Patient data management systems in critical care

Electronic patient data management systems (PDMS) were clinically used for the first time in the 1970s. Their purpose was to automatically document vital parameters sampled by monitors and to replace handwritten medical files. Because of the continuous development of computer technology, however, demands on PDMS have increased immensely. PDMS are currently expected to assist clinicians at every level of intensive care, i.e., at the strategic level of physicians' orders and prescriptions, at the operational level, and at the administrative level. In 1994, a PDMS (CareVue; Agilent Technologies) was installed and further developed in the anesthesiologic intensive care unit of the university hospital in Tübingen. The goals of this article were to describe the current demands on PDMS, to communicate our experiences in implementing a PDMS, to list the costs of purchasing and maintaining the system, and to report on the acceptance among physicians and nursing personnel. This article may assist new users in planning for, purchasing, and implementing a PDMS.