Most doctors use computers in the exam room when they see patients. If computers and electronic medical records (EMRs) are used well, they can improve quality of care for patients. If they are used poorly, they can prevent physicians from focusing on patients in the exam room and interfere with the patient-doctor relationship. In order to provide patient-centered care in the setting of EMR use, it is crucial to understand the patient’s perspective on the patient-doctor-computer interaction.

This video features patient stories that explore their positive and negative experiences with computer use in the exam room. We use these patient experiences to provide tips to improve your ‘computer-side manner.’

A free version of Breaking Away from the iPatient to Care for the Real Patient: Implementing a Patient-Centered EMR Use Curriculum can be accessed by clicking here.

References:

Alkureishi MA, Lee WW, Lyons MD, Press VG, Imam S, Nkansah-Amankra A, Werner D, Arora VM. Impact of Electronic Medical Record Use on the Patient-Doctor Relationship and Communication: A Systematic Review. J Gen Intern Med. 2015 May; 31(5) 548-560.

Lee WW, Alkureishi MA, Ukabiala O, Venable LR, Ngooi S, Staisiunas DD, Wroblewski KE, Arora VM. Patient Perceptions of Electronic Medical Record Use by Faculty and Resident Physicians: A Mixed Methods Study. J Gen Intern Med. 2016 Nov;31(11):1315-1322.

Alkureishi MA, Frankel R and Lee WW. Patient-Centered Technology Use: Best Practices and Curricular Strategies. In Health Professionals Education in the Age of Clinical Information Systems, Mobile Computing and Social Networks. S Reis, A Shachak, E Borycki (Eds). Elsevier 2017.

Lee WW and Alkureishi MA. The Impact of EMRs on Communication within the Doctor-Patient Relationship. In Distracted Doctoring: Returning to Patient-Centered Care in the Digital Age (pp). P Papadakos and S Bertman (Eds). Springer 2017.