IMPACT OF A FLEXIBLE DATA BASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ON THE DECISION CAPABILITIES OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN AN HMO SETTING.

In order to answer various health services research and quality assurance questions a patient computerized data base, which consists of readily available claims data, was developed at a large multispecialty group practice health maintenance organization (HMO) in a midwest suburban comwnunity. The data base contains a two-year history of patient diagnosis, procedure, and drug information for approximately 60,000 HMO members.