title: A survey of PDA use by palliative medicine practitioners.
abstract: This paper describes the results of a Web survey on the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) by physicians across Canada involved with the delivery of palliative medicine in different settings. Seventy-two physicians responded to the survey from April to July 2005. The survey revealed 58.3% of respondents currently use PDAs on a daily basis, mostly to organize their practice and to look up medical references. Some use their PDAs to store patient information and to access a central electronic patient record (EPR). In terms of potential PDA use in palliative medicine, six thematic areas are suggested: medical references, EPR, staying connected, personal productivity, clinical research, and issues/concerns. For implications, healthcare organizations should consider mobile technology as part of their information systems strategy. The feasibility of a portable EPR for palliative medicine should be explored, and an information-based approach can help advance palliative medicine research in Canada.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia.
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Daeninck
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aherne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D002170:Canada; D003197:Computer Literacy; D003200:Computer User Training; D034201:Computers, Handheld / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004346:Drug Information Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D034742:Electronic Mail / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D010820:Physicians / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012106:Research; D012984:Software; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014584:User-Computer Interface