Clinical Information Systems in ICU
20/11/10
= computerized system for managing the clinical record often within geographically designed
areas within the hospital such as ICU, ED or OR.
BENEFITS
-
recording of bedside observations – automated, minimal transcription errors
legible record
electronic record of drug prescription
access to additional clinical information at the bedside – pathology, Xrays
access to decision support systems – online databases, clinical pathways, algorithms
medicolegal – archiving and good audit trail
ease of collection of data for research
LIMITATIONS
- financial cost
- rapidly changing nature of technology
- lack of computer literacy amongst clinicians and need for training prior to commencing work
in the ICU
- no evidence that CIS decreases workloads or saves expenditure on salaries
- data archiving and storage is a problem
- no evidence that implementation of CIS results in improved patient outcomes
- interface with other computer systems
- legality of drug prescription
- other clinical entry
Jeremy Fernando (2010)