世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s an interesting topic for tonight’s survey, a look by JR Tokai Express Research Inc, reported on by japan.internet.com, into the matter of IT in medical establishments.

Demographics

On the 13th of May 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor group who were employed in a medical-related field completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 67.3% of the sample were male, 7.9% were in their twenties, 32.7% in their thirties, 44.2% in their forties, 13.6% in their fifties, and 1.5% in their sixties.

Many small clinics these days seem to be running online booking services, so you can make your appointment at the start of the day, and keep a watch on the length of the queue and head for the surgery at a suitable time to minimise your wait.

On the other hand, at big hospitals there is almost always one counter to hand over your consultation form to, which then disappears into a back office for an indeterminate amount of time, then you get called to pay at a different desk. Even big, heavily-computerised hospitals don’t seem to have a fully electronic payment system, and it would seem that there is no practical reason why they couldn’t make the whole system electronic so I could have my bill ready and waiting for payment as soon as I leave the doctor’s office.

Research results

From the sample, 101 people worked in clinics with no beds, and 192 people worked in clinics, hospitals, etc with one or more beds. The remaining 37 people presumably were not currently working in the medical field. The article reported two questions that were asked to each of the two groups as follows. First, the 101 people working at clinics with no overnight patients.

Q1: Are computers used at the medical facility that you work at? (Sample size=101)

Yes (to SQ)	97.0%
No	3.0%

Q1SQ: To which of the following uses are the computers put to? (Sample size=101, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Medical billing system	78	77.2%
Electronic clinical records system	50	49.5%
Image file management system	34	33.6%
Reception system	32	331.7%
Diagnostic system	13	12.9%
Ordering system	9	8.9%
Medicine instruction system	7	6.9%
Area treatment network	2	2.0%
Don’t know	0	0.0%
None of the above	4	4.0%
Other	4	4.0%

Don’t ask me what the difference between “None of the above” and “Other” is! Perhaps one means other medical-related tasks and the other means only non-medical tasks?

Next, the 192 people working at hospitals with overnight patients.

Q2: Are computers used at the medical facility that you work at? (Sample size=192)

Yes (to SQ)	99.0%
No	1.0%

Q2SQ: To which of the following uses are the computers put to? (Sample size=192, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Medical billing system	141	73.4%
Ordering system	133	69.3%
Diagnostic system	120	62.5%
Image file management system	97	50.5%
Reception system	96	50.0%
Nursing system	95	49.5%
Electronic clinical records system	83	43.2%
Meal system	69	35.9%
Medicine instruction system	56	29.2%
Area treatment network	31	16.1%
Don’t know	6	3.1%
None of the above	6	3.1%
Other	7	3.6%