The Clinician’s Guide to Surviving IT

Citation

(2006), "The Clinician’s Guide to Surviving IT", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 19 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2006.06219dae.001

The Clinician’s Guide to Surviving IT

Please note that unless expressly stated, these are not reviews of the titles given. They are descriptions of the books, based on information provided by the publishers.

The Clinician’s Guide to Surviving ITAlan Gillies(Professor of Information Management, Postgraduate School of Medicine and Health, University of Central Lancashire)Radcliffe PublishingISBN 1 85775 797 1

Keywords: Information technology, Informatics, Clinical responsibilities

The NHS is currently in the middle of the biggest information technology project in Western Europe, which will fundamentally change the working practices of all NHS staff over the next five years. This book explains to ordinary clinicians why they should be bothered with IT, and what their responsibilities are in making it work.

This book provides an enlightening and reassuring read that dispels ignorance and suspicion. The user-friendly style is helpful, and friendly panels with tips, warnings, reflective pauses and key points highlight important details. It is also suitable for use as a student textbook.

The Clinician’s Guide to Surviving IT is a must for every doctor, nurse and midwife in the NHS.

The book is designed for clinicians, especially those who are nervous or just plain angry about the information technology that is being introduced into the NHS. It starts by explaining what IT can do for clinicians and patients, and goes on to outline clinician responsibilities towards the technology, what is needed to keep patients safe and to provide the best possible care for patients.

The author is a well respected figure on the world of health informatics. The academic unit he runs is at the forefront of education and training of clinical staff. He has used this long experience to create a book which is simple to use and yet can bring the reader right up to date about the way healthcare is changing. If you realise that this revolution is one you have to get to grips with, but are unsure how to do so, then this book is for you.

Contents include:

What can informatics do for me? Why should we care about informatics? Why do our leaders care about informatics? Informatics can improve patient care. Keeping better. Informatics can help with professional practice and development. Informatics can help you find information. Joined up care needs joined up information. Informatics can empower patients. Information governance.