INFORMATION PROVISION BY PEC-INTEGRATED FAX VOICEMAIL

A MAJOR THEME IN MODERN HEALTH CARE IS TO CONVERT THE MEDICAL LIBRARY MATERIALS OF THE WORLD INTO COMPUTER MODULES, AND THEREBY TO IMPROVE LABOR EFFICIENCY AND TO REDUCE MISTAKES BY MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS. TO DATE, "AUTOMATED DOCTOR" PRODUCTS DESIGNED TO MAKE MEDICAL DECISIONS HAVE NOT BEEN WELL RECEIVED, PERHAPS IN PART BECAUSE IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND THE LIMITATIONS IN DECISIONS MADE BY MACHINES. THE RECEPTION HAS BEEN BETTER FOR "AUTOMATED LIBRARIAN" PRODUCTS THAT MAKE INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO THE MEDICAL STAFF TO HELP THEM MAKE THE DECISIONS. IN THIS REGARD, PDQ, A DATABASE MADE BY THE NCI, IS PERHAPS THE FOREMOST EXAMPLE OF AN "AUTOMATED LIBRARIAN" FOR CANCER TREATMENT. PDQ CONTAINS INFORMATION IN INVESTIGATIONAL PROTOCOLS AND WHERE THEY ARE PRACTICED, INTEGRATED INTO A CAREFULLY ENGINEERED FORMAT THAT ENABLES A USER TO ACCESS ANY ELEMENT IN A FEW KEYSTROKES. MOREOVER, THE PDQ ON CD-ROM HAAS RECEIVED A PROMISISING RESPONSE FROM THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY. WE WILL DEVELOP A PDQ-LIKE DATABASE/CD-ROM PRODUCT OF PATIENT CARE INFORMATION: A DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES (NAMES OF TESTS, NORMAL VALUES, CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS, INTERFERING FACTORS, EXPLANATIONS, PROCEDURE DEFINITION), DRUGS (NAMES, USES, DRUG CHOICE CRITERIA, DRUG INTERACTIONS, SIDE EFFECTS), AND GENERAL NURSING GUIDELINES. CURRENTLY, THIS INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE IN BOOKS, SPREAD OVER THOUSANDS OF PAGES. A CD-ROM PRODUCT WOULD GIVEG EFFICIENT ACCESS AND MIGHT ALSO PERFORM FUNCTIONS THAT ARE DIFFICULT USING BOOKS, LIKE FLAGGIINTERFERING FACTORS, SIDE EFFECTS, AND DRUG INTERACTIONS.