Junior doctors want to learn more about IT and health informatics, but don’t know where to turn for help, according to experts.
Dr Wai Keong Wong, organiser of the 2013 Digital Doctor Conference, said: “The premise of the conference was to help clinicians understand that technological change starts with them if they want to be able to change and influence health IT in their hospitals or practices. It is vital that clinicians engage with this if we are truly going to have a fully digital healthcare ecosystem.”
Speaking after the event, he added: “We found that personal productivity skills such as being able to master email, work collaboratively and use RSS feeds are very valuable for those delivering healthcare. In addition, we have learned from this year’s conference that there is a willingness by clinicians to engage with the development of clinical IT at their workplaces, but that they need more support and training to do so effectively.”
We have learned that there is a willingness by clinicians to engage with the development of clinical IT at their workplaces, but that they need more support and training to do so effectively
Dr Ed Wallitt, another of the organisers, spoke about how to turn health improvement ideas into concrete mock-ups and specifications providing a common language that both clinicians and software professionals can understand and relate to.
The conference featured a patient panel for the first time, which proved to be extremely effective and helped to demonstrate that patients and doctors in secondary care share many similar frustrations and want the same thing from technology in healthcare.
Dr Anne-Marie Cunningham, a GP and one of the conference organisers, tweeted that patients, not doctors, are the end users who benefit or suffer from NHS IT.
Dr Justin Whatling, chairman of BCS Health, the chartered institute for healthcare IT, added: “We are pleased to support this important event and the professional development of practitioners in healthcare; it has raised some important challenges for creating a supportive environment to foster adoption and use of IT to better patient care.”
