If you’re like most people, you love your smartphone, tablet or laptop. Doctors, nurses and other medical personnel are no different. But when they use these devices in the workplace, does that help or hurt your medical care?
It’s true that smartphones, tablets and laptops allow doctors to quickly look up the newest drug information and case studies. Many hospitals and doctors’ offices have invested large sums of money in smartphones, tablets and other computer devices to make staff more efficient and prevent medical errors. And it’s great to be able to reach your physician in an emergency at off-hours, since doctors will sometimes share their cell-phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses with patients who require extra attention.
But there can also be dangerous downsides for the patient when medical staff has constant access to this type of technology.
To find out what patients can do to protect themselves, Bottom Line Health spoke to Peter J. Papadakos, MD, director of critical care medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center and an expert on the impact of technology on medical care.
Nearly 90% of all doctors currently use smartphones or tablets while at work. The most significant potential dangers to patients include…
Bacterial contamination. Even though there are many nonsterile surfaces in a health-care setting, cell phones are of particular concern because they are typically handled so often. When the cell phones of orthopedic surgeons in the operating room were tested, a whopping 83% of the phones had infection-causing bacteria on them, according to a study published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
Self-defense: When admitted to a hospital, ask what the guidelines are for disinfecting electronic devices, particularly any that are brought into and handled in an operating room. Some hospitals now have ultraviolet (UV) sterilizing devices that are 99.9% effective at decontaminating objects in 10 seconds.
If your doctor is holding a cell phone or other personal device, ask him/her if the device was cleaned before attending to you and make sure the doctor washes his hands as well.
Also: When visiting someone in the hospital, don’t pull out your cell phone to show photos in an effort to cheer up the patient. Better yet, leave your cell phone at home or in the car. If you are a patient or visitor in the hospital and feel you need your phone, clean it regularly with sanitizing wipes (such as Wireless Wipes) or a UV sterilizing device for cell phones.
Interruptions to workflow and distractions. Researchers at Oregon State University and the Oregon Health & Science University tested the impact of distractions on residents performing a simulated gallbladder surgery. When the surgeons were interrupted by a cell-phone ring, the sound of a dropped metal tray clanging or other distraction, 44% made serious errors that could have led to a fatality, including damage to organs and arteries. Only one surgeon made a mistake when there were no interruptions.
Self-defense: To protect yourself from such forms of “distracted doctoring,” ask your hospital whether it has a policy on the safe use of electronic devices throughout the hospital, and ask for a copy if it does. If electronic devices are allowed in the operating room, share your concerns with your surgical team.
At the University of Rochester Medical Center, we have a “Code of eConduct” to minimize the distractions of devices such as smartphones and tablets. Guidelines include that devices must be in “silent” mode (no ringing or vibrating) when in a patient’s room…work-issued devices should not be used for personal use…and all personal business must be conducted only in break rooms and out of view of patients.
Addiction. Just like everyone else, many doctors and other health-care professionals do not even realize how addicted they are to their smartphones and social media.
In a survey of more than 400 perfusionists (technicians who operate heart-lung bypass machines during heart surgery), more than half admitted that they had used a cell phone during heart bypass procedures to access e-mail, surf the Internet and use social networking sites.
While 78% of the technicians said that cell phones could potentially pose a safety risk to patients, when asked about speaking on the phone and texting, only 42% and 52% of them said that these, respectively, were always unsafe practices. Paradoxically, while 93% reported that they were not distracted by using their phones, 34% said that they had witnessed other perfusionists being distracted by their phones or texting during procedures.
To make health-care professionals more aware of a possible addiction to technology, my colleagues and I at the University of Rochester modified a widely used screening survey for alcoholism to gauge people’s addiction to their phones, texting and/or social media. To take the survey, see below.
iPatient. When doctors are fixated on the computerized record of a patient, what I call an “iPatient,” they miss important information such as speech patterns and body language.
Self-defense: Politely ask your doctor to put the device away for a few minutes and listen to you.
Researchers at the University of Rochester modified the widely used CAGE survey for alcoholism by replacing the term “drink” with “personal electronic device” to help identify addiction to a smartphone or other devices.
Two or more “yes” answers suggest an addiction. Recognizing that you have a problem is the first step to cutting down on excessive use of technology.
