The digital computer in surgical intensive care automation

The application of technology and system engineering techniques to the delivery of health services has made possible the successful implementation of a computer-based system in the clinical care of patients during the crucial early hours following heart surgery. Our hospital was faced with continually increasing numbers of candidates for cardiac operations without proportionate growth in the availability of skilled, highly motivated registered nurses qualified to care for these critically ill patients. Cardiac surgeons responsible for the patient´s welfare hypothesized that despite greater patient loads the quality of care could be maintained, economically, with the existing nursing staff, if automation could be successfully employed to aid the physicians and the nurses with their care-related duties. In this paper we describe the results of integrating the computer into the day-to-day operation of the Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit of the University of Alabama Hospital. Since July of 1967 this automated care system has performed record keeping duties and been used clinically in the observation and treatment of 2750 patients (2–28–73) following operation for correction of various acquired and congenital heart defects.