COMPUTERIZED PATIENT ANESTHESIA RECORDS - LESS TIME AND BETTER QUALITY THAN MANUALLY PRODUCED ANESTHESIA RECORDS

Study Objective: To compare manual and computerized anesthesia informa tion management systems (AIMS's) with respect to time demands on the a nesthetist and record quality. Design: Videotaped clinical anesthesia cases were independently reviewed along with the records produced. Set ting: Private practice anesthesia at a 150-bed community hospital. Pat ients: Ten consecutive As physical status I patients having video arth roscopy of the knee by the same surgeon and having general anesthesia. Interventions: One anesthetist recorded six cases: three with the com puter and three manually. Two more anesthetists each recorded two case s: one with the computer and one manually. Measurements and Main Resul ts: The proportion of the anesthetist's time spent on the documentatio n for the computer records was significantly less than that spent on m anual records (14.9% vs. 36.6%; p < 0.001). Nevertheless, significantl y more vital sign data points were recorded on the computer than on th e manual records (245.2 vs. 45.0 vital sign points per case; p < 0.001 ), as well as significantly more notes and drug information (61.0 vs. 40.0 notes per case; p < 0.02). The computer record was always legible , but this was not the case with the manual records. There was no sign ificant difference in the number of artifacts detected on the records. Conclusion: The concern that the introduction of computerized AIMS's may complicate the anesthesia working environment by requiring more ti me than manual AIMS's and thus detracting from direct patient care is not supported by this study. In fact, this computer approach not only required less time but also produced a more complete and higher-qualit y record than did the manual AIMS.