It’s elementary: Doctors need to do more than see, they must observe

NOT reading X-rays is bad enough.

Not reading patients is a hell of a lot worse. It’s also more widely distributed than the X-ray issue and undoubtedly causes commensurate failure to accurately diagnose.

If I had the money, I’d sponsor a study into the gaze patterns of doctors. All doctors. GPs, consultants, A&E registrars, psychiatrists. The methodology would rely on filming the medics in their normal setting, as they meet new or returning patients. At least some of the filmed clips, and probably a majority of them, would show the doctor paying more attention to the records on their computer screen than to the patient. Of course, they’d be listening while reading the most recent prescriptions issued to the patient or (in A&E) the notes taken by the triage nurse. But they would not necessarily be LOOKING at the patient.