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A standards-based clinical information system for HIV/AIDS.

OBJECTIVE: To create a clinical data repository to interface the Veteran's Administration (VA) Decentralized Hospital Computer Program (DHCP) and a departmental clinical information system for the management of HIV patients. This system supports record-keeping, decision-making, reporting, and analysis. The database development was designed to overcome two impediments to successful implementations of clinical databases: (i) lack of a standard reference data model, and; (ii) lack of a universal standard for medical concept representation. BACKGROUND: Health Level Seven (HL7) is a standard protocol that specifies the implementation of interfaces between two computer applications (sender and receiver) from different vendors or sources of electronic data exchange in the health care environment. This eliminates or substantially reduces the custom interface programming and program maintenance that would otherwise be required. HL7 defines the data to be exchanged, the timing of the interchange, and the communication of errors to the application. The formats are generic in nature and must be configured to meet the needs of the two applications involved. The standard conceptually operates at the seventh level of the ISO model for Open Systems Interconnection (OSI). The OSI simply defines the data elements that are exchanged as abstract messages, and does not prescribe the exact bit stream of the messages that flow over the network. Lower level network software developed according to the OSI model may be used to encode and decode the actual bit stream. The OSI protocols are not universally implemented and, therefore, a set of encoding rules for defining the exact representation of a message must be specified. The VA has created an HL7 module to assist DHCP applications in exchanging health care information with other applications using the HL7 protocol. The DHCP HL7 module consists of a set of utility routines and files that provide a generic interface to the HL7 protocol for all DHCP applications. SETTING: The VA's DHCP core modules are in standard use at 169 hospitals, and the role of the VA system in health care delivery has been discussed elsewhere. This development was performed at the Miami VA Medical Center Special Immunology Unit, where a database was created for an HIV patient registry in 1987. Over 2,300 patient have been entered into a database that supports a problem-oriented summary of the patient's clinical record. The interface to the VA DHCP was designed and implemented to capture information from the patient treatment file, pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, and other modules. RESULTS: We obtained a suite of programs for implementing the HL7 encoding rules from Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, written in ANSI C. This toolkit isolates our application programs from the details of the HL7 encoding rules, and allows them to deal with abstract messages and the programming level. While HL7 has become a standard for healthcare message exchange, SQL (Structured Query Language) is the standard for database definition, data manipulation, and query. The target database (Stitt F.W. The Problem-Oriented Medical Synopsis: a patient-centered clinical information system. Proc 17 SCAMC. 1993:88-93) provides clinical workstation functionality. Medical concepts are encoded using a preferred terminology derived from over 15 sources that include the Unified Medical Language System and SNOMed International ( Stitt F.W. The Problem-Oriented Medical Synopsis: coding, indexing, and classification sub-model. Proc 18 SCAMC, 1994: in press). The databases were modeled using the Information Engineering CASE tools, and were written using relational database utilities, including embedded SQL in C (ESQL/C). We linked ESQL/C programs to the HL7 toolkit to allow data to be inserted, deleted, or updated, under transaction control. A graphical format will be used to display the entity-rel

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Automated classification of encounter notes in a computer based medical record.

Harvard Community Health Plan is exploring emerging information technologies for means to use the text portion of its 25 year old computerized medical record system. The Center for Intelligent Information Retrieval is developing systems to answer the question: to what extent can automated information systems replace manual chart review of encounter notes? INQUERY, a probabilistic inference net information retrieval system, and FIGLEAF, an inductive decision tree text classifier are applied to the problem of classifying electronic encounter notes to identify acute exacerbations in pediatric asthmatics. Both systems achieve average precisions of greater than 80%, with a new enhancement to INQUERY's relevance feedback, the top performer. Refinement of the systems and plans for their integration are discussed.

Asthma↗

A shared computer-based problem-oriented patient record for the primary care team.

1. INTRODUCTION. A computer-based patient record (CPR) system, Swedestar, has been developed for use in primary health care. The principal aim of the system is to support continuous quality improvement through improved information handling, improved decision-making, and improved procedures for quality assurance. The Swedestar system has evolved during a ten-year period beginning in 1984. 2. SYSTEM DESIGN. The design philosophy is based on the following key factors: a shared, problem-oriented patient record; structured data entry based on an extensive controlled vocabulary; advanced search and query functions, where the query language has the most important role; integrated decision support for drug prescribing and care protocols and guidelines; integrated procedures for quality assurance. 3. A SHARED PROBLEM-ORIENTED PATIENT RECORD. The core of the CPR system is the problem-oriented patient record. All problems of one patient, recorded by different members of the care team, are displayed on the problem list. Starting from this list, a problem follow-up can be made, one problem at a time or for several problems simultaneously. Thus, it is possible to get an integrated view, across provider categories, of those problems of one patient that belong together. This shared problem-oriented patient record provides an important basis for the primary care team work. 4. INTEGRATED DECISION SUPPORT. The decision support of the system includes a drug prescribing module and a care protocol module. The drug prescribing module is integrated with the patient records and includes an on-line check of the patient's medication list for potential interactions and data-driven reminders concerning major drug problems. Care protocols have been developed for the most common chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension. The patient records can be automatically checked according to the care protocols. 5. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE. The Swedestar system has been implemented in a primary care area with 30,000 inhabitants. It is being used by all the primary care team members: 15 general practitioners, 25 district nurses, and 10 physiotherapists. Several years of practical experience of the CPR system shows that it has a positive impact on quality of care on four levels: 1) improved clinical follow-up of individual patients; 2) facilitated follow-up of aggregated data such as practice activity analysis, annual reports, and clinical indicators; 3) automated medical audit; and 4) concurrent audit. Within that primary care area, quality of care has improved substantially in several aspects due to the use of the CPR system [1].

