[Construction of a bed management system using widely available software: departmental information integration...

In recent years, the distribution of medical information through Internet technology has been increasingly promoted as a result of the December 2001 initiative of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare known as "the grand design for the application of welfare and medical care information technology in the field of health." In June 1999, we developed a bed management system that uses a local area network (LAN). The ultimate goals of this systems configuration were the development of an order-entry system, an electronic health-record system, and improved information sharing. The system, which was created by employing widely used software, rationalized daily work by integrating patient information, hospitalization information, radiological examination reservation information, physiological examination reservation information, and rehabilitation reservation information. The radiological examination reservation information system that our radiology department uses is one of these systems. Electronic preservation of the reservation list is carried out in the radiology department, and information on examinations is input. The resulting full-scale order-entry system was introduced in July 2002, and it has improved the sharing of information among staff members.