Information management in ambulatory care: the nurse and computerized records

The ambulatory office setting is increasingly becoming a central focus of patient care. The nursing staff are integral to patient care management in this environment. They are frequently the heaviest users of medical records and are generally early advocates of well designed computer records systems. As our implementation of a Computer Stored Ambulatory Record (COSTAR V) has grown in complexity and utility, reorganization of the record and development of new features to support nursing has become critical. This demonstration will show how nursing information management has changed using a variety of computer record tools, including features of exam room data entry, specialized nursing displays and problem based patient summaries. Specific items for demonstration will include: nursing check-in module, rule driven nursing history program, prescription refill functions, documentation and billing for nursing procedures, nursing telephone management functions, a module for management of anticoagulation and document retrieval and display utilities.