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Patient cards: storage and input for medical data.
1Community Services Institute, Philadelphia, PA.
Topics in Health Record Management
|February 8, 1992
Summary
Implementing portable patient information cards can reduce healthcare costs and errors. This technology aims to improve medical practice by providing physicians with essential patient data.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Medical Technology Diffusion
Background:
- Promising technologies often face development and implementation challenges.
- Alternative solutions frequently emerge for similar medical problems.
- Informed physicians can deliver more cost-effective and accurate patient care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the potential of portable, self-contained patient cards.
- To enhance medical practice through improved information access.
Main Methods:
- Literature review on the diffusion of innovations in healthcare.
- Analysis of how patient information access impacts clinical decision-making.
Main Results:
- Physician knowledge of patient medication history reduces prescription numbers and costs.
- Access to prior clinical test results lowers testing frequency and improves retesting timeliness.
- Portability and self-contained nature of patient cards are key challenges.
Conclusions:
- Self-contained, portable patient cards can significantly enhance medical practice.
- Improved information access leads to reduced healthcare expenses and fewer medical errors.
- Addressing the portability challenge is crucial for successful implementation.