A study using microcomputer algorithms for more efficient management of six common pediatric care problems found improvements in all performance measures with computer algorithm use. However, use was discontinued after five weeks because the six physicians perceived the algorithms as too tedious for routine care. (Author/MSE)

The use of computers in hospital clinical nursing and implications for the education of nurses were studied with a sample of 130 hospitals. Of concern was how computers were used, which hospital personnel used computers in health care, costs to educate staff nurses, and who teaches nurses about computers. Questionnaires completed by hospital data…

A study involving 14 experienced physicians investigated the effectiveness of a computer program (providing statistical feedback to teach a clinical diagnostic rule that predicts the probability of streptococcal pharyngitis), in conjunction with traditional lecture and periodic disease-prevalence reports. Results suggest the integrated method is a…

A school of dentistry's computer system handles numerous types of online transactions: patient screening, registration, disposition, treatment planning, treatment progress, appointments, records of a patient-practitioner association, student evaluation, and records for student, faculty, and staff. The program could be adapted for other program…

Scientific and technological advances affecting dental education in the near future are examined, including the growing role of saliva in diagnosis, direct imaging methods, biomaterials research, computer-aided design and manufacturing, molecular biology, and new restorative dentistry. It is argued that dentistry should be a fully recognized…

A medical school survey examined student and faculty willingness to use computers and the prevalence of the attitudes that computers in medicine are a potential threat to employment, neither convenient nor responsive to physicians' needs, and potentially debasing to the human role in medical practice. (MSE)

An approach to the use of computer assisted instruction (CAI) for teaching psychopharmacology is presented. A project is described in which, using the TUTOR programing language on the PLATO IV computer system, several computer programs were developed to demonstrate the concepts of aminergic transmitters in the central nervous system. Response…

Described are developments in medical electronics and physiological measurement. Discussed are electrocardiology, audiology, and urology as mature applications; applied potential tomography, magnetic stimulation of nerves, and laser Doppler flowmetry as new techniques; and optical sensors, ambulatory monitoring, and biosensors as future…

Discussed are technological advances applying computer techniques for image acquisition and processing, including digital radiography, computed tomography, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Several diagrams and pictures showing the use of each technique are presented. (YP)

Discussed is a radionuclide imaging technique, including the gamma camera, image analysis computer, radiopharmaceuticals, and positron emission tomography. Several pictures showing the use of this technique are presented. (YP)

Described are applications of computers in the field of medicine, including patient monitoring, patient treatment, patient imaging, patient therapy, and rehabilitation. (YP)

Selective enrollment of patients at a model family practice unit provides a full range of medical problems for residents. A computerized, problem-oriented medical record is used to help distribute families with selected chronic diseases equitably. Reallocation of families to new residents in cycles is logically planned and workloads are monitored.…

Advantages and disadvantages discovered during introduction of computerized patient-care recordkeeping at the National Institute of Health's Clinical Center are discussed, including the needs for physicians to change some behaviors and for better records, changes in the relationship between nurse and physician, and adjustment problems in inputting…

Hand-held computers can give medical students instant access to research findings and patient data. The machines, relatively inexpensive in comparison with laptops, have drawbacks, including small screens and tiny keyboards. Many find the machines very useful; others do not see enough benefit to learn the needed skills. Some professors and…

The problem-oriented medical record, developed by Lawrence L. Weed, M.D., involves an interactive computer system and has been operational on two wards at the University Hospital in Burlington, Vermont, a teaching hospital. The Problem-Oriented Medical Information System (PROMIS) consists of terminals that feed into the central memory units; the…