Building an ambulatory clinical information system in a family practice residency.

A programmable database may be implemented on a personal computer to manage the educational and clinical information needs of a family practice residency. Such a system can usefully and efficiently be based on the existing clinical encounter form. Data entry for a practice of 7500 patients with 20,000 visits per year requires little computer expertise and only 1 hour per day of clerical data entry time. The cost of such a system can be reduced to as low as $2500. A flexible, programmable database, rather than a commercial practice management system, is recommended as more efficient in accommodating continued development of strategies to meet the educational and clinical data needs in the family practice residency setting.