Attitudes of patients towards digital information retrieval by their physician at point of care in an ambulatory setting.

BACKGROUND: While the access to information through digital resources is widely available for physicians, concerns are posed about the use of digital devices for information retrieval at the point of care. This use of digital devices among practicing physicians in the community setting is not well studied, particularly from the patient's perspective. AIM: The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of use of digital devices by physicians in the community setting and attitude of patients towards the usage of digital devices by the physician to retrieve information at the point of care during the clinical encounter. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: This is a cross-sectional study among 385 patients who visited pharmacies to dispense a recent (2 weeks) prescription by their physician. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients who presented at a random set of pharmacies to buy medications prescribed in a recent clinical visit were approached to fill a paper-based questionnaire. Survey items included patient demographics and patients' attitude towards their physician's usage of digital devices using a Likert scale rating. RESULTS: This study shows that around one quarter of physicians use digital devices at the point of care. About 40% of patients are bothered by a physician who uses digital devices to retrieve information during the clinical encounter. Trusting the competence of physicians using digital devices at the point of care for retrieving information is positively correlated with being less bothered. Almost half (50.6%) are interested in knowing the reason behind their physician's use of the digital device. Patients tend to be less bothered when they are informed about the reason of the digital device use, as only 12.5% of those informed are bothered compared to 35.8% of those who are not (P value = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Physicians should be aware of their patients' preferences when using digital devices during the clinical encounter. Physicians' use of digital devices during the encounter may endanger the patient-doctor relationship due to the perception of the patient of the competence of the physician.