Ambulatory Care Information Systems↗

Medical records and other stories: a narratological framework.

A new model of the medical record is introduced which can incorporate context, structure, process and use of the medical record within a single narratological framework. It is claimed that the analysis of narrative and, in particular, the study of the story metaphor can provide a theoretical model which provides coherence within the broad discipline of Medical Informatics. It is argued that this framework maintains different levels of abstraction, is useful for teaching and clinical practice, and that its concepts can be readily understood by those in both lay and technical healthcare professions.

Communication↗

The medical record: narration and story as a path through patient data.

Kay and Purves' proposed narratological model of the medical record is based on the familiar phenomenological insight that the perception of data is conditioned by the conceptual framework of the perceiver. Unfortunately, unless handled very carefully, this approach will make the significance of a medical record unique to the person who constructed it and impermeable to outside scrutiny. However, when integrated into the analog-model of the medical record, the narratological model can be accommodated as the clinician-relative construction of a patient profile within the data that make up the medical record. Some implications for the construction of expert systems and competence analysis are indicated.

Data Collection↗

Clinical similarities and demographic differences between residency and private practice patients.

BACKGROUND: This study compared the clinical and demographic mix of patients at a family practice residency site in South Carolina to those from other regions and demonstrated the effectiveness of a computerized medical record in facilitating such analysis. METHODS: Patient visits to Richland Family Practice Center (RFP), the outpatient care site for the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, were retrospectively sampled for the period July 1992-June 1993. Data analysis used descriptive statistics and contingency tables. A time test comparing manual and computerized data retrieval was also performed. RESULTS: The patients seen were predominantly female (75.2%) and African-American (68%). RFP treated proportionately more federally funded and minority patients than did community-based physicians. The top five principal diagnoses at RFP were hypertension, diabetes mellitus, general medical examination, normal pregnancy, and acute upper respiratory infection; the top 20 principal diagnoses accounted for 51.3% of all visits. When compared to the top 20 diagnoses for all family and general practice physicians in the southern United States, considerable overlap was present, confirming clinical similarity between patient populations at residency and private practice sites. Computerized data retrieval was faster and more complete than manual data retrieval. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnoses encountered at RFP and reported by other family practice residencies generally parallel those documented in family practice in various geographic regions. However, residencies differ from private practices in that they care for more economically disadvantaged patients. Computerized medical records systems facilitate research within a residency program.

Adolescent↗

[Difficulties in quality of health evaluations in the context of an African hospital: experience of the Gynecology-Obstetrics Department of the National Hospital Center of Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso].

The quality of medical care was studied in the gyneco-obstetrical department of the National Hospital Center of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Evaluation covered not only facilities, procedures and results, but also patient satisfaction using standardized criteria. The results showed an apparent contradiction between poor facilities and high maternal and prenatal mortality rate on the one hand and proper use of procedures and good patient satisfaction on the other. Installation of a computerized medical record system should allow continuous monitoring of the quality of care in the context of a sub-Saharan hospital by providing ready access to simple standardized indicators especially of maternal and prenatal mortality.

Adolescent↗

Medical records: past, present, and future.

This paper considers the lessons learnt during the development of the electronic medical record for patient care. It is not a definitive history of medical records but an assessment of what has been learnt, what has to be learnt and how we can move forward. It considers the needs for structured intelligent records that help in individual patient care, the need to provide functionality that fits with the requirements of the clinician-patient interaction and the need to take into account the human factors that affect clinician's uptake of such systems. It outlines the issues of free form input as opposed to controlled input that have to be resolved.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Taking the problem oriented medical record forward.

