A web-tool to manage ophthalmologic electronic health records

Abstract

The solution described in this paper is a web tool to access and manage patients' data in Ophthalmology. Clinical data are collected in a database through a system that can be easily utilized by physicians and internal information can be extracted for statistical purposes. The platform is also available for simultaneous Multicenter Clinical Trials. A specific algorithm and extraction tool were developed to allow physicians to extract data for research purposes. Users can simply add and manage patients, records, follow-up visits, treatments, diagnosis, clinical history; all the information can be modified and reused whenever required. Physicians can also enter specific extraction criteria, in order to exploit the full potential of the available information. Once the extraction of data is completed, it is possible to view and save data in an Excel format. The Ophthalmology Clinic of the San Martino Hospital in Genoa has been working with this web tool since April 2013. By the end of November 2013, 568 patients and 2668 visits had been registered. The web-platform allows effective management, sharing and reuse of information within primary care and clinical research. In the near future, there is a plan to share the system with other Italian centers.