Abstract
The configuration of a clinical laboratory system under the hospital-wide computer service network, including medical database system, is reported. The outline of data handling in the information network is shown, and evaluation of the contributions to daily clinical work and medical research by three years' investigation on database retrieval is made.
The biochemical, hematological, serological and urinoanalytic data are entered through automatic analyzers and VDT terminals. Those data are sent to medical database (MUMPS data file) and accumulated for more than three years. The daily laboratory reporting, the retrieval of data in the various forms, including trend graphs and statistical analysis for medical research, are all executed through the terminals provided at various sites of the hospital. Owing to the high efficiency of data compression of MUMPS, the system is able to keep the laboratory data on the disk storage for more than five years.
The capacity of laboratory increased about 60% as a result of the system installation. The retrieval of laboratory data up to 38000 times per year (1983) have suggested the high utility of this system, and it has been proved that the system on the network environment has been more efficient than the stand-alone type.
