It has always been a challenge to articulate to most people outside of healthcare what I do for a living. I don't find this unusual as it involves some specialized knowledge.
Today's front pages of the NY Times and Wall Street Journal and the lead story on CNN.com, however, are going a long way towards explaining at least a sizeable chunk. I work with healthcare providers in various settings (e.g. hospitals, community health centers, private practices) to achieve improved patient outcomes and organizational efficiency through technology enablement. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are a big part of that, and I have been working with them since the early '80s.
For the most part, computers automate a business process. It may be complex, but it is still very black & white, if/then type of computing. Using computers in clinical care, however, is automating something that is part science and part art - a much more significant challenge.
With all the attention being focused now on EHRs, I am optimistic that more people will understand what I do, and that my mom will stop referring to me as a "computer jock."
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