Hospital outpatient medical summary.

Abstract

The rationale for having a hospital outpatient summary is discussed. A design is proposed which is complementary to a priorly proposed inpatient-episode summary aiming at speedy information retrieval while providing for efficient referencing. It has the following features: It records chronologically the essentials of the evolving health status and its management in the outpatient mode. It is especially formatted to accommodate the multispecialty orientation in the outpatient setting. It registers the evolution of previous diagnoses and health problems to give a clear background picture of prior health status. There is flexibility to allow for editing and arbitrary cut-offs for special situations. It is simple and easy to implement. It is computer compatible.