The patient care component: patient-centered horizontal integration in a vertical world.
This paper describes the structure and operational properties of the Patient Care Component, a patient care data system developed by the Indian Health Service to support primary care in a multi-site, decentralized, health care organization. Sharing the same technology base as the Department of Veterans Affairs Distributed Hospital Computer Program, the system requires a minimal level of investment in technology compared to alternative approaches and is in operation at 140 sites. The Indian Health Service and historical aspects of the system are described briefly; the paper focuses on the design objectives for the system and lessons learned from development and several years of operational experience.
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Office of Health Program Research and Development, Indian Health Service, Tucson, Arizona.
D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D011320:Primary Health Care; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D016549:United States Indian Health Service