title: Clinical information systems: instant ubiquitous clinical data for error reduction and improved clinical outcomes.
abstract: Immediate access to existing clinical information is inadequate in current medical practice; lack of existing information causes or contributes to many classes of medical error, including diagnostic and treatment error. A review of the literature finds ample evidence to support a description of the problems caused by data that are missing or unavailable but little evidence to support one proposed solution over another. A primary recommendation of the Consensus Committee is that hospitals and departments should adopt systems that provide fast, ubiquitous, and unified access to all types of existing data. Additional recommendations cover a variety of related functions and operational concepts, from backups and biosurveillance to speed, training, and usability.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Informatics, 110 Irving Street, NW, Washington, DC 20010, USA. cfeied@ncemi.org
authors.forename: Craig F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Feied
authors.forename: Jonathan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Handler
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gillam
authors.forename: Meera
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanhouwa
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rothenhaus
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Conover
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shannon
mesh_terms: D003658:Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011786:Quality Control; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018511:Systems Integration