Computers in the examining room: the patient's perspective.

CompuHx* is an Interactive Health Appraisal System (IHAPS) used in the examining room at Kaiser-Permanente's San Diego Department of Preventive Medicine to record patient information, assist in diagnosis, and provide a legible summary of findings. The purpose of the present project was to examine the impact of computer use in the examining room on patient satisfaction with the Health Appraisal experience. Survey results showed no significant differences in patient satisfaction between patients whose examiners used CompuHx and those whose examiners did not. These findings indicate that, in the eyes of the patients surveyed, clinician use of a computer in the examining room did not depersonalize their relationship with the clinician, nor did it enhance satisfaction with the thoroughness of the exam or confidence in the examiner's findings.