Docs use PDAs mostly for admin

Health Management Technology, May, 2005

Although more than half (57 percent) of U.S. physicians surveyed say they regularly use a personal digital assistant (PDA) or hand-held computer during a typical workweek, most does use the devices for administrative than clinical tasks. According to the Chicago-based American Medical Association and the Cambridge, Mass-based Forrester Research 2005 Physicians and Technology Study, 87 percent of the does surveyed say they use PDAs to maintain their address books, and 80 percent use them for keeping details of appointments. While 65 percent use PDAs to check drug references via hand-helds, only 7 percent of the physicians use hand-helds to order medications; 6 percent use the devices to access patient records and 5 percent use PDAs to view lab results.

The study of 1,331 physicians between August and December 2004 also shows that physicians as a group are nearly five times more likely than the general public to own a PDA or hand-held computer. Usage rates differ by gender and age. Fifty-three percent of female does say they use a hand-held computer, whereas 73 percent of young physicians completing their residency say they regularly use hand-held devices, compared to 45 percent of doctors older than 40.