A CLINICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR HOME HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

CLINICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARE THE WEAKEST COMPONENT OF SOFTWARE PACKAGES AVAILABLE TO HOME HEALTH AGENCIES. THE GOAL OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP A MODULAR CLINICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR THE COLLECTION, USE, AND REPORTING OF HOME HEALTH PATIENT INFORMATION WITH A UNIVERSAL INTERFACE TO CURRENTLY AVAILABLE HOME HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS. THE POINT OF CARE DATA ENTRY TOOL WILL BE ELECTRONIC SLATES THAT CAN RECOGNIZE HANDWRITTEN CHARACTERS AND CONVERT THEM TO ASCII, AS IF TYPED. A RELATIONAL DATABASE OF PATIENT INFORMATION FOR MANAGEMENT REPORTING AND ANALYSIS WILL BE CREATED. A MULTITIER SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE WILL ENABLE PROVIDERS ACCESS TO HISTORICAL PATIENT INFORMATION. A PILOT SYSTEM WILL BE IMPLEMENTED, AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS IN IMPROVING STAFF PRODUCTIVITY, TIME SAVINGS, PAPERWORK SAVINGS, AND IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF CARE WILL BE EVALUATED.