From today's Wall Street Journal : Office Technology Software for Symptoms

From the Wall Street Journal :
Office Technology Software for Symptoms: Diagnostic software hasn't caught on yet among doctors; But that may be starting to change
Jeanette Borzo. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: May 23, 2005. pg. R.10

Author(s): Jeanette Borzo
Section: Technology (A Special Report)
Publication title: Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: May 23, 2005. pg. R.10
Source type: Newspaper
ISSN/ISBN: 00999660
ProQuest document ID: 843300421
Text Word Count 1630
Document URL: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=843300421&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=69458&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Abstract (Document Summary)

"DDS has remarkably little market share or presence," says Thomas Handler, a physician and research director at Gartner Inc., a technology consulting firm based in Stamford, Conn. Many agree with his assessment that such programs simply haven't proved to be more adept at diagnosis than physicians are on their own. Medicine, Dr. Handler says, "is really an art."

"Any of the statistics you want to look at tell us that we are doing a lousy job" in general of quickly making correct diagnoses, says Dr. [Charles Burger]. Diagnostic-support software can be a big help in sorting through the myriad possible causes of a patient's symptoms, he says. "Are the tools perfect?" says Dr. Burger. "No, but they are getting better all the time."

"These are small-business people," says David C. Kibbe, a doctor who is the health information-technology director for the American Academy of Family Physicians in Leawood, Kan. "They've got to pay the bills" like any other small business, he says. "Margins [in family practice] are very narrow to begin with," leaving scant room for discretionary spending on information-technology systems.