Study by Harvard Researchers Examines Use and Perceived Impact of Mobile Technology on Patient Safety

Summary: Dr. Jeffrey Rothschild, MPH, Harvard Medical School and Dr. Edward Fang, Editor-in-Chief, Clinical Applications for Epocrates, will share findings from a Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital study on the perceived benefits of mobile clinical references among more than 1,500 physicians. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. In light of recent reports that millions of medical errors are preventable, this study evaluates how physicians believe handheld technology helps avoid these errors and improves the quality of care a patient receives. Study highlights include: 1) Handheld references are reported to help prevent adverse drug interactions-More than 60 percent of participants, across multiple specialties, reported avoiding three or more adverse drug events in a month with the use of medical reference applications. 2) Handheld references improve the quality of care-Data revealed that physicians perceived drug interaction tools, drug references and therapeutic treatment guidelines to be the most beneficial to improving the quality of care. On average, physicians reported using drug references more than six times per day, and nearly 40 percent reported using them during more than half of patient encounters. 3) Technology brings breaking news and increased patient confidence-Physicians reported that receiving public health warnings, new immunization guidelines or drug alert warnings on their handhelds positively impacted patient care by keeping them informed at the point of care. As an additional benefit, patients were perceived to have favorable attitudes about handheld usage during consultations.