Phase II year
1994
(last award dollars: 1995)
Today, the medical record of any given person is typically incomplete, in sundry formats, and in diverse locations. Yet society is increasingly mobile, diseases are often chronic, and the value of longitudinal healthcare is well recognized. Also, the knowledge base germane to medical treatment is much too large for a provider to retain in memory, and grows daily. If a patient could have all pertinent records of previous treatments, tests, etc., available abetted by relevant information from the medical knowledge base she/he would have the optimal probability of obtaining the best most cost-effective treatment. Media capable of holding the appropriate patient data and patient-specific information are available. A relatively inexpensive hardware to process the data and information is also readily available. The Portable Patient Record (PPR) has become a real possibility. Immediately useful as a communications device carrying analogs of paper and film, the PPR will evolve to a product of tremendous utility as the widespread adoption of Computer-based Patient Records (CPRs) takes place during the next decade. We will develop the PPR using magneto/optical (m/o) disc technology. We will focus on the data and information of cancer patients, who are representative of the need for treatments at diverse sites by various providers. In Phase I, we designed and built a prototype system and demonstrated its utility in a multi-provider scenario by operating on both DOS and UNIX platforms. In Phase II, we will refine all the data identifier, standards, privacy, confidentiality, security, vocabulary and user class issues necessary to obtain product commercialization. The Phase II product will also include interface to two major knowledge base systems and to two major CPR systems; it will be ready for marketplace entry.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research: The ultimate vision is to have the PPR in the possession of every citizen of the U. S. to be used for each interaction with every healthcare provider. Attainment of this goal will be a process starting with hospitals and other major facilities in conjunction with their implementation of CPR systems and will spread to the universe of healthcare providers.National Cancer Institute (NCI)
