Extending medical center computer application to rural health clinics

Abstract

A paper entitled "A COMPUTER DATA BASE FOR CLINICIANS, MANAGERS AND RESEARCHERS," presented during the 1981 SCAMC, described the Salt Lake VA Medical Center computer system. Since that time, two Rural Health Clinics each about 150 miles from Salt Lake City were established by the SL VAMC to reduce traveling distances and improve services for Veterans. Although many existing computer applications were available with no modifications, additional software was needed to support unique needs of the clinics. The Rural Health package of software was designed to gather and store demographic and clinical information on each Veteran, determine the types of services provided, track services over time, monitor services provided by local hospitals and clinical laboratories which are paid for by the VA, determine total clinic costs, etc. These computer applications may be of interest to Medical Centers with separate clinics or outreach programs and individuals or groups in private practice with programs similar to the VA Rural Health Clinics.