Skip to main content
Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1993 Jan; 81(1): 11–19.
PMCID: PMC225722
PMID: 8428184

Physicians' use of computer software in answering clinical questions.

J A Osheroff and R A Bankowitz
Author information Copyright and License information PMC Disclaimer

Abstract

Descriptive data about the use of medical information software were gathered from physicians who were early users of these resources. Eight clinically active internists and medical subspecialists were lent a microcomputer loaded with six commercially available medical information software products. Participants used the software for two weeks to answer questions arising in their practice and completed written questionnaires. They recorded a total of 50 questions (between 3 and 11 per participant per two-week study period). Using the workstation, participants answered 20 questions (40% of the total), partially answered 16 questions (32%), and did not obtain useful information for 14 questions (28%). Participants found answers outside the workstation to 8 of the 14 questions (57%) not answered by using the software. The most common question topic was drug information (16 questions, or 32% of the total). The most common problems encountered using the workstation were retrieval of incomplete information (20 questions, or 40% of the total) and difficulty navigating the software (16 questions, or 32%). Other problems included difficulty translating clinical problems into questions, inappropriate resource selection, inadequate training for using the software, and excessive time required to access information. The study highlights several opportunities for medical librarians and others involved in clinical information management to facilitate the use of computer software for solving clinical problems.

Full text

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Get a printable copy (PDF file) of the complete article (1.5M), or click on a page image below to browse page by page. Links to PubMed are also available for Selected References.

 
icon of scanned page 11
11
icon of scanned page 12
12
icon of scanned page 13
13
icon of scanned page 14
14
icon of scanned page 15
15
icon of scanned page 16
16
icon of scanned page 17
17
icon of scanned page 18
18
icon of scanned page 19
19
 

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  • Williamson JW, German PS, Weiss R, Skinner EA, Bowes F., 3rd Health science information management and continuing education of physicians. A survey of U.S. primary care practitioners and their opinion leaders. Ann Intern Med. 1989 Jan 15;110(2):151–160. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Covell DG, Uman GC, Manning PR. Information needs in office practice: are they being met? Ann Intern Med. 1985 Oct;103(4):596–599. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • DaRosa DA, Mast TA, Dawson-Saunders B, Mazur J, Ramsey DE, Folse JR. A study of the information-seeking skills of medical students and physician faculty. J Med Educ. 1983 Jan;58(1):45–50. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Singer J, Sacks HS, Lucente F, Chalmers TC. Physician attitudes toward applications of computer data base systems. JAMA. 1983 Mar 25;249(12):1610–1614. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Poisson EH. End-user searching in medicine. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1986 Oct;74(4):293–299. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Haynes RB, McKibbon KA, Walker CJ, Ryan N, Fitzgerald D, Ramsden MF. Online access to MEDLINE in clinical settings. A study of use and usefulness. Ann Intern Med. 1990 Jan 1;112(1):78–84. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Scura G, Davidoff F. Case-related use of the medical literature. Clinical librarian services for improving patient care. JAMA. 1981 Jan 2;245(1):50–52. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Lundsgaarde HP, Moreshead GE. Evaluation of a Computerized Clinical Information System (Micromedex). Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care. 1991:18–22. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Bankowitz RA, McNeil MA, Challinor SM, Parker RC, Kapoor WN, Miller RA. A computer-assisted medical diagnostic consultation service. Implementation and prospective evaluation of a prototype. Ann Intern Med. 1989 May 15;110(10):824–832. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Hoffman T. The Seventh Annual Medical Hardware and Software Buyers' Guide. MD Comput. 1990 Nov-Dec;7(6):356–512. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Markert RJ, Parisi AJ, Barnes HV, Cohen S, Goldenberg K, Mieczkowski LE, Dunn M, Siervogel RM. Medical student, resident, and faculty use of a computerized literature searching system. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1989 Apr;77(2):133–138. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Huth EJ. Needed: an economics approach to systems for medical information. Ann Intern Med. 1985 Oct;103(4):617–619. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Osheroff JA, Forsythe DE, Buchanan BG, Bankowitz RA, Blumenfeld BH, Miller RA. Physicians' information needs: analysis of questions posed during clinical teaching. Ann Intern Med. 1991 Apr 1;114(7):576–581. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Gruppen LD. Physician information seeking: improving relevance through research. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1990 Apr;78(2):165–172. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Dalrymple PW. CD-ROM MEDLINE use and users: information transfer in the clinical setting. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1990 Jul;78(3):224–232. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Walker CJ, McKibbon KA, Haynes RB, Ramsden MF. Problems encountered by clinical end users of MEDLINE and GRATEFUL MED. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1991 Jan;79(1):67–69. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Greer AL. The state of the art versus the state of the science. The diffusion of new medical technologies into practice. Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 1988;4(1):5–26. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Broering NC. The MAClinical Workstation Project at Georgetown University. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1991 Jul;79(3):276–281. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Tang PC, Annevelink J, Fafchamps D, Stanton WM, Young CY. Physicians' workstations: integrated information management for clinicians. Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care. 1991:569–573. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Berner ES, Shugerman AA. Needs assessment for diagnostic decision support systems (DDSS). Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care. 1991:605–608. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Fafchamps D, Young CY, Tang PC. Modelling work practices: input to the design of a physician's workstation. Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care. 1991:788–792. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Timpka T, Arborelius E. The GP's dilemmas: a study of knowledge need and use during health care consultations. Methods Inf Med. 1990 Jan;29(1):23–29. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Forsythe DE, Buchanan BG, Osheroff JA, Miller RA. Expanding the concept of medical information: an observational study of physicians' information needs. Comput Biomed Res. 1992 Apr;25(2):181–200. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Jennett PA, Kishinevsky M, Parboosingh IT, Lockyer JM, Maes WR. Responses to non-emergency questions in rural medicine: their usefulness to practice decisions. Med Educ. 1991 May;25(3):238–242. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Strasser TC. The information needs of practicing physicians in northeastern New York State. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1978 Apr;66(2):200–209. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Curley SP, Connelly DP, Rich EC. Physicians' use of medical knowledge resources: preliminary theoretical framework and findings. Med Decis Making. 1990 Oct-Dec;10(4):231–241. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Manning PR. Continuing education needs of health care professionals. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1990 Apr;78(2):161–164. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Leist JC, Kristofco RE. The changing paradigm for continuing medical education: impact of information on the teachable moment. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1990 Apr;78(2):173–179. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Timpka T, Ekström M, Bjurulf P. Information needs and information seeking behaviour in primary health care. Scand J Prim Health Care. 1989 Jun;7(2):105–109. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Carter JH. Medical informatics in postgraduate training: a way to improve office-based practitioner information management. J Gen Intern Med. 1991 Jul-Aug;6(4):349–354. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Northup DE, Moore-West M, Skipper B, Teaf SR. Characteristics of clinical information-searching: investigation using critical incident technique. J Med Educ. 1983 Nov;58(11):873–881. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Halsted DD, Ward DH, Neeley DM. The evolving role of clinical medical librarians. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1989 Jul;77(3):299–301. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Moore M. Innovation and education: unlimited potential for the teaching library. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1989 Jan;77(1):26–32. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Articles from Bulletin of the Medical Library Association are provided here courtesy of Medical Library Association
-