Point-of-Care Information Systems: State of the Art

Requirements for patient care documentation and information access by healthcare professionals have changed dramatically over the past few years. The nursing professional has always needed to document care given and to review patient information to make care decisions; but in the current healthcare environment, where inpatients are more acutely ill, staffing is minimized, and care is more integrated across disciplines and care settings, the documentation requirements are much more intense and the need to access meaningful information in a timely manner is much more urgent. As stated in the findings of the Institute of Medicine’s study of the patient record, current patient records cannot adequately manage all the information needed for patient care. Future records must be computer based and used actively in the clinical process (Dick and Steen, 1991). In other words, today’s healthcare environment demands that healthcare professionals have more and better automated information tools to provide quality patient care. These tools must be available and used as an integral part of the patient care setting, whether at the inpatient bedside, the physician’s office, or the patient’s home.