Developing and implementing a user-driven departmental database system--implications for the Royal College of Radiologists' COIN proposal.

With the increasing availability of computers, more departments are using word processors in place of typewriters. In the course of typing patient discharge summaries and letters, a large amount of information of potential use for audit or research purposes is entered into the computer but in a form inaccessible for analysis. We have developed a data-base system, based on information entered by departmental staff in the course of their work, rather than by designated data managers. The aim of the system is to replace word-processed clinical summaries. We describe the design, implementation and possible advantages and disadvantages of such a system and implications for the COIN proposal of the Royal College of Radiologists.