Hospitals and other health care providers increasingly rely on cutting- edge technology to provide medical treatments to patients, and a growing number also realize the benefits of technological advances in administration and record-keeping. In the recent past, most health care providers maintained patient records in paper files, eventually transferring the completed records to microfilm for safekeeping. Many providers now, however, use computers and computer networks, microwave technology, facsimile machines, and optical scanning and storage equipment in the creation, transmission, storage and retrieval of medical records. A fully computerized patient record system is one that captures, stores, retrieves, and transmits patient health data. A full automated computer based patient record is one in which all of the data and information collected over the course of a patient's health care are created, authenticated, modified, stored, and retrieved by computer. Computer based records may be created using a variety of media, including magnetic media such as disks and tapes and digital media such as optical disks.
The trend toward computerization of all types of health care information has accelerated significantly in the past decade. Important strides have been made towards automating exchanges of information in the health care industry. As new advances in technology occur and the value of large databases of clinical data continues to grow, the conversion of records from paper to a computerized format will remain a dominating trend in health information management in the decade to come. Health care reform initiatives and the increasing penetration of managed care into the health care delivery system have further heightened the need for comprehensive automation and the automated need for health care information. Whether it is to monitor costs, improve patient care, or evaluate participating health care professionals, the basis is in gathering and sharing health care information.
Introduction Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the area of computer science focusing on creating machines that can engage on behaviors that humans consider intelligent. The ability to create intelligent machines has intrigued humans since ancient times and today with the advent of the computer and ...