ONLINE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTATION ON AN INT ERNAL AND A SURGICAL INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

A prospective documentation of patients data on an internal and a surg ical intensive care unit (ICU) has been transacted. The physician and nursing staff used an online electronic documentation program, which h as been developed in Frankfurt. Main emphasis has been placed on the e pidemiological data, clinical diagnoses as well as diagnostically and therapy costs. The medical ICU of university hospital of Frankfurt has been analysed since 1992 and the surgical ICU of Stadtisches Krankenh aus of Luneburg since 1994. Up to now data from 2001 patients from Fra nkfurt are available. Period spent on the ICU was 4.7 +/- 0.16 days (a verage +/- SEM), mortality was 15%. 47% of the whole group suffered fr om cardiac disease, of which 211 had an acute myocardial infarction (1 0.6%), 156 patients a serious ventricular arrhythmia (7.8%) as well as 88 patients an unstable angina (4.4%). Long-term observation revealed a rise of the duration spent on the ICU (from 4.1 +/- 0.17 to 5.5 +/- 0.38 days, p < 0.0002), an increasing number of technical examination s (for example: chest x-ray from 2.25 +/- 0.13 to 4.52 +/- 0.4/patient , p < 0.0001) and a steady mortality between 1992 and 1994. Detailed a nalysis of patients with acute myocardial infarction showed an impress ive reduction of total mortality within the 3 years observed. In Luneb urg data of 1004 patients have been recorded so far. The average time spent on the ICU was 6.4 +/- 0.33 days. 4.1% patients passed away. Neo plasia of gastric intestinal tract (143; 14.2%), femoral neck fracture (64; 6.4%) and ilei (54; 5.4%) have been the most frequent diagnoses. Patients underwent 2.2 +/- 0.12 chest xrays and 1.4 +/- 0.1 ultrasoun d investigations. The study shows that an online data processing is pr acticable and can be integrated in the daily work flow. Furthermore, i t can be seen that the collected data play an important role to secure the increasing administrative requisition to the modern medicine in v iew of costs and quality management.