Computer database for melanoma: a clinical management and research tool to ensure continuous quality assessment

The need for an efficient method to handle data and for chart documentation is more apparent today than at any time in the past. High volume clinics for screening, diagnosis, and treatment are the rule rather than the exception in modern practice. A papermill medical record department or tumor registry fails on a day-to-day basis because of inefficiency of data collection, filing, storage, and abstraction. Requirements of the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) include the setting of standards and the ability to query data to ensure the standards are met. A PC-based software program has been developed with the following features: (1) ongoing timed queries of the data are possible on any variable collected in the database to monitor trends in the standards established for care in the clinic; (2) a daily update of the database is performed so that it may be used as a clinical management tool, acting as an electronic medical record or as a clinical research tool; (3) the software will summarize the chart by abstracting a predetermined list of key data elements to improve clinical efficiency; (4) chart documentation is improved for Medicare coding requirements to maximize physician reimbursement; and (5) clinic notes and referral letters are generated the same day as the clinic visit to allow patients to have a copy of their clinic notes or for same day FAXing to the referring doctors. To date, > 1,200 patients with melanoma have been registered and entered into the system.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)