Using the technology of the world wide web to manage clinical information

Abstract

Practising medicine increasingly requires managing information, particularly in hospital settings.A glance at a typical physician's pile of laboratory results, request forms, reports, and pending discharge summaries is sufficient reminder of this.In the past hard work and good organisation could usually deal with this paper trail, but there is now increasing evidence that important information is lost or misinterpreted even in the best hospitals. 1In addition, the rapid growth in medical knowledge, particularly the biomedical literature, is further taxing our ability to provide optimum care. 2 However, we are starting to see real clinical benefits from computerisation of clinical data. 3 4 Early clinical computing systems were plagued by incompatible standards and lack of potential for growth.A few comprehensive systems were built in specific hospitals but have proved difficult to transport to other settings.Many commercial systems have been used, but they rarely offer the ability to connect to competing systems, often making it difficult even to access basic laboratory data on the wards.With the development of the internet and world wide web, however, it is becoming possible to create comprehensive information systems that are easy to learn and use and relatively quick to develop.In this article we focus on examples of hospital information systems, but, as communication security improves, many of these approaches should apply equally well in general practice.

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