title: A survey of personal digital assistant use in a sample of New Zealand doctors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To gather information about handheld computing hardware and software usage by hospital based doctors in New Zealand (NZ).
  
  
  METHODS
  An online tool (SurveyMonkey) was used to conduct the survey from 27 June to 10 September 2010. Distribution of the survey was via an email to all NZ District Health Boards (DHBs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 850 responses. About half of respondents (52%) used a personal digital assistant (PDA), 90% using it at least once daily. Usage varied greatly between DHBs (27-100%), perhaps related to institutional support. Among PDA users, the most common applications were the non-clinical; Scheduler (95%), Contacts (97%), and Tasks (83%). Users felt PDAs helped considerably with organisation and time saving. For non-users there were a range of barriers to usage, cost being a large factor. Another major barrier identified by both users and non-users was lack of organisational integration and support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Half of survey respondents used a PDA. PDA usage of responders from different DHBs varied considerably. Perceived barriers to PDA use included cost and lack of institutional support. A collaborative approach between clinical leadership and Information Technology teams to address barriers may result in increased utility and usage of PDAs in the NZ health system.
authors.affiliation: Auckland City Hospital, Private Bag 92024, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. omenzies@xtra.co.nz
authors.forename: Oliver H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Menzies
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thwaites
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D034201:Computers, Handheld / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014584:User-Computer Interface