It has been argued that the ability to capture nuance in the description of what a clinician has seen when examining or interviewing a patient may not be as crucial as some people think. The desire to be able to express ones thoughts in an unfettered way (free text) is often used to argue against the use of structured data-entry methods using a controlled vocabulary and picking descriptors from lists.

a. What is your own view of this argument? Do you believe that it is important to the quality and/or efficiency of care for clinicians to be able to record their observations, at least part of the time, using free text/natural language?

b. Many clinicians may be unwilling to use an electronic health record (EHR) system requiring structured data entry because of the increased time required for documentation at the point of care. What are two strategies that could be used to address this problem?

2. How do you think the implementation of clinical HCISs (Health Care Information Systems) will affect the quality of relationships between patients and providers? Discuss at least three potential positive and three potential negative effects.

[ Note : Refer Chapter 1, 14 from Text book 2 : Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine]