ABSTRACT
Dentistry is undergoing significant changes with need for the dentist to manage a larger body of knowledge and information. There will be increasing reliance on electronic information systems in education, research, and dental practice. Dental informatics is concerned with computer and information science and technology and communications. Goals, that could be adopted for Australia, were proposed in the USA in 1989. Specific action steps that could meet those goals are proposed for Australia.
Subject(s)
Dentistry , Medical Informatics , Australia , Communication , Dentistry/organization & administration , Education, Dental , Information Systems/organization & administration , Medical Informatics/organization & administration , Organizational Objectives , Professional Practice , Research , TechnologyABSTRACT
There was a 70 per cent response to a mail questionnaire to a 1:3 sample of Australian Dental Association members in private practices (n = 1931). Computers were used by 37 per cent of practices. Main computer applications used were for: accounting (84%); patient billing (80%); word processing (79%); and patient recall (61%). External bureau services were used by 4 per cent of practices with most computers being in-house (single terminal 66%; multiple terminal 33%). The more dentists in a practice, the more likely was a computer to be used. Principal users were secretary/receptionists. Service and software were the most important factors in choice of computer system. Many practice computer users (67%) also had a Personal Computer at home compared with only 36 per cent of the non-users. Many respondents indicated the need for continuing education in computers (67% users; 61% non-users). More than half of the non-users indicated future use of computers for accounting, billing and recall. There has been a considerable increase in the use of computers in private practice (37%) since the Australian Dental Association Dental Practice Survey in 1983/84 (9%).
