Computers in medicine: enhancing medical care for children with developmental disabilities

Caring for children with developmental disabilities and their families requires the close monitoring and management of a multitude of complex medical and psychosocial issues. The need for an interdisciplinary team approach to address these concerns presents special logistical problems on how to organize and present the information obtained during a clinic visit, and how to expedite the dissemination of this information to the team members. I am currently utilizing a computerized medical record database in the Developmental Disabilities Clinic at Children's Hospital-Columbus, Ohio and at The Nisonger Center a university affiliated program (UAP). The hardware required for the operation of this system includes a Macintosh PowerBook 170 and FilemakerPro software by Claris. The flexibility of use and the potential future applications of this program provides a practical clinical approach to caring for children with developmental disabilities.