A data base management system for clinical records of renal failure

This paper describes a computerized data-base management system (DBMS) for keeping medical records of kidney failure patients. The system allows simple data entry by untrained medical personnel as well as automatic feeding of data from computer generated data files. The system allows easy retrieval which is enhanced by graphic displays and statistical analyses of the data. The DBMS uses a relational model of data representation and is based on an existing system which was developed to run under the UNIX operating system on DEC PDP 11's. Previous attempts by the authors and others to create such a medical record system are described. A description of the hardware and software environment of the medical record system is provided. The system is then described, and examples of data manipulations are given.