Functional Characteristics of a Computerized Medical Record

Research-based clinical information systems are presently being developed. This paper discusses some characteristics which such systems must have to be successful and affordable outside the research world. Problems of data entry, verification, and correction must be dealt with. Programs must be bug-free, and provisions must be made for data protection and integrity, for growth of record files, and for the ultimate purging of those files. Functional characteristics of a computerized medical record — TMR — developed at Duke University are presented, based on three health care facilities : the University Health Services Clinic with an active file of 33,000 patients; the Renal Dialysis Unit of the Durham Veterans Hospital with an active file of 300 patients; and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology with an active file of 7,000 patients. These functional characteristics include the rate of growth of files, the length of various components of the record, the type and length of program modules, and various system function response times.