Patient appreciations of computerized medical interviews

Abstract

In a research project on the automation of patient histories, 99 patients in internal medicine were questioned about their opinions on computerized medical records, after having answered an automated questionnaire. Patients were very positive on being able to express their medical complaints and the large majority found it useful (94%); 68% could express all or most of their complaints, but some of their physical complaints could not be entered (47% women against 25% men). Of the male patients 74% found the range of answers from which to choose sufficient, against 52% of the women. The printed report was positively rated, with a higher appreciation by men.

Patient-Computer Dialogue: A Review,

“…Most patients who have used our programs have found their experience to be pleasant, interesting, and informative [2,24,61]. Other investigators have found the same positive reaction [25,40,42,43,47]. On the other hand, when we have asked patients to compare the computer with doctors in their experience, the responses tend to be mixed.…”

Development and significance of automated history‐taking software for clinical medicine, clinical research and basic medical science

“…Even at a time when few had experience with or knowledge of computers, patients had a high level of acceptance of the technology for history taking [29,31,44,45]. This remains true now that computing is ubiquitous [42,46].…”

Use and Abuse of Computer-Stored Medical Records

“…Although more than 200 commercial versions of this system have been sold, the special facilities have, to our knowledge, never been required. Even when a computer was used to take the medical history prior to the physician-patient encounter [4], patients did not respond negatively [5]. With the industry supplying computer-based medical records, the physicians purchasing and using these systems, and the patients accepting the introduction of these systems, what is the problem?…”