Hospitals increase use of computers

Article Abstract:

Hospitals, which have long been important users of information systems, are considering new products such as bedside terminals, currently one of the most promising market niches. Hospitals are also looking for ways to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve patient care. Computer manufacturers and health-care consultants agree that automated systems can save time and make work easier for nurses, who are in short supply. Hospitals, which sometimes have had as many as five separated automated systems, are moving in the direction of putting together networks to link existing systems together. According to Austin Brown, a consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton, many companies are moving into the hospital market, and according to Mark S. Gross, with Ernst & Young, the health-care market for computerized equipment is about $6 billion a year.

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Computing a hospital patient's chance of survival

Article Abstract:

A computerized data analysis system for use in diagnostic assessment is being tested in three Michigan hospitals, in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Royal Oak. The Apache 3 system was developed by a team under the leadership of Dr William A. Knaus, at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC. Apache 3 arrives at an objective diagnostic assessment of a given patient's chances for survival by comparing data on the patient with that of 17,000 other patients treated for similar afflictions at 40 hospitals around the nation. The system provides a statistical baseline which can be used by physicians to make decisions in regard to admission to an Intensive Care Unit as well as likely response to a regimen of treatment. The system has implications for the future management and rationing of health care and medical services.

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Rare and Aggressive H.I.V. Reported in New York

Article Abstract:

A new variant of HIV that is resistant to multiple drug and quickly leads to AIDS has been identified in a New York patient.

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