Abstract
The Asahikawa Red Cross Hospital introduced a new regional medical cooperation system, which allows physicians at other medical institutions in the region to access clinical data in the electric medical record system of the hospital by using a safe internet connection. Broad bands such as an optical line or ADSL are necessary to communicate heavy information promptly. To guaranty security and for data encoding the Secure Sockets Layer-Virtual Private Network (SSL-VPN) was adopted. Access control is managed through a firewall.
Access to this system is regulated by prior registration and the use is limited to 1 year. Physicians can only refer to the data of their own patients. Any data stored in the electronic charts regarding the patient's diagnosis and treatment from when the chart was first established is available, for example appointment data, radiation, endoscope, and supersonic wave images, reports, summaries and information on prescription, drug administration and surgery. Institutions can also follow up on patients whom they introduced to the Asahikawa Red Cross Hospital.
Because the system addresses a variety of information collection, it is thought that it contributes to quality improvement of the regional cooperation on health issues.
