Making the transition from information systems of the 1970s to medical information systems of the 1990s: The role of the Physician's Workstation

Abstract

Many hospitals today have implemented widely disparate information systems on mainframe and mini-computer hardware. The advent of network technology in hospitals has made it possible to access information in these systems. Unfortunately, the user interfaces to applications on these systems are unique and difficult to learn, which makes them unsuitable for use by clinical services. In this paper we describe the development of a Physician's Workstation which integrates information from multiple existing information systems and discuss how the workstation makes it possible to move from the departmental systems of the present to the computer-based medical record system of the future.

Cost-effectiveness and pain medicine

“…Finally, the reengineering of [42] hospital, clinic, and office practice information systems to increase clinical "userfriendliness" can help physicians improve decision making by reducing information-related diagnostic and treatment delays, improving interdisciplinary communication, and improving the accuracy of chart-abstracted coding for reimbursement [43]. The resources used in the creation of an information system designed to meet the pain practitioner's needs in a cost-effective manner is money well spent and should result in a more positive bottom line for the practice by reducing duplication, increasing the legibility of recorded clinical information, and tracking outcome and treatment strategies.…”

Multimedia Workstations: Electronic Assistants for HealthCare Professionals

“…Nature of the publication Analysis and design, review papers Development, derscriptive papers Evaluation papers Total no (1) Main application domain covered Generic Health-care units Radiology, PACS, radiotherapy Biology, genetics, molecular biology Anatomopathology Surgical processing Signal processing Education Access to data and knowledge banks Epidemiology, clinical research Workstations for disabled people Total no (I) Total number of publications in Medline (2) Ratio (1)/ (2) cilitate the collection of the data necessary for executive decision support.…”

“…However, the recent development of community health-information networks (CHIN) and the current explosion of Internet-and Intranet-based experiences will significantly change for the years to come the vision of the functionalities and architecture of a workstation [ 16,17]. Table 2, derived from the literature and the personal experience of the authors, summarizes some key functional requirements of an intelligent workstation for the health professional [1,[4][5][6][7][8][9]. Group 1 and part of group 5 functions are clearly patient centered.…”

“…Table 2, derived from the literature and the personal experience of the authors, summarizes some key functional requirements of an intelligent workstation for the health professional [1,[4][5][6][7][8][9]. Group 1 and part of group 5 functions are clearly patient centered.…”

“…Because of continued purchasing of closed-end solutions, health-care fa-cilities are still not in a position to provide their professionals with transparent access to distributed patient data, knowledge sources, and processing services. The workstation for the health-care professional provides both a short-term solution to the problem of inadequate information infrastructures and an evolutionary path toward an integrated information environment [1][2][3]. The development of such a workstation involves consideration from the viewpoints of the end-user, the engineer, and the health administrator.…”