Doing away with paper. Part 2--Starting up your new system.
BACKGROUND
After choosing the best computer hardware and software to use, the next major step is to carefully plan how to implement the change from using paper based medical records to electronic medical records.


OBJECTIVE
To examine ways to make it relatively easy for staff and doctors to implement the change to electronic medical records.


CONCLUSIONS
Changing from writing medical records on paper to typing to enter the same information into a computer is a major issue for many doctors, especially for older practitioners. Practice staff may lack the confidence to use computers to make appointments and issue accounts or receipts. This paper describes ways to make the changeover in a gentle and relatively easy way. Other issues briefly mentioned include ways to handle incoming correspondence and reports on paper, using the Internet, and clinical photography with digital cameras.
Silver
Daniel
D
Bendigo Regional Clinical School of Monash University, Victoria. dansil@netcon.net.au
D001292:Attitude to Computers; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009816:Office Automation; D010781:Photography; D018511:Systems Integration; D014584:User-Computer Interface