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Computer-Assisted Preventive CareTime to 'Byte' the Bullet?
Stephen J. McPhee, MD
Arch Fam Med. 1994;3(7):576-578.
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
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PHYSICIANS PERFORM preventive care activities less frequently than established guidelines recommend. To improve the delivery of preventive services, interventions of several types have been developed and tested. Some are directed at patients alone, some at physicians alone, some at both patients and physicians simultaneously, and some at office staff. Among these interventions are reminder systems designed to overcome the forgetfulness of busy physicians and patients regarding preventive care. Reminder systems found to be effective have included both manual reminders, such as medical record checklists, flowsheets, stickers and alerts, and computerized reminders, such as medical record prompting, reminder postcards, and letters.1,2 Presumably these reminders serve as cues to action, both for the physician and the patient.3
While published studies have documented efficacy for both manual4-7 and computerized reminder systems,8-22 computerized systems have several advantages over manual systems.19 First, they are readily transferable and easily exportable to
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
Author Affiliations
University of California—San Francisco
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