Health record problem-oriented information system

Medinfo. 1995:8 Pt 1:297.

Abstract

Health Record refers to the recording of the medical and relevant social history of the patient, obtained directly or indirectly. It is an instrument of frequent use that must guarantee the quality of assistance provided, reflecting all information pertinent to forming the patient's medical history. It must be designed so that data is easily and effectively retrieved for everyday use, without compromising the patient's privacy. The Health Record Problem Oriented model achieves all of these objectives. This model comprises: 1. Initial data: the relevant medical histories and biography is recorded. 2. Problems list: the patient provides reasons why she is seeking medical attention. 3. Performance plans: these include diagnostic, therapeutic, pharmacological, dietetic, physiotherapist, and surgical plans, as well as the education of the patient. 4. Evolution notes: the progress of the condition. This model guarantees multi-professional registration, an integral focus on the health, and a continued focus on the patient. These characteristics make it the model par excellence of Primary Care. Prior to the implementation of this model, existing information must be analyzed so that it can eventually be converted to a relational database. The Entity-Relationship Model (E/R Model) has been used to represent the database. Here, the basic concepts involved are entities, relationships, and attributes. Entities represent classes or objects from the real world that have common characteristics. The relationships represent the aggregation of two or more entities. The attributes are elemental properties of both entities and relationships. The E/R Diagram graphically represents the conceptual model of a database; the one built for the Health Record Problem Oriented reflects all the entities that compound the attending processes and the relationships existing between them. The Patient is the central axis of the attending process. The record contains the identifying data of the subject and his habits. We can know his medical history by means of his past Illness (personal and family record), Vaccine (what he is vaccinated against), and Case History (each patient has a case history). The other important component is the Consult Motive. A patient has a reason for every consultation, and this reason is added to her medical history as part of the Consult Motive. Each consult motive produces different events that are shown as relations with the other entities. So, for example, by analyzing a patient's history of complaints, a doctor can more suitably determine if she should recommend Cardiac or Anthropometric Exploration, request an Analysis, request a Radiography or Specialist Report, or prescribe a Treatment. The various elements that are part of a Consult Motive are expressed as different entities. Once the conceptual schema of the database is defined, the next step is to convert this schema to a logical schema, suitable for the Relational Model.

MeSH terms

  • Medical Records Systems, Computerized*
  • Medical Records, Problem-Oriented*