Information technology in primary health care

Appropriate application of information technology in primary health care wi ll extend traditional diagnosis and patient management beyond the doctor's clinic into the everyday living environment. We describe a model of informa tion management in primary health care, and place special emphasis on the e merging areas of clinical decision support, computerised clinical measureme nts, patient education and network connectivity. Briefly discussed is the d esign of innovative home monitoring techniques and a telemedicine based com munications infrastructure that should improve access to high quality prima ry health care for all citizens, irrespective of their distance from major urban centres. A preliminary design for a telemedicine-assisted primary hea lth care network is presented, based on this model of information managemen t. The premise is that improvements in health care services and reductions in health care costs can be effected by establishing a continuum of patient care from the patient's home, to the doctor's surgery, to speciality servi ces in hospitals and to other service providers in the health care sector. While, the proposal focuses on new opportunities arising from the imminent introduction of broad band interactive fibre optic networks throughout Aust ralia, the technology and projected data transfers could easily be handled in the short-term using modem access to the standard telephone network. A s imple connectivity scheme for system integration is also presented. (C) 199 9 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.