After years of resisting computerization, physicians are finally taking up handhelds, but not for the reasons many in medical IT would prefer. Meanwhile, non-doctors automate everything from pill dispensing to patient identification.
Studies of how IT is used in medicine have consistently shown that the people most resistant to information technology are the ones who are most central to making it effective: doctors.
Some doctors fulfill the stereotype of the distracted clinician who is forbidden to use the office equipment by administrative staffers who are tired of having to fix the copier all the time.
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Others are comfortable with technology, but don't use it the way the rest of the hospital would prefer.
But not to worry. The struggle to get doctors wired is fading in the wash of news about medical applications that actually make patient care and hospital operations more secure and efficient.
