Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Bulletin of the Medical Library Association logoLink to Bulletin of the Medical Library Association
. 1989 Oct;77(4):372–380.

The medical information needs of internists and pediatricians at an academic medical center.

S H Woolf 1, D A Benson 1
PMCID: PMC227491  PMID: 2790344

Abstract

Medical information needs were examined in a survey of sixty-seven physicians selected from the faculty and housestaff at Johns Hopkins Hospital. A standardized questionnaire was administered personally by a medical informatics physician to collect data on information needs, attitudes, and previous experience with computers. The types of information most frequently required by both faculty and housestaff were treatment recommendations and differential diagnosis. The sources of reference information most commonly used were textbooks and colleagues. The information needs of housestaff differed significantly in several categories from those of faculty physicians. Housestaff more frequently needed information for patient care (P less than 0.05), and preferred the use of textbooks (P less than 0.01) and handbooks (P less than 0.001) as information sources. Faculty more frequently needed information for activities unrelated to patient care (P less than 0.01) and placed greater importance on basic science information (P less than 0.01). When asked to suggest references for online access, the respondents named 143 journals and textbooks, with journals overwhelmingly preferred over textbooks. Only one reference, the New England Journal of Medicine, was requested by a majority of the respondents. The importance of a broad understanding of physician information needs through improved data-collection techniques is discussed as a means of increasing the use of medical information systems.

Full text

PDF
372

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson J. G., Jay S. J., Schweer H. M., Anderson M. M. Physician utilization of computers in medical practice: policy implications based on a structural model. Soc Sci Med. 1986;23(3):259–267. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(86)90346-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson J. G., Jay S. J., Schweer H. M., Anderson M. M. Why doctors don't use computers: some empirical findings. J R Soc Med. 1986 Mar;79(3):142–144. doi: 10.1177/014107688607900305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Christensen D. B., Wertheimer A. I. Sources of information and influence on new drug prescribing among physicians in an HMO. Soc Sci Med. 1979 May;13A(3):313–322. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cohen S. J., Weinberger M., Mazzuca S. A., McDonald C. J. Perceived influence of different information sources on the decision-making of internal medicine house staff and faculty. Soc Sci Med. 1982;16(14):1361–1364. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(82)90032-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Collen M. F., Flagle C. D. Full-text medical literature retrieval by computer. A pilot test. JAMA. 1985 Nov 15;254(19):2768–2774. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Covell D. G., Uman G. C., Manning P. R. Information needs in office practice: are they being met? Ann Intern Med. 1985 Oct;103(4):596–599. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-103-4-596. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Curry L., Putnam R. W. Continuing medical education in Maritime Canada: the methods physicians use, would prefer and find most effective. Can Med Assoc J. 1981 Mar 1;124(5):563–566. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Garfield E. Which medical journals have the greatest impact? Ann Intern Med. 1986 Aug;105(2):313–320. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-105-2-313. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Haynes R. B., McKibbon K. A., Walker C. J. Planning for the information age: a survey of microcomputer use in a faculty of health sciences. CMAJ. 1987 May 15;136(10):1035–1037. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Huth E. J. Needed: an economics approach to systems for medical information. Ann Intern Med. 1985 Oct;103(4):617–619. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-103-4-617. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kochen M., Cohen L., Wulff Y. Information systems and clinical research by residents in internal medicine. Methods Inf Med. 1985 Apr;24(2):85–90. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Manning P. R., Denson T. A. How cardiologists learn about echocardiography. A reminder for medical educators and legislators. Ann Intern Med. 1979 Sep;91(3):469–471. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-91-3-469. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Manning P. R., Denson T. A. How internists learned about cimetidine. Ann Intern Med. 1980 May;92(5):690–692. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-92-5-690. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Northup D. E., Moore-West M., Skipper B., Teaf S. R. Characteristics of clinical information-searching: investigation using critical incident technique. J Med Educ. 1983 Nov;58(11):873–881. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Osiobe S. A. Use of information resources by health professionals: a review of the literature. Soc Sci Med. 1985;21(9):965–973. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(85)90418-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shortliffe E. H. Computer programs to support clinical decision making. JAMA. 1987 Jul 3;258(1):61–66. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Singer J., Sacks H. S., Lucente F., Chalmers T. C. Physician attitudes toward applications of computer data base systems. JAMA. 1983 Mar 25;249(12):1610–1614. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Stinson E. R., Mueller D. A. Survey of health professionals' information habits and needs. Conducted through personal interviews. JAMA. 1980 Jan 11;243(2):140–143. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Strasser T. C. The information needs of practicing physicians in northeastern New York State. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1978 Apr;66(2):200–209. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Stross J. K., Harlan W. R. Dissemination of relevant information on hypertension. JAMA. 1981 Jul 24;246(4):360–362. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Stross J. K., Harlan W. R. The dissemination of new medical information. JAMA. 1979 Jun 15;241(24):2622–2624. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Teach R. L., Shortliffe E. H. An analysis of physician attitudes regarding computer-based clinical consultation systems. Comput Biomed Res. 1981 Dec;14(6):542–558. doi: 10.1016/0010-4809(81)90012-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Young D. W. What makes doctors use computers?: discussion paper. J R Soc Med. 1984 Aug;77(8):663–667. doi: 10.1177/014107688407700810. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the Medical Library Association are provided here courtesy of Medical Library Association

RESOURCES