Lessons learned from an Internet GP information system

We describe the prototype of an application that in actual use would allow GPs to find out more information about consultants at hospitals. This would aid the GP in making the decision about which consultant a patient should be referred to. The requirements of the application from the GP's perspective are described, together with some of the issues that have to be resolved before hospitals can provide the necessary information in a standard format. The application is implemented as a client--server system using standard Internet technologies such as Java and HTML. This architecture has a number of advantages but also revealed some issues concerning security and the format of data, among other things. The project showed that there is a desire for such a system and that that desire can be fulfilled at a relatively low cost.