ORANGE : Medical Charts Hit the Age of Computers

Despite the high-tech environment of modern hospitals, the task of charting a patient’s medical progress typically remains a pen-and-paper operation. But in Chapman General Hospital’s intensive care unit, the pen has been replaced by the mouse.

In November, the hospital went on-line with a computerized charting system that is only found in a handful of medical facilities across the country, a Chapman spokeswoman said.

This new charting system “took a little bit of getting used to,” said Dr. Narindar Singh, director of Chapman’s Cardio-Pulmonary Department. However, he said computerized medical charting offers several distinct advantages over the traditional method.

“It gives you a better trend as to what has been going on for the last 24 to 48 hours,” Singh said. “It’s all right there.”

He said the new system, which was customized by the hospital’s clinical team, also avoids legibility problems on the patient’s critical care record.

Instead of using a pen to record heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and other measurements, the information is automatically charted by the computer and then verified by nurses. Patient data can also be entered using a point-and-click menu system or a computer keyboard.

Because the information is recorded in a standardized, electronic form, it is much more manageable for the hospital and medical researchers to conduct studies on the effectiveness of various treatment methods.

“I think that in the long run, the result is better patient care,” Singh said.

Echoing this opinion is Howard H. Levine, chief executive officer of the 104-bed primary care hospital. Levine authorized the $250,000 pilot computer program, and said the system may eventually be expanded throughout the hospital.

“It is making a major contribution,” Levine said, “not only to the care of the patients but to the ease of our staff.”

This CareVue charting system at Chapman was developed by Hewlett-Packard. Sales representative Dave Fabian said the goal is to eventually make hospitals “paperless.”

“We’re going from a paper environment to a computerized environment,” Fabian said. As a result, doctors, nurses and medical technicians will increasingly turn to computer screens for patient information, he said, rather than flipping through thick records of diagnostic tests and other material.

“They still don’t allow the computer to make decisions,” Fabian said, “but it makes their lives easier.”