INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE TO ASSIST IN PROVIDING ICU CARE

BY COMBINING RECENT ADVANCES IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION, AN EASY-TO-USE, INTERACTIVE MICRO- COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED TO ENABLE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT DIRECTORS TO (1) MEASURE AND MONITOR THE QUALITY AND LEVEL OF ICU CARE, AND (2) EVALUATE AND DOCUMENT THE STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS. THE SYSTEM WILL INCORPORATE THE WIDELY AVAILABLE IBM-PC, A BAR CODE READER; AND CARE- FULLY DESIGNED SOFTWARE. PROVIDERS OF ICU CARE WILL BE ABLETO ENTER OVER 120 CRITICAL DEMOGRAPHIC, PHYSIOLOGIC, AND THERAPEUTIC VARIABLES USING A LIGHT PEN AND SPECIALLY PREPARED BAR CODE FORMS. AFTER EVALUATION OF THE DATA FOR ERRORS AND INCONSISTENCIES, THE SOFTWARE WILL COMPUTE AND AND REPORT A RANGE OF PROVEN STATISTICS TO AID IN ASSESSING INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS. ICU DIRECTORS WILL BE ABLE TO USE AGGREGATED PATIENT DATA TO MONITOR THE EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY OF THEIR UNITS BASED ON NATIONAL NORMS. THE SYSTEM WILL BE MENU DRIVEN ABD REQUIRE NO SPECIAL TRAINING.