Patterns and potentials of information technology use by Maltese family doctors.

Abstract

The time and money invested in paper work in the general practice setting and in the healthcare system in general always imposes a question, i.e. why does family practice not fully benefit from what technology can offer, like many other medical fields, or non medical fields such as business? This study reviews existing literature about use of computers by family doctors. Although scarce in quantity and limited, the core contents were grouped and moulded to present what computers are used for in family medicine and how family doctors are using them in different areas of the world. An online questionnaire was distributed to Maltese family doctors who are already using computers in order to study their pattern of use and the potential to grow this use in order to support their development for a continuously improving medical practice. The data collected was grouped and analysed. The results are presented as a thorough description of the participants' pattern and potential of computer use. The results were considered indicative of the current situation in Malta, which was found to be promising. The results suggested that, although the majority of family doctors who own a computer either at home or at their clinic or both, make variable use of technology, they are in continuous search for means and solutions that technology could offer to help them with their professional challenges. An Information Technology acceleration programme for family doctors is proposed by the researcher; its main features were documented in this study as part of the discussion and recommendation. This study did not aim at exploring the number of Maltese Family doctors who are computer literate but rather to study the pattern of use by the existent IT users.