WING--entering a new phase of electronic data processing at the Giessen University Hospital

At the Giessen University Hospital electronic data processing systems have been in routine use since 1975. In the early years developments were focused on ADT functions (admission/discharge/transfer) and laboratory systems. In the next decade additional systems were introduced supporting various functional departments. In the mid-eighties the need to stop the ongoing trend towards more and more separated stand-alone systems was realized and it was decided to launch a strategic evaluation and planning process which sets the foundation for an integrated hospital information system (HIS). The evaluation of the HELP system for its portability into the German hospital environment was the first step in this process. Despite its recognized capabilities in integrating decision support and communication technologies, and its powerful HIS development tools, the large differences between American and German hospital organization, influencing all existing HELP applications, and the incompatibility of the HELP tools with modern software standards were two important factors forcing the investigation of alternative solutions. With the HELP experience in mind, a HIS concept for the Giessen University Hospital was developed. This new concept centers on the idea of a centralized relational patient database on a highly reliable database server, and clinical front-end applications which might be running on various other computer systems (mainframes, departmental UNIX satellites or PCs in a LAN) integrated into a comprehensive open HIS network. The first step towards this integrated approach was performed with the implementation of ADT and results reporting functions on care units.