AN AUTOMATED HEALTH CARE RECORD FOR POSTACUTE CARE

A NUMBER OF AUTOMATED RECORD SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FORPOSTACUTE CARE. MOST PROVIDE INFORMATION AT THE MANAGEMENT LEVEL, SOME ARE DESIGNED ONLY FOR NARROW RESEARCHINTERESTS, AND OTHERS ARE SIMPLY WORD-PROCESSING SYSTEMS THAT HAVE VERY LIMITED UTILITY GIVEN THE UNSTRUCTURED FORM OF THE INFORMATION. ACHIEVING A COMPREHENSIVE, AUTOMATED HEALTH RECORD FOR USE IN POSTACUTE CARE SETTINGS TO SERVE BOTH AS A CLINICAL RECORD AS WELL AS A STRUCTURED DATABASE FOR MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH IS A CRITICAL TASK. THIS WORK WILL BRING TO FRUITION PREVIOUS EFFORTS TO ADAPT THE COMPUTER STORED AMBULATORY RECORD (COSTAR) SYSTEM FOR USE IN POSTACUTE CARE BY TRANSLATING POSTACUTE CARE COSTAR INTO A MICROCOMPUTER-BASED RELATIONAL DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO MAKE IT READILY AVAILABLE TO THE EXPANDING MARKET OF POSTACUTE CARE AGENCIES AND PROVIDERS. IN PHASE I, THE FEASIBILITY OF ADAPTING COSTAR TO A MICROCOMPUTER-BASED RELATIONAL DATABASE SYSTEM WILL BE DETERMINED. SPECIFICALLY, THE RESEARCH WILL IDENTIFY THE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS OF THE SYSTEM; STUDY THE ABILITY OF VARIOUS RELATIONAL MICROCOMPUTER DATABASE SYSTEMS TO MEET THESE SPECIFICATIONS; MAP POSTACUTE CARE COSTAR TO THE BEST RELATIONAL DATABASE; AND, IF FOUND TO BE FEASIBLE, SELECT A SITE IN WHICH TO PILOT TEST THIS MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCT. PHASE II EFFORTS WILL EVALUATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH MICROCOMPUTER POSTACUTE CARE COSTAR IS USABLE, COMPREHENSIVE, ACCEPTABLE, AND EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING COMMUNICATION ACROSS PROVIDERS ENGAGED IN POSTACUTE CARE.