Computer use by Canada's physicians approaches 90% mark

The CMA's 2001 Physician Resource Questionnaire (PRQ) indicates that personal computer use among physicians continues to rise, with 88% of respondents reporting that they personally use computers, compared with 84% in 2000 and 79% in 1999. Female physicians are only slightly less likely than male physicians to use computers personally (86% v. 89%).

Of nonusers, 41% plan to start using a computer within the next 12 months, compared with 37% in 2000. If all had followed through on their promise in 2000, overall computer use would have increased by 5% in 2001. The 4% increase indicates that the large majority followed through on their plans.

As with questionnaires from earlier years, younger physicians are slightly more likely to use a computer personally: 92% of doctors under 35 and 93% of those aged 35-44 stated that they use computers, compared with 90% of those aged 45-54 and 85% of those in the 55-64 age group. At 92% and 91%, medical specialists and surgical specialists are almost equally likely to use computers personally, while 85% of GP/FPs are computer users.

An increase in the proportion of physicians making personal use of computers does not necessarily result in increased computer use by doctors in their offices. In 2001, 14% of physicians used computers for electronic billing, 14% for electronic health records, and 29% for general office management — all the data are virtually unchanged from 1999. One doctor explained: “I lack the resources to computerize my office. My overhead is on the upswing and my income [is] continuously being reduced.”

However, computer usage for other professional activities has increased over the past 2 years. One-quarter of physicians used computerized decision aids in patient management, up from 15% in 1999. The use of CD-ROM professional resources also increased between 1999 and 2001 (to 48% from 38%), as did the use of continuing medical education on diskette or CD-ROM (41% v. 34%).

For the first time, the 2001 PRQ asked physicians about their use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) or wireless devices such as Palm Pilots in clinical practice. Less than one-fifth (19%) said they use a PDA; physicians under the age of 35 were most likely to have used a PDA (27%).

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