Outreach to Oregon Physicians and Hospitals: 5000 by 2000

Hcalth care is a much-debated subject in the 1990s. Concerns about cost, quality, and outcomes permeate both the popular media and the medical community. The quality of clinical decision making is now recognized as the primary manageable determinant of hospital expense and health care quality in this decade, and effective decision making in the health care setting is dependent on access to information. Timely and accurate information is needed for clinical care, outcomes evaluation and reporting, meeting regulatory requirements, and financial purposes. With advances in information technology physicians should be able to rely on information tools and networks to assist them in their clinical care. Yet, in the past hospital information systems have not been oriented toward aiding professional decision making and education.’ This is changing throughout the country as medical centers in numerous states accept the challenge of using computer networks t o extend clinical consulting.