The HELP hospital information system: update 1998

The HELP hospital information system has been operational at LDS Hospital since 1967. The system initially supported a heart catheterization laboratory and a post open heart Intensive Care Unit. Since the initial installation the system has been expanded to become an integrated hospital information system providing services with sophisticated clinical decision-support capabilities to a wide variety of clinical areas such as laboratory, nurse charting, radiology, pharmacy, etc. The HELP system is currently operational in multiple hospitals of LDS Hospital's parent health care enterprise--Intermountain Health Care (IHC). The HELP system has also been integrated into the daily operations of several other hospitals in addition to those at IHC. Evaluations of the system have shown: (1) it to be widely accepted by clinical staff; (2) computerized clinical decision-support is feasible; (3) the system provides improvements in patient care; and (4) the system has aided in providing more cost-effective patient care. Plans for making the transition from the 'function rich' HELP system to more modern hardware and software platforms are also discussed.