The Development of a Ward Information-Management System
A detailed description of the analysis and design phases of a Ward Information-Management System is provided. This system constitutes one module of a patient care information system being developed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. This module performs the function of carrying out physicians’ written non-pharmacy orders on an acute inpatient medical ward. In the analysis phase the information flow of the current manual system is described. It was determined that a minimum of 15% of physicians’ orders are not carried out. From an analysis of the problems, a set of fourteen requirements were derived for a new system. Using these requirements as a guideline, a configuration of personnel, forms, computer euquipment, and information content and flow was designed. This system is described as of the time of its implementation on a single nursing unit.