In any medical record system it is necessary to link the present record of a patient to his past records in the same or other institutions. This is usually accomplished by establishing patient registers. We have studied the patient register of the Los Angeles County General Hospital (approximately 1000 000 cases) and found it feasible to mechanize this file. It is therefore realistic to contemplate development of interagency health information systems in metropolitan regions.
In jedem Krankengeschichten-Archiv müssen die neue Krankengeschichte eines Patienten und dessen alte Krankenblätter aus der gleichen oder einer anderen Abteilung zusammengeführt werden. In der Regel stützt man sich hierbei auf Patientenregister. Der Autor hat das Patientenregister des Los Angeles County General Hospital (annähernd 1 000 000 Fälle) untersucht und gefunden, daß sich diese Arbeit mechanisieren läßt. Damit erscheint auch der Aufbau von regionalen Gesundheits-Informations-zentralen für großstädtische Siedlungsräume in den Bereich der Möglichkeit gerückt.
* Supported by grants from the U. S. Public Health Service (CH 05-2), the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (RD 881) and the Rockefeller Foundation. The study was greatly aided by Mr. Robert J. Thomas, Administrator of the Los Angeles County General Hospitāli Mrs. Myrtle E. Silver, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Social Service; and by Mssrs. Frank W. Boegel and V. Gale Nims of IBM. Consultants included Mr. Joseph Becker and Drs. Lee D. Cady, C. West Churchman, Merrill M. Flood, Carl E. Hopkins and John D. Porterfield. Staff included Donald W. Bowen, Marvin A. Johnson, Albert J. Mercer, Judy M. Ariyasu and Melvin Weisberg, systems analyses; Martha L. Agan, medical records; and Robert Hutcheson, hospital liason. The facilities of the Western Data Processing Center were of great assistance in early stages of file processing.
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