Technology in the academic and administrative spaces is widely available in South Africa and across the world.

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When it comes to clinical medicine, however, South Africa's tech-engagement is lagging. Only an estimated 40% of healthcare professionals are currently using digital health records despite the fact that global figures show a 59% improvement in patient outcomes wherever electronic health records are implemented (Desfarges, 2023). 

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The biggest problem is that software developers invariably do not understand the healthcare industry. Medical providers are not maladaptive or tech-naiive. We are inculcated with an internal clinical framework that is older and more universal than any user interface built in the last fifty years. It helps us plan, it helps us communicate and it helps us unravel highly complex clinical problems on a daily basis. Failing to understand this internal structure results in interfaces built for us that are unintuitive, that slow us down and that add to our cognitive load. The result: we don't want to use them.

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As a doctor who has been frustrated in the past with generic data-capturing systems, my vision is to provide my colleagues with electronic offerings that speed up their processes rather than slowing them down, lighten their mental load and connect us in novel, practical ways.

 

I therefore invite you to send your thoughts to us below: share your ideas, make suggestions, vent frustrations, tell us what you need to reduce your cognitive load and free up brain space for clinical decision-making. We will work towards bringing you the most user-centric systems possible.

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