In recent years, computer technology has penetrated almost all spheres of human activity, including medicine. The abundance of functional capabilities of computer technology gives unlimited directions for their application. The functionality of the PC and the ability to optimize the doctor’s work makes it an irreplaceable assistant in treatment, and no one doubts it anymore. Nevertheless, to emphasize the topic’s relevance, at least the main directions of PC use by a doctor should be noted.
- Save in the database all information about the patient’s visit for further dynamic monitoring.
- Using ready-made templates saves the doctor’s time, standardizing and algorithmizing descriptions of conditions and studies (Roterman-Konieczna, 2020).
- Create unified information networks, from local (within the clinic) to large-scale world systems (Roterman-Konieczna, 2020).
- Using the Internet, get access to the latest medical information, establish professional contacts with colleagues from other cities and countries, and exchange experience.
It is important to emphasize the obvious advantages of personal computers. However, the computer technologies available to the doctor in our time are far from being limited to the routine use of a PC at the site (Roterman-Konieczna, 2020). The telemedicine system is developing, which makes it possible to link remote rural outpatient care centers and major research centers, metropolitan and regional hospitals, and research centers of different countries into a single network.
Health information doubles every four years, and at this rate of growth, some guidance is needed for medical practitioners to help them navigate this vast amount of information and make the most of it. At present, electronic resources are already almost as large as printed ones – but, unlike the latter, they are much less systematized (Thomaz et al., 2019). However, there are a number of electronic repositories that offer reliable and up-to-date information on all branches of medicine. MEDLINE, the US National Library of Medicine database, includes over 11 million biomedical literature sources since the 1960s and is updated annually (Thomaz et al., 2019, p.34). Free access to this database is provided by the Pub MED resource (Thomaz et al., 2019). It not only allows any Internet users to freely obtain the necessary information from the database but also greatly facilitates the search for the necessary data and allows you to sort out newer sources. In addition, the US National Library of Medicine has proposed a medical term subheading system that is used in Pub MED, which not only allows to quick and easy navigation of more than 19,000 terms but also to find exactly those articles that contain the terms the user wants (Thomaz et al., 2019). All these resources and systems were created specifically for the convenience of practicing physicians, with the ultimate goal of providing clinicians and researchers with accessible, reliable and up-to-date information with a minimum investment of time and effort.
Nevertheless, the introduction of computers may have its drawbacks, expressed in the form of exceptional generalization, which leads to the lack of an individual approach to technology. For example, in the summer of 2007, an attempt was made in the UK to put into operation a computer system called the Internship Application Service (Rueckert et al., 2019). Due to the fact that the transition to an electronic system was still somewhat hasty, this attempt was not crowned with success. This system did not take into account the differences between university graduates and experienced specialists, as well as the number of applications submitted by foreign applicants (Rueckert et al., 2019). The system itself was not flexible and perfect. However, the very fact of this attempt indicates how much computer technologies are expanding in medicine. Great Britain is the second country to try to introduce computer technology into the alumni distribution system (Rueckert et al., 2019). In the USA, this system has been successfully used for several years (Rueckert and Fichtinger and Zhou, 2019). Three steps – registration, prioritization and announcement of results – allow most job seekers to find work in their chosen specialty, and clinics get the specialists they need.
The computerization of medicine has its drawbacks in the form of great risks if analyzing the field of pharmaceuticals. For example, in aviation, the question arises of whether it is worthwhile to transfer the initiative in making decisions to a computer or still leave it to a person. The same question becomes relevant for doctors, for example, whether the apparatus should prohibit the doctor from discharging penicillin for a patient when the “allergy” column contains penicillin (Thomaz et al., 2019). This issue goes beyond electrical engineering and computerization and has yet to be resolved. Equally acute is the question of whether it is possible to trust computer systems for all types of communication (Thomaz et al., 2019). The slightest failure as a result of a minor overload can disable the communication system, which can be a difficult test for the clinic (Thomaz et al., 2019). However, certain difficulties can arise in patients who may find themselves in a difficult situation. For example, in the overwhelming majority of cases, patients do not have special knowledge about medicines, so they cannot make a decision on treatment on their own. It is important to emphasize that the problem lies not only in the recipe but also in the fact that artificial intelligence does not have an individual approach. Because of this, the computer cannot advise the patient the way a live specialist does.
References
Roterman-Konieczna, I. (Ed.). (2020). Simulations in medicine. Computer-aided diagnostics and therapy. De Gruyter.
Rueckert, D., Fichtinger, G. & Zhou, K. S. (Ed.). (2019). Handbooks of medical image computing and computer-assisted intervention. Elsevier Science.
Thomaz, C. E., Peter, J. D., Viriri, S. & Fernandes, S. L. (Ed.). (2019). Computer-aided intervention and diagnostics in clinical and medical images. Springer International Publishing.