I wrote on the Brilliant Blog yesterday about how the use of computers during medical exams may get in the way of doctor-patient communication. A new study that’s just come to my attention suggests that doctors—and the rest of us—could learn something about the effective use of computers from airplane pilots. Aviation has a “long history of success in complex communication between humans and machines,” notes Richard Frankel, a professor at Indiana University School of Medicine—a history that positions it “as an exemplar that may provide useful strategies to improve communication in the exam room.” When an air traffic controller gives an instruction to a pilot, the pilot has to respond in a way that shows he has understood the air traffic controller’s message, Frankel observes. Likewise, the pilot and the co-pilot must have the same understanding of all communication, and this practice is engineered right into the instrumentation and ergonomics of the cockpit. We don’t have that in medicine, says Frankel on the website of Indiana University: “Computers can be placed anywhere that it is convenient to drop the connecting wires, irrespective of whether this means the doctor’s back is to the patient while he or she types. Likewise, doctors speak to patients but do not generally test for comprehension by asking them to repeat what was said, a feedback loop that is required in aviation. Would it be better if, as the physician enters an order into the electronic medical record, he or she says it out loud or shows it to the patient on an easy-to-read computer screen so that both people in the room have the same understanding and opportunity for correcting errors and misunderstanding? The best interventions are those that make it easy for the doctor and patient to do the right thing. Unfortunately, technology in the exam room is not always configured in a way that optimizes interaction.” So often, we humans adapt ourselves to our devices. But this gets the relationship between man and machine backwards, as cognitive scientist Don Norman has noted in books like Things That Make Us Smart. Our technology should be arranged to maximize intelligent thought and behavior. Brilliant readers, what do you think? Have you found ways to adapt technology to human needs, instead of the other way around? anniemurphypaul/2014/02/what-doctors-can-learn-from-airplane-pilots/
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 15:51:49 +0000
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