The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 21, 431-435, Copyright © 1976 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
The application of a semiautomated postoperative care program in a community hospital: early results
WF Holdefer, LC Sheppard, NW Todd and EK Carney
The clinical involvement of computer technology in medical center
environment has been successfully utilized in the postoperative care of
patients following open intracardiac operations. This report describes the
initial experience in a community hospital with the adaptation and
evaluation of such a system in the postoperative care of critically ill
patients. The early experience with this noncomputerized system suggests
the clinical usefulness of the approach, the potential increase in manpower
utilization, and the greater utilization of the nursing staff in true
patient care. The early results of the study do not indicate that this
approach to patient care is necessarily economically feasible or
technically applicable in all community hospitals.