Physician attitudes toward applications of computer data base systems
J. Singer, H. S. Sacks, F. Lucente and T. C. Chalmers
To determine the attitudes of internists and surgeons to problems in
clinical information management and to the use of a computer data base, a
survey of 529 internists and 487 otolaryngologists was conducted. The
survey group consisted of a national distribution of academic physicians,
private practitioners, and residents. Results of 296 completed
questionnaires were analyzed for this report. More than one third of all
responders were not satisfied with their ability to keep up with new
developments; less than 10% were very satisfied. Ninety percent thought
that a computer data base would improve their access to information in the
literature, and 85% thought it would improve their practice of medicine.
Among internists, randomized control trials (RCTs) were viewed as clearly
the most useful source of data. Otolaryngologists indicated that RCTs and
patient registries were both very helpful. Most physicians indicated
significantly greater preference for literature summary and patient
registry features over probability estimation capabilities of a computer
data base. Sources of data to be incorporated into a successful data base
would be different for systems designed for internists and
otolaryngologists.
