Computer technology and information science have been applied with recognized success to many areas of modern scientific and industrial development and have been a major determinant in accelerated pace of advances in physical and basic sciences. However, critical applications in the area of medical and health care, although frequently supposed and increasingly attempted, have been disappointing in their impact on the health care system" (I). The failure of computer impact on health care delivery alluded to in this statement has been far from complete. The progress in Hospital Bookkeeping, Clinical Laboratory Automation, and Computerized Axial Tomography has been significant and many hospitals throughout the country utilize computers in one of these capacities. The impact of computers in radiotherapy, ECG analysis, and physiological monitoring is also well documented. Successful applications in many other areas have been reported but the overall impact of computers on health care delivery has been less than was expected as recently as 5 years ago.
What then have been the impediments to a more universal application of computers to medicine? (I) We have not successfully accomplished the patient-computer and/or physician-computer interaction.
In medicine we are dealing with very special populations. The patient who is frequently uncomfortable, anxious, depressed, or incapacitated, and the highly trained physician who is often busy with no time to learn how to operate a new device.