The nursing case management computerized system: meeting the challenge of health care delivery through technology

Does nursing case management compute? In this article, the author attempts to explain how computerizing the team plan of care and critical pathways decreases paperwork, makes it easier to develop standardized team care plans, enhances quality improvement trending, and is flexible enough to update the plan of care according to the patient's changing needs. The Nurse Case Management Computerized System puts the patient care team plan into an interactive computer program. The computer does the work of presenting the nurse with care plan options and printing a hard copy ready to implement. Use of the computer program enhances the health care team's ability to individualize the team plan of care while maintaining patient care standards. The system is also used to collect patient care data automatically and to trend for quality improvement.