title: Evaluation of an SQL model of the HELP patient database.
abstract: We tested a new model of the HELP patient database that makes use of relational tables to store patient data and provides access to data using SQL (Structured Query Language). The SQL database required more storage space and had many more physical records than the HELP database, but it was faster and more efficient in storing data than the standard HELP utilities. The HELP utilities used disk space more efficiently and were faster than the SQL tools when retrieving data for typical clinical reports. However, the SQL model provides networking capabilities, general report writing tools, detailed user documentation, and an ability for creating secondary indexes that offset its poorer performance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, LDS Hospital/University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84143.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Huff
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Berthelsen
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Pryor
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Dudley
mesh_terms: D003628:Database Management Systems; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D014584:User-Computer Interface