Help — A Medical Information System Which Combines Automated Medical Decision-Making with Clinical Data Review and Administrative Support

Abstract

Help is a hospital information system that has been developed at the LDS hospital in Salt Lake City during the last 15 years. It is routinely used to order tests, review results, capture costs, schedule procedures, and provide management information. It’s pervasive influence in the hospital is illustrated by the number of users: there are 545 printers and terminals in the 520 bed hospital. In addition to these clinical and administrative functions that constitute the traditional role of hospital information systems, the Help system supports automated medical decision-making. Whenever logical conditions for a specific decision (alarm, alert, diagnosis, interpretation, therapeutic recommendation) are satisfied by data which are present in an individual patient’s computerized medical record, the system will automatically present this decision to the appropriate health care provider (nurse, physician, technologist, or pharmacist).