Marion and Neibur hired programmers, and by the fall of 1992, students at UTMB were busy learning from the simulated electronic patient records. Each patient record has several episodes of care, and students from different disciplines work together to plan their approaches. For example, a physician assistant student and an OT student might be assigned to work together. The PA student would take the role of primary care provider seeking a consult from the OT or PT student. The two would use the conferencing software that s part of the HISS package to collaborate on the patient s care.
Every case demands multidisciplinary care.
Students in RT, OT, PT, PA, medical laboratory, and medical records management programs are the most frequent users of the software. Marion stressed the software is not simply a way to teach students about electronic patient records. Instead, it s designed to help them learn about care planning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and problem solving. Each of the more than 100 assignments possible in the software encourages students to draw on each other s knowledge and to consider factors such as cost and travel. That way they can help their actual patients deal with the challenges of real life.