m-doc: mobile solution for hospitals

Abstract

Access to patient information is critical in modern health care. Desktop computers are no longer the only mean for accessing digitally stored information. Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) offer clinicians the ability to enter and manage critical information at the point of care. However, this information is only of value, if it can be merged with other clinical and administrative information in the hospital. We have developed a client/server architecture for clinical documentation which uses PDAs and a server to communicate bidirectionally with hospital information systems. Secure data transmission over a wireless network (Bluetooth or wireless LAN) provides immediate delivery of new or modifed information. Centralised update of shared information improves the clinical work ow while reducing the administration overhead of such a distributed system.