the patient education footwork has been completed. Options flash on the screen. The physician selects the most appropriate material to print and gives the patient tailored information.
Meanwhile, the computer has stored all the information -- including the type of educational materials -- provided during the visit. At the next visit, the electronic record will display previous patient education materials with other data.
Establishing a patient education database is not complex. Bachman recommended Web sites such as AAFP's http://familydoctor.org, a library of patient education materials in English and Spanish. Another site, MEDLINEplus (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthtopics.html), offers interactive tutorials and, under "Directories," lists other medical sites approved by the National Library of Medicine.
Physicians can add personal digital assistants to their repertoire with interactive educational programs that demonstrate, for example, patient risk for an illness or possible outcomes of treatment choices, said FP Tim Dudley, M.D., of Denver.
Equally powerful are search engines that surf the Web for sites with patient information.
"Clinicians don't have time to surf the Web," Bachman told participants at the Nov. 20 - 23 meeting. "But you don't need hundreds of Web sites. You need a search engine.
"Digital tools make patient education a part of the workflow."
The outcome: They enhance office efficiency, improve patient care and ensure patient education, he said.
To reach writer Leslie Champlin, e-mail lchampli@aafp.org.
FP Report is published by the
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Copyright © 2004 by
American Academy of Family Physicians.