A Conceptual Model For Health Care Information Systems

The health care delivery system both needs and generates information in the course of providing service to its beneficiaries. The heightened interest of groups peripheral to the patient provider relationship has resulted in ever increasing requests for information and serve to focus attention on the need for uniform data. This paper describes initial efforts to identify and define a core grouping of health-care-related information which is expected to be of maximum use both to members of the health care team and external oversight agencies. To explore the concept of maximum utility, a model of the health care information system was postulated, and functional information categories identified. Application of other criteria resulted in identification of discrete items of information. Definitions and codes, where appropriate, are being developed. The potential usefulness of the concepts to the health care community at large are also discussed.