hen the ASA Committee on Electronic Media and Information Technology (EMIT) became a standing committee 10 years ago, the only experience most anesthesiologists had with computers involved accessing laboratory values over a computer terminal in the hospital. Very few ASA members had mobile telephones and even fewer had access to the Internet. Information technology is now an important part of health care. From clinical information resources on the Internet to handheld computers and electronic medical records, computers are now an important part of all facets of health care. EMIT members are working on many exciting projects that will provide tangible benefits to every ASA member. This special issue of the NEWSLETTER discusses some of the technology issues that are beginning to affect our daily practice.

Going Mobile
Many ASA members report that their medical centers have policies prohibiting the use of wireless devices in the operating room and intensive care unit, even though the risk of using these devices is very small. As part of its efforts to modernize communication throughout the specialty, EMIT studied the impact of mobile telephones on patient safety and found that anesthesiologists who used mobile telephones instead of pagers made fewer errors in patient care. This was the first large study of interference between mobile telephones and medical equipment, and it also documented that the use of mobile telephones reduces the incidence of medical errors.¹

Active Committee
EMIT members serve on ASA committees and represent ASA to organizations that create policies related to health care information technology. For example members of EMIT work with the Committee on Outreach Education and the Workgroup on Simulation Education. EMIT members are called upon to advise the Food and Drug Administration on how new medical devices should exchange information. Members of the committee responded to a request for information on the design of a national health information network. This response was distributed to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as an example of “best thinking.” In these roles, EMIT works to represent the interests of the entire specialty.

Members of the EMIT committee have a broad expertise in many areas of health information technology, and the articles in this issue describe their work. In this issue, for example, you can read about the latest technology in patient simulators. Nearly every anesthesiologist has experienced problems with monitors or drug pumps that simply will not work together. You can read on page 6 about efforts to create standards which will ensure that new medical devices can be connected as easily as connecting a printer to a computer. There also are updates on handheld computers (page 8) and podcasting (page 11), the latest trend in Internet broadcasts. EMIT members are looking for ways to use this new technology to improve the teaching and practice of anesthesiology.

Get Connected in Chicago
Tne of the best places to meet EMIT members and see what the committee does is at the ASA Annual Meeting. EMIT members staff a section of the ASA Resource Center in the exhibit hall at each Annual Meeting. These members are on hand to answer questions about computers and the Internet. EMIT members also moderate and serve as faculty in computing workshops that offer lectures and individual tutorials. Emergency communication will be the focus of this year’s exhibit at the ASA Annual Meeting in Chicago. The natural disasters of 2005 left many of us wondering how we would communicate with our colleagues in the absence of telephone service and electricity. EMIT members will demonstrate simple, readily available equipment that will allow physicians to communicate with their colleagues when everything else fails.

The projects described in this article are just a few of the things that EMIT members are doing to help ASA members and advance the specialty. The committee is always looking for new ideas and people who are interested in how information technology can improve the practice of anesthesiology. If you have a question about any aspect of information technology or an idea about how to improve our practice, we want to hear from you.

Reference:
1. Soto RG, Chu LF, Goldman JM, et al. Communication in critical care environments: Mobile telephones improve patient care. Anesth Analg. 2006; 102:535-541.

Keith J. Ruskin, M.D., is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.