APPLICATION OF DATABASE-SYSTEMS IN DIABETES CARE

The St Vincent Declaration includes a commitment to continuous quality improvement in diabetes care. This necessitates the collection of app ropriate information to ensure that diabetes services are efficient, e ffective and equitable. The quantity of information, and the need for rapid access, means that this must be computer-based. The choice of ar chitecture and the design of a database for diabetes care must take in to account available equipment and operational requirements. Hardware topology may be determined by the operating system and/or netware soft ware. An effective database system will include: user-friendliness, ra pid but secure access to data, a facility for multiple selections for analysis and audit, the ability to be used as part of the patient cons ultation process, the ability to interface or integrate with other app lications, and cost efficiency. An example of a clinical information d atabase for diabetes care, Diamond, is described.