Half of the 25 consultations featuring high computer use resulted in patients who rated their care as "excellent." But 80 percent of the 19 consultations with low-computer use received similarly high marks.

The study may have been too small to yield statistically compelling findings. But the differences in care observed by study author Neda Ratanawongsa, a professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, highlight the benefits and drawbacks of computers in the world of health care.

Ratanawongsa suggests that some of the negative feelings associated with doctors who use their computers a lot may be evidence of unpleasant but necessary scrutiny that doctors are applying to patient health records. The doctors in the study with high computer use spent more time correcting patients about their health pasts based on their electronic health records.

But too much computer use can prevent the patient from forming an emotional connection with their physicians. They may feel that the doctor isn't listening.

It's not that complaints of health care being impersonal are anything new. Two years ago, Danielle Ofri, a doctor who regularly writes about medical issues, said that doctors should refrain from computer use at the beginning of consultations with patients.

"I have often found that I make the best connection with my patient during the physical exam because suddenly there is not a computer between us," she said in an address before the American Academy of Dermatology. "The act of the physical exam, the fact that you are physically close or touching, allows patients to talk more freely and feel much more comfortable than when they are talking to a doctor who is typing into a computer."