The use of automated ambulatory medical records.

An extensive survey of the uses of computerized automated ambulatory medical record systems has been conducted. The medical services provided which seem to offer the greatest benefits include: patient profiles which are a concise summary of a patient's medical status, patient surveillance to help in preventive care and management of chronic disease, data presentation by flow sheets and graphs, and data-base searches for audit, training, and research. The close integration of medical data with patient management and administrative services such as scheduling, registration, and financial systems, gives valuable utilization and practice information. Improvement in the billing and accounting process is in itself a most important benefit. In addition, the collection and analysis of medical data for health services research, quality of care audits, and training of future providers offers much potential. A number of innovative and economically viable computerized ambulatory record systems are currently operating.