Medical informatics in the intensive care unit: state of the art 1991

Intensive care medicine requires timely, accurate, and integrated patient records to provide the highest quality patient care. Computerized patient records offer the best method to achieve these needs. The expectations of society for medical progress through increased use of computers is growing. For optimal use of computers in the ICU there must be a harmonious collaboration between medical informaticists, physicians, nurses, therapists, and administrators. The future use of computers in ICU care will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. We are on the frontier of some exciting times in the next decade as computers become commonplace in the clinical care process rather than an unusual event. This paper discusses the progress and challenges of computers in the ICU.