Computers in healthcare最新文献

In the coming age of community health networks, healthcare information systems will have to communicate quickly and easily. Standards must be accepted and endorsed by the healthcare I/S industry if this necessary goal is to be achieved, and visionary healthcare organizations must be willing to take the first steps toward adopting these new systems.

November's HotList features integration tools. Due to the number of vendor offerings in this area, the second half of the Integration Tools HotList will appear in our December issue. All data have been provided by individual vendors who responded to survey questions. Computers in Healthcare has made an effort to contact all vendors within this market. See the 1993 Computers in Healthcare Market Directory for complete listings.

The forces unleashed by reengineering can be expected to demand dramatic increases in the volume and speed of communications technologies. This observation is based on the premise that "information is power," and consequently, more information is more powerful.

The advent of "local delivery systems" now occurring throughout the nation will require a new applications portfolio for successful providers. These applications must address the key needs of the provider and patient community, including hospital information systems, physician practice systems, managed-care and insurance systems, electronic data interchange and the automated patient record. Any less just won't do.

The chief executive officer and president of Bayfront Medical Center, St. Petersburg, Fla., says healthcare providers must use information tools to demonstrate quality at comparably low costs. There's not enough time to wait for the reform landscape to change. Decisionmakers must act now.

The seven-year itch may have struck the founder of one of the most comprehensive information systems databases for healthcare in the country. The database itself has undergone substantive changes, and, what is more, Sheldon Dorenfest is looking for partners.

Do bedside and point-of-care systems actually deliver on their promise of reducing operating expenses while helping improve the overall quality of healthcare? And how does a healthcare facility quantify associated "productivity" improvements to prove cost savings? These are two critical issues that healthcare providers face in implementing a bedside or point-of-care (POC) system. Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, is a 1,000 bed member facility of the Barnes-Jewish Inc./Christian Health Services integrated health system. Barnes Hospital has indeed seen significant cost savings as a result of a POC project.

October's HotList features electronic medical record systems. Because there are a number of components associated with electronic medical records and limited space, only those companies that claim to have a comprehensive medical electronic medical records system are included in this list. Firms offering only components of the medical record, ancillary systems, consultant services, storage systems or other products not comprising a complete electronic medical record were asked not to submit information for this particular HotList. All data have been provided by individual vendors who responded to survey questions. Computers in Healthcare has made an effort to contact all vendors within this market. See the 1993 Computers in Healthcare Market Directory for complete listings.

Technology will always be a factor in hospital information system buys. But customers are increasingly looking for vendors that create a sincere, responsive sales relationship. In the end, the quality of support and understanding users receive can make or break a sale.

Vendors might not always be to blame when laboratory information systems fail to meet expectations. Too often, those who use the system haven't devoted the time or resources to create a system that meets their needs, or truly learn a system that may already have all the bells and whistles necessary for success.