The rapidly growing discipline of medical informatics is changing the
face of clinical practice and research. The author reviews current eff
orts toward the development of electronic medical record systems. A su
ccessful system must provide satisfactory solutions to five major requ
irements: a user interface acceptable to varied health care personnel,
data storage and transmission standards that will allow communication
with other systems, a coding system that is flexible but accommodates
complex queries, a multilevel security structure and audit trail and
unique identifiers for patients and providers. These issues have not b
een fully resolved, and replacement of paper charts with fully compute
rized records is many years away, but the application of readily avail
able computer tools to geriatric psychiatry can yield immediate benefi
ts. The author describes a supplemental record system that provides im
proved organization of clinical information as well as powerful search
capabilities.