Computerized records in clinical cardiology.

Major strides in both computer hardware and software with respect to costs, reliability and user friendliness have made computer systems more and more popular for information management. Although the acquisition and maintenance of patient medical records lend themselves extremely well to computerization, there are few, if any, descriptions of successful implementations of computerized medical records in a private clinical practice. This article examines the basic fundamentals of the medical record, compares paper and computerized records and describes a specific computerized office system installed in a private cardiovascular/internal medicine practice with specific emphasis on patient medical records.