Selection of an obstetric data base for a microcomputer and its use for on‐line production of birth notification forms, discharge summaries and perinatal audit

Abstract

A microcomputer system is described which stores data for perinatal audit and produces 'on-line' the statutory birth notification form and mother and baby discharge summary. The derivation of a minimum data-base and the methods used to obtain reliable data are outlined. The results of a trial of the production of the birth notification form for 195 deliveries are reported together with those of a further trial of 86 deliveries in which the system was used to produce both the notification form and the discharge summary. A study of the accuracy of the handwritten birth notification forms revealed a high error rate which was markedly reduced by the use of the microcomputer system. The system is now in routine use and further developments are outlined.

What is the optimal caesarean section rate? An outcome based study of existing variation.

“…The teaching hospitals tended to have more specialised neonatal care and a higher level of resources than the other three categories, but within the latter there were only slight differences and no clear trend (data available on request). (94) (30) 14 (203) [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] (342) * p < 0001: trend for the principal analysis (excluding highest CST category); tp < 0001: trend, all categories included. Table 1 shows the characteristics of the populations served by the units in each category.…”

A review of the role of information technology in discharge communications in Australia

“…Eighteen of the articles identified in the literature search described computerised medical records systems which generated discharge summaries as their primary task or as a secondary task (Jelovsek et al 1977;Janik et al 1978;Stern & Rubin 1979;Maresh et al 1983;Finer & Fraser 1985;Dunn & Dale 1986;Castleden et al 1988;Holyoake & Semple 1990;Lenhard et al 1991;Lissauer et al 1991;Occena & Huang 1991;Odaka et al 1991;Regan 1991;Williams, Haley & Gosnold 1991;Branger et al 1992;Roland 1992;Adams, Bristol & Poskitt 1993;Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 1996). Two of these were Australian (Castleden et al 1988;Regan 1991), but one of these was a proposed rather than actual system (Regan 1991).…”

“…• timeliness (Castleden et al 1988;Holyoake and Semple 1990;Branger et al 1992) • increased GP satisfaction (Branger et al 1992), cost-effectiveness (Finer & Fraser 1985) or efficiency (Dunn & Dale 1986;Branger et al 1992) • reduced error rate (Janik et al 1978;Maresh et al 1983) • the facilitation of clinical audit (Janik et al 1978;Stern & Rubin 1979;Castleden et al 1988;Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 1996).…”

“…The search found 17 articles. Eight of these were relevant and described the use of computers to generate discharge information between hospitals and GPs (Jelovsek et al 1977;Janik et al 1978;Stern & Rubin 1979;Maresh et al 1983;Branger et al 1992;Copland 1994;Johnston et al 1994; Hunter Urban Division of General Practice 1996). The author identified 13 further articles in refereed journals from general reading (Finer & Fraser 1985;Dunn & Dale 1986;Castleden et al 1988;Holyoake & Semple 1990;Lissauer et al 1991;Occena & Huang 1991;Odaka et al 1991;Regan 1991;Williams, Haley & Gosnold 1991;Branger et al 1992;Roland 1992;Adams, Bristol & Poskitt 1993;Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 1996).…”

Evaluating the quality of the maternity services—a discussion paper

“…Data, which are collected from the time of booking to the end of the neonatal period, are automatically validated at entry and entered on line by midwives. When the system was developed data items were selected because they occurred with a certain minimum frequency (Maresh et al 1983) and fulfilled Korner data requirements (Steering Group on Health Services Information 1984). At present, the system is operational in all 15 (reduced from 17 in 1988) maternity units in the region and collects information relating to approximately 42 000 consecutive pregnancies and deliveries each year.…”