BETTER CANCER SCREENING BY COMPUTERIZING MEDICAL RECORDS

THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE A COMPUTER PRODUCT LINKED TO PATIENT DATA THAT ALERTS FAMILY MEDICINE PHYSICIANS TO WHEN A PATIENT NEEDS CANCER SCREENING. THE PRODUCT, VOICEFM, CREATES A PATIENT RECORD AS THE PHYSICIAN SPEAKS INTO A MICROPHONE CONNECTED TO A 386 IBM-COMPATIBLE PERSONAL COMPUTER. SOFTWARE CONVERTS SINGLE WORDS INTO TEXT, WHICH THE PROGRAM USES AS CURRENT DATA WHEN IT CHECKS PAST PATIENT DATA, IN "REAL-TIME." IF A CANCER SCREEN IS NEEDED, THE PHYSICIAN CAN RECOMMEND IT WITH A SINGLE COMMAND. VOICEFM DERIVES FROM VOICEEM, A SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT THAT BUILDS AN EMERGENCY MEDICINE RECORD WITH VOICE COMMANDS. VOICEFM HAS A DATABASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, CHARTFM, THAT SERVES AS AN ELECTRONIC CHART. ONCE PHYSICIANS BECOME ADEPT AT THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY, WE WILL ADD ADVICE RESOURCES SUCH AS PDQ. PHASE I WILL REFINE VOICEFM AND CHARTFM TO PROMOTE USE AT THE FAMILY MEDICINE DEPARTMENT IN SAN BERNARDINO. THEN WE WILL ACTIVATE CANCER SCREENING PROMPTS. PHASE II WILL APPRAISE THE EFFECT OF PROMPTS ON THE RATES OF APPROPRIATE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WOMEN DUE FOR EITHER A PAP SMEAR OR A MAMMOGRAM. WE WILL COMPARE THE RATE ON RANDOMLY CHOSEN DAYS WHEN THE PROMPTS ARE ON, TO THE RATE ON DAYS WHEN THEY ARE OFF.