by Dean F. Sittig, Ph.D.

I am not a neo-Luddite(1). I am a true fan and user of the current generation of handheld computers. Despite that, if one accepts the assumption that a primary purpose of clinical computing is to enhance communication among members of the clinical team, then this generation of handheld computing devices will have no measurable impact on the field of clinical computing. Enhancing clinical communication requires a tremendous amount of data input and output. Any hardware designed to facilitate this goal should be easy to use (i.e., easy to enter data as well as retrieve and review it) and able to send and receive information throughout the healthcare delivery network. Very few healthcare providers working today have ever seen networks extensive enough to achieve this goal (e.g., the networks at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT or the Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, MA). Many providers are now assuming that the current generation of handheld computers is capable of performing these tasks and hence transforming the field of clinical computing. They are wrong. Here's why...

1. Ned Ludd was a workman in 19th century England. He and others destroyed labor saving machinery as protest. Hence the term Luddite has come to represent anyone who is opposed to technological progress, especially those who resort to violence to illustrate their point. Those who are against the most recent advances have been referred to as Neo-Luddites.

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