Doctors and nurses love their tablets and smartphones, but some hospitals are discovering that the gadgets can be a dangerous distraction. There isn't a lot of hard data on this trend, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to make one wince, including the nurse who perused airfares while in surgery and the neurosurgeon who placed personal phone calls in the middle of an operation, reports Matt Richtel at The New York Times.

Mobile devices can give clinicians instant access to vital medical data, and many hospitals have worked hard to make the technology available to encourage data-driven decision-making. But even at times when the tools can be of greatest medical benefit, they can draw medical staff's attention away from the task at hand. A recent survey showed that among technicians who operate cardio-pulmonary bypass machines, 55 percent admitted that they talk on cell phones during heart surgery, and 55 percent admitted having sent texts during the procedure.

To combat such "distracted doctoring," some hospitals have started putting limits on the use of the devices in critical environments.

"My gut feeling is lives are in danger," said Dr. Peter J. Papadakos, an anesthesiologist and director of critical care at the University of Rochester Medical Center in upstate New York. "You justify carrying devices around the hospital to do medical records, [but] you can surf the Internet or do Facebook, and sometimes, for whatever reason, Facebook is more tempting."

Last year, Oregon Health and Science University hospital made its 24 operating rooms "quiet zones," where no activity that isn't focused on patient care is allowed. The ORs' administrative director, Dio Sumagaysay, had learned of an incident in which staff were using smartphones to check email while in the midst of intubating a patient, which prompted the "quiet zone" policy. Even after the policy was in place, however, a nurse assisting in a spinal operation was caught checking airline fares online.

For more:
- see Matt Richtel's article at The New York Times

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