The Internet, the electronic medical record, the pediatric intensive care unit, and everything

Abstract

This article details how computers have changed life for those of us in pediatric intensive care. A week of clinical activity is described, with a focus on the interactions with computer systems that have become an integral part of patient-care activities for many of us. It becomes clear that the boundaries between personal computers, hospital systems, and the Internet are often not sharply defined. Resources that are used every week may include those residing on a personal digital assistant, on the hospital's electronic medical record, or on a distant site on the World Wide Web. Key resources on the Internet (World Wide Web and e-mail) are identified. The technical underpinnings, particularly the network that provides the infrastructure for various resources, are described.

Handheld Computing in Medicine

“…Of these, the Palm operating system (Palm OS) is currently more popular. 5,6 A brief comparison of the two operating systems can be found in Table 2. More medical software applications are available currently for the Palm OS than for any other handheld operating system.…”

“…avantgo.com) can be used to capture web documents and health care publications to be displayed on a PDA. 6,8 Avantgo is a free software program that can be installed onto the handheld device and allows the user to download website information on a daily basis. Journal websites can be connected to the device and are updated with each synchronization.…”

“…However, many sites now offer a PDA-optimized version of certain pages. 6,8 HealthProLink (www.healthcareprolink.com) is a tool to obtain selected medical journal articles. 14 A wireless internet connection on the PDA helps to access the information directly from the website.…”

“…6 PedsCCM offers an Avantgo-optimized version of its Evidence-Based Medicine Journal Club. 6 The Evidence-Based Journal Club offers peer-reviewed, structured critical appraisals of timely clinical research studies in critical care medicine. PICU Tools is a collection of calculators and reference guides for pediatric critical care.…”

“…PICU Tools is a collection of calculators and reference guides for pediatric critical care. 6 Clinical practice guidelines that are developed using evidence-based methods encapsulate the current understanding of best clinical practice. Finding effective strategies to implement these guideline recommendations is an area of active investigation.…”