Consciousness Raising Exercise #29

Cost Control Community Hospital has a huge digital dictation system which services more than 200 doctors. The hospital's radiologists, however, insist on using hand-held tape recorders. Why? For the past 25 years their departmental transcriptionist has pampered her radiologists beyond belief.

These doctors never dictate the name of the patient whose x-ray is being reviewed. They merely leave a bunch of forms (corresponding to their dictated reports) face down in a tray on Audrey's desk with the tape containing their dictation. Unfortunately, whenever Audrey gets sick or goes on vacation, transcription in the hospital's radiology department comes to a dead halt.

The manager of the radiology department and the chairman of the Medical Record Committee have spent the past two years trying to convince Dr. Q (the chairman of the radiology department) to stop using tapes and make use of the hospital's digital dictation system. But Dr. Q will not budge.

Dr. Q fully understands that using the hospital's digital dictation system might lead to faster turn-around time and better coverage by more medical transcriptionists. But Dr. Q likes having Audrey in his department, he likes using his hand-held tape recorder and no amount of hospital politics will make him change his ways.

More than anything else, Dr. Q resents the idea that using the hospital's digital dictation system would force him to punch numbers into a telephone's keypad. As far as Dr. Q is concerned, punching numbers into a keypad is a clerical function which is beneath his professional dignity as a radiologist.

Ironically, Dr. Q's home is equipped with a touch-tone phone in every room. Dr. Q carries a cellular phone with him wherever he goes. Not only does his home office have two computers, Dr. Q has become quite adept at handling file transfers.

Audrey was recently offered an early retirement package and has decided to accept the offer. When the chairman of the Medical Record Committee made a last-ditch attempt to get Dr. Q to bring his department on-line with the hospital's digital dictation system, Dr. Q again refused to change his dictation habits.

In 100 words or less, explain what is wrong with this picture.