My blog post will be a bit different from the usual for this week. I recently just listened to the audible of an article titled, “Why Doctors Hate Their Computers” by Atul Gawande. Throughout the whole entire time of listening to this article, a number of thoughts went through my head. The first was how amazed I was by the number of issues from the software that made it harder for the doctors. One of the first examples Gawande used was from his colleague, Sadoughi. Sadoughi is a primary care physician who hoped that with the new changes with the technology would in the long run help her, not hurt her. Sadly, with this new technology, she was spending multiple hours on the computer, even after scheduled work time. Another issue she had was that when she would look a patient's problem list, it used to be easy to see what was there, for her to change things, whether that be getting rid of something or updating it. Now it had become a hoarding stash where everyone across the organization could edit it, and change it and had now become completely useless. One of the biggest problems and themes that was mentioned throughout this article was the amount of time just spent on the computer compared to before. Before many of the doctors, nurses, clinicians, etc. could spend all of their time on the patient. Now a days man of them spend time writing in useless information that before was not necessary. They have to take more time clicking things, and inputting data that is not useful. This in hand spends less time with the patient and their needs. As it can be seen from the article, the real customers for this new software was not the doctors, and nurses, but the patients. This was discussed heavily with Gregg Meyers. While the doctors may be having trouble figuring out how to use everything, he emphasizes that this new technology is for the patients. This is something that had me thinking a lot, and something I struggle with, especially as I have gotten older. This new software has helped patients in a number of ways, from keeping track of their medicine to their next appointment. Gawande states that it is honestly always been the case, with anything that a new system is always in favor of those receiving it, to better them, while making it even more miserable for those providing it. While it is extremely true that this can help thousands of patients, it is also true what Gawande stated. It is always the case, and in the end makes the one supplying miserable.While this is good, is it morally right? Everything that is decided for a company, is to help the customer, but in a lot of ways ends up hurting the employee. These tasks that are to be expected from colleagues and employees can be strenuous and demanding.While this article focused on doctors, nurses, clinicians, etc., the implementation of this system does not only apply to the Electronic Medical Record systems. Like Gawande mentioned in his article, this happens to scientists, police, sales people and even people like Cameron, who is a construction site supervisor. THe overall topic of this article was something I had never thought about before. What really interested me was the ending of this article. With Gawande’s personal experience with a patient, Cameron. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to his interaction with Cameron. He wanted to help him, but he had spent so much time on the computer, that when there should have been time for questions, all that was left was stress for Gawande to finish his report and not make his next appointment late. He emphasized the inability to find a equal middle when it comes to technology and human contact. It will never be possible to find that middle, but it is important to acknowledge it and to take steps to better it. Overall, I loved this article, and even shared it with my family members, who I both think would benefit greatly from.
