Informatics in Primary Care (BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT)
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The Case for Integration of JANET and NHSnet: a pragmatic proposal for its implementation
No full textThe NHSnet, to achieve public and professional confidence, needs to be secure. In order to achieve this, its code of connection requires general practices to remove any Internet connections they might have including connections to JANET (the Joint Academic Network). Whilst this rationale is understandable, other pressures are pushing undergraduate medical education into general practice. An increasing part of medical student learning is self-directed and computer-based. Tutors working in general practice need both to be able to access patient data, as well as to communicate with their educational peer group at their University Department. This paper sets up a pragmatic staged process whereby a practice could in a secure way access both email and educational material at its medical school, whilst at the same time linking to NHSnet
CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY REQUIREMENTS AND PRIMARY CARE COMPUTING: ACHILLES' HEEL OR SECRET POLICEMAN'S BALL? (7N860 OR MI5 7N5217)
No full textMeeting the requirements of specialists and generalists in Version 3 of the Read Codes: Two illustrative "Case Reports"
No full textThe Read Codes have been recognised as the standard for General Practice computing since 1988 and the original 4-byte set continues to be extensively used to record primary health care data. Read Version 3 (the Read Thesaurus) is an expanded clinical vocabulary with an enhanced file structure designed to meet the detailed requirements of specialist practitioners and to address some of the limitations of previous versions. A recent phase of integration of the still widely-used 4-byte set has highlighted the need to ensure that the new Thesaurus continues to support generalist requirements
The Northern Ireland General Practice Information Management and Technology Training programme
No full textA measure of the validity of the International Classification of Primary Care in the classification of reasons for encounter
No full textObjective: to assess the concurrent validity of the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) in the classification of patient reasons for encounter.
Design: Analyses of utilisation of ICPC codes in classifying patient reasons for encounter (RFEs).
Setting: primary health care.
Subjects: 146,940 patient RFEs recorded by general practitioners in an Australian National survey.
Main outcome measures: Relative frequency of utilisation, classed as: frequent (>5/1,000 contacts); intermediate (1_5/1,000); marginal (0.5_1/1,000); or rare(<0.5/1,000 contacts). Relative use of 'rag-bag' codes which group multiple concepts.
Results: Of 1,371 available codes 76.7% were used at least once. Over two-thirds of all RFEs were classified in Components 1 (symptoms/complaints) or 7 (diagnoses/disease), in which 93.8% of rubrics were selected. Only 48 ICPC codes accounted for 65.5% of all RFEs. Codes never used totalled 319, only 43 of these being in Components 1 and 7. Only 3.3% of RFEs were classified in the 86 identified 'rag-bag' codes. In relative terms, the proportion of RFEs associated with the eye (19.6%) and the male genital system (17.6%) coded in 'rag-bags' was high.
Conclusion: ICPC was found to be a valid tool with which to classify RFEs, but some suggestions for improving future versions of the classification are put forward
Information Technology in General Practice: current use and views on future development
No full textObjective: To ascertain general practitioners current use of computers and their views on future development of information technology in general practice.
Design: Postal questionnaire sent to general practitioners.
Setting and subjects: 189 general practitioners working within the Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster (KCW) Health Authority area in London.
Results: Three-quarters of computerised general practitioners recorded some or all consultation details on computer. 70% used the computer to generate prescriptions during consultations, and 98% for repeat prescriptions. 91% of all (computerised and non-computerised) general practitioners were in favour of electronic links between hospital and surgery computers, with the majority wanting access to text-based reports and letters from hospital. 45% wanted access to X-rays, and only a third wanted access to MRI and CT scans.
Conclusion: The majority of general practitioners use their computers during routine consultations. Most general practitioners want links to hospital computers to access text-based hospital reports and letters and these links should be introduced. They are less enthusiastic about accessing radiological images
