The usefulness of handheld computers in a surgical group practice.
We designed a system using hand-held computers allowing physicians in the hospital setting to access their surgical schedules, to track patients in multiple hospitals, and to quickly enter billing information. The physicians would then update their schedules and pass billing information electronically when they returned to the office. The system was successfully implemented, it was well accepted by clinicians and staff users, and it showed an increased capture of charges. Whether an economically important effect on the number of days to post hospital charges will be evident after follow-up data has been collected.
Blackman
J
J
HealthFirst Medical Group, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Gorman
P
P
Lohensohn
R
R
Kraemer
D
D
Svingen
S
S
D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D013502:General Surgery; D006123:Group Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017722:Hospital Charges; D006801:Humans; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D008838:Microcomputers; D011216:Practice Management, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires