A MECHANISM FOR MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT TRANSFER OF RECORDED MEDICAL INFORMATION BY PHYSICIANS IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT.

A MECHANISM FOR MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT TRANSFER OF RECORDED MEDICAL INFORMATION BY PHYSICIANS IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT. THE POPULATION FOR THIS SIX-MONTHSTUDY WILL BE RESIDENTS, FACULTY, AND FELLOWS IN THE DEPART-MENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY ANDUNIVERSITY HOSPITALS. A MEDICAL INFORMATION SPECIALIST/ WRITER WILL SEARCH THE LITERATURE VIA MEDLARS AND DIALOG, SELECT ARTICLES BASED ON CLIENT REQUESTS, AND WRITE CURRENT AWARENESS MEDICAL REVIEW SYNTHESES. THE USERS WILL COMPLETEQUESTIONNAIRES, AND A COMPARISON AMONG THE THREE USER GROUPSWILL BE MADE. EFFICIENCY WILL BE MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF TIMES A USER USES THE SYSTEM, TIMELINESS AND PERCEIVED VALUEOF INFORMATION, ETC. EFFECTIVENESS WILL BE MEASURED BY WHETHER THE SYSTEM SERVES USER NEEDS, WHETHER THE SAME QUALITY OF INFORMATION CAN BE GATHERED WITHOUT THE SYSTEM, ETC. THIS PHASE I RESEARCH WILL ASSESS THE NEED FOR A CURRENT AWARENESS MEDICAL REVIEW SYNTHESIS SERVICE FOR PHYSICIANS, WHILE PHASE II WILL ALLOW MORE PHYSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE AND LEAD TO STATISTICAL ANALYSES ABOUT THE NEED FOR THIS SERVICE. IF CURRENT AWARENESS MEDICAL REVIEW SYNTHESES ARE SUCCESSFUL, PHYSICIANS WILL BE WILLING TO SHARE COSTS.