Dissemination, standardization and user-flexibility in implementing TOMRs for cardiology

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Clinical Software Development

Background:

• Clinics increasingly seek software solutions for daily practice management.
• Efficient patient data handling is crucial for ambulatory care.
• Existing systems may lack specialized features for specific patient populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the development of the Time Oriented Medical Record Unit (TOMRU) software.
• To describe customizable patient databases for cardiology (TOMRU/C) and hypertension (TOMRU/H).
• To facilitate the adoption of TOMRU in clinical settings.

Main Methods:

• Development of a time-oriented medical record unit (TOMRU) running on MS-DOS personal computers.
• Creation of specialized cardiology (TOMRU/C) and hypertensive (TOMRU/H) patient databases.
• Inclusion of clinical information based on practitioner consensus for customization.
• Training users through computerized itinerant courses.

Main Results:

• Successful construction and description of the TOMRU software.
• Development and implementation of TOMRU/C and TOMRU/H databases.
• Dissemination of TOMRU/C to hundreds of clinical centers via training courses.
• Demonstrated feasibility of customizing TOMRU for specific clinical needs.

Conclusions:

• TOMRU provides a viable software solution for managing ambulatory patient data.
• Customizable databases like TOMRU/C and TOMRU/H enhance clinical utility.
• Expert management is recommended for TOMRU database customization.
• Training initiatives are effective in promoting the adoption of clinical software.