EHI CCIO: Sources Of My Malcontent

A key aim of the EHI CCIO Campaign is to help develop the next generation of clinical information leaders. To provide a junior doctor’s perspective, Carl Reynolds a self-professed technology enthusiast on a Future Medical Leaders Fellowship, starts a new column by discussing the sources of his malcontent with hospital IT.

As a technology enthusiast and junior medical doctor, the frustration of dealing with hospital IT on a daily basis has been painful, but also incredibly gumption building.

Contrary to the claims of detractors, the simple proposition that usable health IT can deliver real patient benefit seems to me to be at least logically possible. I also think that it’s reasonable to expect that technology at work, like that at home, should be user-friendly and efficient.

Unfortunately, these twin, not unreasonable, notions sometimes seem to cast me in a disruptive role when it comes to the topsy-turvy world of healthcare IT.