The problem oriented medical record (POMR) has proved to be very successful in providing a structure that helps doctors record their notes about patients, and view those notes subsequently in a manner that quickly gives them a good understanding of that patients history. This approach has been validated by the American Institute of Medicine. With the increased use of computer systems that implement the POMR by doctors, the limitations of this structure have become apparent, and there is clearly scope for developing the model further to improve the quality of the data recorded, and adding meaning to it. This paper describes some of the limitations of the POMR, and discusses a number of areas in which it may be extended. Crucially, this is done in a manner which is both implementable, and usable. The extensions explored include some types of entity including encounters, episodes and subproblems; and an alternative view-the Timeline. The terminology used for the extensions is clarified. Mechanisms by which these extensions have been implemented are described. Ways in which systems can manage these extensions automatically are suggested. Such implementations are constrained by the need not to allow the demands of the computer to intrude into the patient encounter. They are also constrained by the requirements for reporting by professional and governmental institutions, and by what is pragmatically feasible in software and hardware.

Computer Systems↗

Clinical care management and workflow by episodes.

This paper describes the implementation of clinically defined episodes of care and the introduction of an episode-based summary list of patient problems across Mayo Clinic Rochester in 1996 and 1997. Although Mayo's traditional paper-based system has always relied on a type of 'episode of care' (called the "registration") for patient and history management, a new, more clinically relevant definition of episode of care was put into practice in November 1996. This was done to improve care management and operational processes and to provide a basic construct for the electronic medical record. Also since November 1996, a computer-generated summary list of patient problems, the "Master Sheet Summary Report," organized by episode, has been placed in all patient histories. In the third quarter of 1997, the ability to view the episode-based problem summary online was made available to the 3000+ EMR-capable workstations deployed across the Mayo Rochester campus. In addition, the clinically oriented problem summarization process produces an improved basic "package" of clinical information expected to lead to improved analytic decision support, outcomes analysis and epidemiological research.

Episode of Care↗

A clinically derived terminology: qualification to reduction.

Mayo Foundation is developing synonym rich entry points for the recording of patient problems by clinicians, which will map to the KP-Mayo Convergent Medical Terminology. We describe the empirical sources for these terminology components, and how the number and complexity of the terms could be substantially reduced by the introduction of a Qualifier axis. The expressive power of these entry points is dramatically enhanced by this axis. This work is being integrated into terminology navigation modules being jointly developed with Lexical Technology, which leverages UMLS content. It will from the basis for structured problem entry into Mayo's Computer-based Electronic Record.

Clinical Medicine↗

Just-in-time coding of the problem list in a clinical environment.

Clinically useful problem lists are essential to the CPR. Providing a terminology that is standardized and understood by all clinicians is a major challenge. UNMC has developed a lexicon to support their problem list. Using a just-in-time coding strategy, the lexicon is maintained and extended prospectively in a dynamic clinical environment. The terms in the lexicon are mapped to ICD-9-CM, NANDA, and SNOMED International classification schemes. Currently, the lexicon contains 12,000 terms. This process of development and maintenance of the lexicon is described.

Diagnosis-Related Groups↗

A computerized summary medical record system can provide more information than the standard medical record.

We assessed the ability of a computerized outpatient medical record (MR) system, the Summary Time-Oriented Record (STOR), to communicate information to clinicians in two randomized single-blind studies. In the first study, physicians were better able to predict their patients' future symptom changes and laboratory test results from outpatient visits to an arthritis clinic when STOR was added to the standard MR than when the standard MR was used alone. In a separate study, the removal of the standard MR did not result in important decrease in the physicians' ability to predict their patients' symptoms and laboratory test results if they had the option of using the full paper record when they thought they needed it. In 134 (26%) of 514 visits, the physicians exercised this option. We conclude that for outpatient visits, the computerized record system STOR operationally added information to that supplied by the full paper MR. This improved flow of information could improve the clinical decision process.

Arthritis↗

An inventory of publications on computer-based medical records: an update.

OBJECTIVES: In 1998, we reported a steady increase in the number of publications indexed in MedLine with the MeSH term 'Medical Records Systems, Computerized'. No signs indicating an increasing interest of high-impact medical journals to publish on the computer-based patient record could be determined. In this review we provide an update. METHODS: We retrieved and analyzed all English publications indexed before Feb 22, 2002 in PubMed with the MeSH term 'Medical Records Systems, Computerized'. RESULTS: We retrieved a total of 5856 publications, of which 1824 (31%) appeared in a journal with an impact factor in the year of publication. The total impact-score shows an upward trend. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the earlier observed increase in number of publications did not persist in the second half of the nineteen-nineties. Since the mid-nineties, there has been a steady yearly production of publications indexed with the MeSH term, reflecting a sustained interest in the domain. However, the volume of publications appearing in journals with higher impact factors is increasing. Furthermore, high-impact journals, such as the "British Medical Journal", the "Lancet" and "Annals of Internal Medicine" regularly publish on the subject, reflecting an interest well beyond the medical informatics community.

Abstracting and Indexing↗