Making eye contact

DSCN2310Health care providers spend too much time looking at computer screens, which can have an impact on communication with patients. Research showed that physicians spend one-third of patient visits staring at computer monitors. This is not just a problem for physicians: the nurse in our pediatrician’s office turns her back to us when she enters information into the computer and when she looks at the screen (which is mounted on the wall opposite the exam table).

In fact, as a diabetes educator, I know that I have been concerned with looking at the computer when I first meet a patient and have to enter information. I tried to arrange the office so I can still look at the patient, but truthfully, I have to turn my head to do so. Even if the screen were directly between the provider and the patient, if one’s focus is not on the patient, then it’s not on the patient.

Is there a good answer? We have to get information into the computer, and we have to look at the people with whom we work. Maybe we can take notes on a piece of paper and enter everything later? Not cost-effective, but perhaps the improvement in patient-provider relationship will pay off in the long run.

I relate to this from both sides: as patient and as provider. I have been to many appointments where health care professionals look at the computer more than they look at me. One of my favorites is being asked, “Do you have a fear of falling?” at the ophthalmologist’s office, while the person asking is staring at the monitor. What if I answered, “No,” but my face said, “Yes”? They’d never know.

Diabetes educators/health care professionals – how do you deal with this quandary? And those who sit in the patient’s seat – what have your providers done that works for you?

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