Has general practitioner computing made a difference to patient care? A systematic review of published reports

• HIT Description: Desktop computers More info...
  
• Purpose of Study: To review findings from studies of the influence of desktop computers on primary care visits.
  
• Years of study: Studies published between 1984 and 1994
  
• Study Design: Systematic review of 30 studies.
  
• Outcomes: Varied across studies.
  

• Settings: Studies were performed in primary care
• Intervention: Not described in detail
• Evaluation Method: Varied across studies
• Quality of Care and Patient Safety Outcome: Fourteen studies assessed immunizations and other preventive tasks and four studies assessed prescribing. There was one study each on diabetes and hypertension. Most of the studies reported improvements in the process of care with immunization rates improving by 8-18% and other preventive tasks improving by up to 50%. Two studies assessing patient satisfaction did not report any difference and one study of hypertension reported an average reduction of 5mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure.
• Changes in healthcare costs: Three studies reported increasing use of generic prescribing, resulting in a 13-30% reduction in prescribing costs.
• Changes in efficiency and productivity: Three studies showed that visits were 48-54 seconds longer when a computer was used and in one study, after 30 months, it was found that visits were 90 seconds longer