We can do an average of one more visit per day because of the increased efficiency. S.D. The hand-held computer Kuchel carries can display records from the past four visits to each patient, along with details on medications, diagnoses and medical history. If a patient's condition requires a physician's attention, Kuchel can connect the hand-held device to any phone to transmit a report for a doctor's review. Kuchel, her co-workers and patients are among the beneficiaries of data networking. Although the health care industry was an early adopter of high-tech tools, connecting geographically diverse health care settings is only now taking place.
Advocates see enormous benefits in dollars and health.
Some are proving that. The system serves 19,000 physicians and handles 70,000 reports a month. We're now implementing something in Wisconsin that does similar things, but it's based on the Web. While most of the computer infrastructure is aimed at staff use, Lovasz says SSM is building its Web presence for consumers. Eventually, patients will be able to schedule appointments by Internet.