Longnecker's Anesthesiology > Part 4. Managing Anesthesia Care > Section A. Monitoring the Anesthesia Patient > Chapter 28. Perioperative Information Management Systems J.P. Abenstein, MSEE, MD

Key Points

"1. The question of whether medical records will be electronic has been answered. All medical records will be entered and accessed on computer systems, including anesthesia and critical care documentation. Resistance is futile; you will be assimilated.

2. Anesthesiologists can either embrace this new technology and have a say in how it will be manifested in their work environ nment, or they can wait until another physician or administrators decides for them how they will document their clinical care.

3. Configuring and installing a perioperative information management system (PIMS) is a significant task. Careful project management is required. This includes:

4. Additional functionality can and should be added to the PIMS after installation. New functionality that focuses on patient safety and practice efficiency is most common.

5. The business case for a PIMS can be made from both direct and indirect benefits. Direct benefits include improved billing, decreased lost charges from incomplete records, and decreased risk from regulatory and payer audits. Indirect benefits include legible records and ubiquitous access to medical information instantly throughout a medical center.

6. Objections to adoption have proved to be unwarranted. These include concerns with cost (see business case), artifacts, and the impact on workflow. In particular, the concern..."