"The future physician of America" is a tech savvy one – one who reaches for an iPhone to choose clinical references, and who expects to use an EHR when he or she begins practicing, according to a recent survey of medical students.
The fifth annual Future Physicians of America survey, sponsored by Epocrates, polled more than 700 medical students who use the company's software, seeking their opinions on a range of topics impacting the medical profession. Approximately 80 percent of survey respondents will be practicing physicians in less than two years.
The survey found that students this year were twice as likely to turn to mobile references compared to respondents in 2009. Nearly 80 percent of students report using Epocrates on a daily basis, with the majority using it multiple times throughout the day to confirm proper drug doses and check for adverse reactions or drug-drug interactions.
Clayton Knight, a fourth year medical student at the Ohio State College of Medicine, uses Epocrates on his iPod. He said he doesn't think checking the technology before asking an attending is necessarily a bad thing. "If there is a gap in my knowledge, I use [Epocrates] to fill in that gap, and if there is still a gray area I will go to my attending."
"It is interesting that medical students are more likely to use a drug reference tool than ask a peer or mentor a question," said Sean Handel, vice president of subscriber business at Epocrates. "These students have grown-up in a digital culture and are not only comfortable with technology, they prefer it. Fortunately, they understand that not all resources are created equal and the quality of content is as important as the speed to access. As the survey showed, drug reference trust rate is at nearly 90 percent and Internet search credibility is less than half of that."
The study showed Apple mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPod touch soaring in popularity, with nearly 70 percent of students currently using the device – a 37 percent increase over 2009 respondents. More than 40 percent of future physicians also reported that they planned to upgrade to a newer smartphone within the next year; of those, more than 60 percent planned to purchase the iPhone and nearly a quarter said they'll buy an Android device.
Meanwhile, the survey found that students have high expectations for EHRs, with 70 percent of medical students saying the technology is an important factor in deciding where they will practice medicine.
"The incoming batch of doctors are getting exposure to EHR systems early on, so it's something they are not afraid of," said Handel. "They can clearly see the benefits and would like to start practicing with one in place."
Ohio State's University Hospital's emergency room is using electronic records, but University Hospital East ER is still paper-based, which prepares medical students for practicing medicine in either setting, said Clayton.
The study showed that in contrast to industry predictions, students believe the benefits to medical practices will be the main driver for EHR implementation, rather than government initiatives. This was also the finding of the 2010 U.S. Ambulatory EHR and Practice Management Study, conducted by healthcare technology and research and advisory firm CapSite.
"Interestingly, we found that the most important reason driving Ambulatory EHR purchases was the goal of physicians making their practice more efficient and not the ARRA / HITECH Act Stimulus funding," said CapSite's Director of Research, Brendan FitzGerald.
