Cellphones good for patient care: study
Maybe it's time for hospitals to start taking down those "no cellphones" signs. A new study from the Yale University School of Medicine found that allowing doctors to use cellphones to communicate reduces error rates by allowing more timely communication. The study, conducted among anesthesiologists, found that 40% of the doctors who used pagers as their main form of communication (people still use pagers?) suffered communication delays. Meanwhile, 31% of the doctors who used cellphones instead said they suffered delays. The study pointed out that, while cellphones still pose a 2.4% risk of interference with life-support devices, it's an acceptable risk, since it's lower than the 14.9% risk of injuries due to communication delays. Of course, if you're on life support equipment, you may want to keep the "no cellphones" sign up on your door and let the doctor make his calls from the hallway.
[Via textually.org]
