Failures of Direct Communication

According to the article Doctors glued to computers miss on patients' time providers published Sunday, in the Los Angeles Herald, patients are losing valuable communication time by both looking at computer screens rather than each other. Both parties were more concerned with data entry and visual clues than trying to solve the patients’ issues. The patients were watching the screens even though they could not read the information. People have been conditioned to seek endless data input.

It is not uncommon to see people injure themselves while watching a computer type device. The person walking with the smart phone in front of their face totally oblivious to the environment is a normal event.The lack of direct facial communication and interaction can cause a breakdown in the accurate flow of information. The clinician may misinterpret subtle clinical findings and form an erroneous “gestalt” – essence or shape of an entity’s complete form - of the situation – can lead to misdiagnosis and poor patient satisfaction.

The Electronic Health Record should be user-friendly and not allow the disruption of the patient-provider relationship with endless busywork. Xpress Technologies carefully designed interfaces allows the provider the ability to keep up with the “paperwork” (now known as “data entry”) without interfering with the complex interactions necessary to make appropriate decisions in a timely manner.