The development of the software environment and data base concept in the Medical System Hannover. Decisions, plans...

A long range development- and research-project like the MSH undergoes many changes and conversions. The experience with the last ten years of software development and application in the MSH showed the following trends: The emphasis shifted from optimal usage of the hardware resources towards saving of manpower. Efforts have therefore been made to standardize and generalize software as far as possible. The question of integrated versus dedicated systems remains an important and interesting area of research. New developments in software and hardware make it necessary to rethink yesterday's solutions and to adopt the application-concepts to the changing environment. This is a reactive process, but it offers the chance to develop, implement and evaluate new ideas and concepts. New decisions might become necessary in the near future in our (hospital) environment depending on software developments.