Justine Mrosak entered the exam room, laptop in hand, and began interviewing her patient about his shoulder injury, systematically checking off questions and entering medical data on the computer.

At Entira Family Clinics, where the third-year medical student was making her rounds last week, the computer has become an extension of the doctor’s arm, as essential to patient care as the stethoscope.

Dr. Cindy Firkins Smith sees things a bit differently. The Willmar dermatologist hates to put technology between her patient and herself, and finds data entry a time-consuming chore.

“You are taking the most expensive cog in the wheel,” she said, “and you are making them a computer input person.” READ MORE