REDWOOD FALLS -- Desktop or notepad?
Dr. Alan Olson, a family practice physician at Affiliated Community Medical Center in Redwood Falls, likes using a wireless tablet for managing his patients' medical records.
It's easy to carry around. It's simple to operate, responding to a touch on the screen. Better yet, it allows Olson to more easily switch from one patient chart to the next.
"I like this better because I don't have to log off when I'm going in and out of rooms," he said.
His colleague, Dr. Cory Rossow, likes the traditional desktop computer for the way it helps expand the doctor-patient dialogue.
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"Both the patient and I can look at the screen at the same time," he said. "The screen is bigger so it's easier to view. It's what patients have at home. It doesn't seem out of place."
And there's this practical consideration: "I don't worry that I'm going to drop the notebook," Rossow said.
Rossow and Olson are taking part in a four- to six-month pilot project to weigh the relative merits of each technology.
The feedback will help Affiliated Community Medical Centers as it phases in an electronic medical records system at its 12 regional clinics.
The pilot project started in December with the family practice department at Affiliated's Redwood Falls clinic. Half the physicians and nurses are trying out wireless notepads; the other half are using desktop computers.
What have they learned so far?
There's no significant difference in the quality or amount of data that can be accessed, Olson said. "We can pretty much get the same information."
The cost of each technology also is similar, he said.
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It's in the day-to-day details that the differences are showing up. The wireless notepad is relatively small and unobtrusive. It's easily toted from the exam room to the physician's office or nurse's station. It can easily be turned or moved so patients can view their test results on the screen.
One of the advantages of a desktop computer, on the other hand, is that it doesn't have to be carried from one exam room to the next.
"One of the things I like about it is I can deal with one patient in one room, lock up the screen and go next door to the next patient," Rossow said. "You can have two or three charts open in each exam room."
The technology also is more familiar to patients and hence can help increase their comfort level, he said.
"Are there any distinct advantages to portable versus desktop? I don't know if one's better than the other, necessarily," Olson said. "They're just different. For some of us it's just personal style."
The two physicians said their patients don't seem to mind the presence of either form of technology in the exam room.
Many patients see it as a sign that Affiliated is keeping up with the times, Olson said. "They seem pretty impressed by it."
And when there's a glitch, patients have been understanding, Rossow said. "They sympathize with you because that happens at home too. When the technology is working, it makes your day fun. The patients say, 'It looks like this is a good thing.'"
