Survey: Psychiatrists Using Handheld Computers to Improve Quality of Patient Care
NEW YORK — May 4, 2004 — A new survey released today at the American Psychiatric Association's 157th Annual Meeting shows significant results about psychiatrists' increasing reliance on their handheld computers (PDAs) and their impact on daily activities. More than 64 percent of the survey respondents use their PDA more than four times a day, with 12 percent using it more than 25 times a day. Some of the most useful PDA references for psychiatrists are gold standard clinical references, such as DSM-IV-TR, drug references and drug interaction guides–with over 71 percent of survey respondents crediting PDAs with helping them reduce medical errors.
Additionally, 67 percent of respondents indicated that television is leading to increasing acts of violence by youth today; and 54 percent of respondents believe that the way the music industry presents mature pop artists is causing the youth of today to grow up faster than 10 years ago. More than 40 percent concluded that increased exposure to adult information changes the way the brain develops.
The survey of more than 280 psychiatrists who use handheld computers was conducted by Skyscape(R), Inc. (www.skyscape.com), a leading provider of enterprise-wide mobile medical and nursing reference solutions. Skyscape has researched PDA effectiveness for medical professionals for almost a decade–beginning with a landmark Constellation Project involving a study of Apple's Newton platform with Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2003 the company released a survey of physicians that found increasing PDA use among medical professionals can prevent more than $100 million in medical errors.
"This new survey shows that the use of handhelds by psychiatrists, particularly to access specialty-based references such as DSM-IV-TR, drug references and to check drug interactions is one of the highest amongst the medical professions," said RJ Mathew, vice president, marketing and business development for Skyscape. "The benefits of increased PDA usage are really demonstrated when you look at the increased number of psychiatrists that credit PDAs with a significant reduction in medical errors."
PDAs–Enabling Psychiatrists to Provide Better Care
Respondents to the Skyscape survey stated that PDA use provides significant benefits by enabling them to spend more time with patients, while still treating more each day, and by improving the overall quality of patient care. Specific results include:
— More than 64 percent of psychiatrists use their PDAs at least four times a day, with 12 percent using their PDAs more than 25 times a day.
— When asked how they use their PDAs, 68 percent of psychiatrists reported they rely on their PDA for treatment purposes–primarily using it for drug references, clinical references, drug interaction guides or treatment guidelines.
— Over 71 percent of psychiatrist respondents agreed that by using a PDA they had decreased the number of potential medical errors. More than 16 percent communicated that by using a PDA they were able to eliminate over 10 percent of medical errors.
— When asked to quantify the specific benefits PDAs bring to their daily practice, 82 percent of respondents concluded that PDA use enables them to provide more care in less time.
— Psychiatrists rely on more than one PDA reference. More than 78 percent of psychiatrist respondents have at least three medical references on their PDA. This is a higher percentage than the number of doctors using multiple references in the 2003 Skyscape survey.
Skyscape solutions are increasingly being adopted by leading medical institutions, and today more than 250,000 medical professionals rely on Skyscape-powered references.
About Skyscape
Skyscape is the leading provider of interactive, intelligent mobile solutions for healthcare enterprises and individual practitioners. Unlike other products on the market, Skyscape provides full, seamless integration for more than 180 of the most respected medical references, from more than 30 major medical publishers, for 35 medical specialties, via its patented smARTlink technology. Skyscape's mobile platform enables the enterprise-wide deployment of the industry's most extensive portfolio of handheld medical and nursing reference information to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare decision making at the point-of-care. Skyscape utilizes its patented ART (Advanced Reference and Transaction) infrastructure technology to create compelling high-value solutions for handheld devices that reflect and support the intuitive thought processes of the medical practitioner. Skyscape has the largest installed base of paying customers in the industry, including individual and communities of medical practitioners at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Stanford Medical School, Partners Health System, Duke University, Mayo Clinic, SUNY and Kaiser Permanente. Skyscape's solutions are available on multiple platforms, including Palm OS(R), Windows(R) CE and Pocket PC. For more information about Skyscape, please visit our Website at www.skyscape.com.
Skyscape and smARTlink are registered trademarks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Editor's note: When referencing survey data, please attribute it to Skyscape Psychiatry PDA Usage Survey, April 2004.
CONTACT:
Skyscape
Kelli Bravo, 978-562-5555 x130 kelli@skyscape.com
or
Schwartz Communications, Inc.
Mark McClennan/Julie Goldman, 781-684-0770 skyscape@schwartz-pr.com