Application of the relational model to record indexing and retrieval

✍ Scribed by Jenn-Hann Liou

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1977
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 418 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0010-4809
• DOI: 10.1016/0010-4809(77)90048-9

✦ Synopsis

Relational models are finding an increasing number of applications in data base management and information retrieval. In this report, a concrete application of the relational model to medical record management is analyzed in detail, and a specialpurpose language for expressing requests for modular records or subrecords at an on-line video terminal is discussed. This model, then, may be used as a paradigm for application in other problem areas in which large volumes of information have to be-searched efficiently for needed data,

MEDICAL RECORD INDEXES

In hospitals, the patient medical records are usually filed in the sequence of medical record numbers. Each patient is assigned a unique medical record number. Given a patient name the name index is searched to find his medical record number, which is then used to find the record out of the file. However, a well-managed medical record department maintains a few more indices, namely, the disease index, the operation index, thephysician index, etc. These indices provide different access paths to the medical records. Through this facility, a physician or a medical staff committee can conveniently retrieve medical records for purposes like the following (I) :

1. To review previous cases of a given disease to provide insight into the management of a current patient's problem.

2. To locate a record when the physician remembers only the diagnosis and/or operation but not the patient's name.

3. To compare data on certain diseases and treatments to prepare medical reports.

4. To evaluate quality of care in the hospital.

CARD INDEXING

On an index card the following items may be entered : 1. patient's medical record number, 2. patient's name, * Research supported by the Naval Electronics Systems Command, Contract NOOO39-71-C 0255/0034.