title: Information in general medical practice: a qualitative approach.
abstract: The aims of the study reported here were to describe the information-related behavior of general medical practitioners, to study information communication in general practices, and to establish guidelines for good practice. General practitioners (GPs) were interviewed, and information and communication audits also involving other staff at the practices were undertaken. The main reasons why GPs needed information were for patient care, managing the practice, legal and ethical matters, and teaching trainee GPs. Most practices had problems with internal and external communication and the storage and retrieval of information. The main conclusion is that practices need to have an information strategy that considers human, manual, and computer aspects of information handling.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Information Management Research/Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, England.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bacigalupo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simpson
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D003625:Data Collection; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards; D004739:England; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000592:standards; D008499:Medical Records; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011216:Practice Management, Medical; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards; D013685:Telecommunications