Assessment of Information Needs for Informed, Coordinated Activities in the Clinical Environment

Introduction. The study of errors in medicine has evolved from simply measuring their occurrence to a more detailed examination of the source of such errors. With many errors associated with of lack of access to information and inefficient coordination among team members, interventions are clearly desirable. The goal of our study was to examine the information and coordination needs in an internal medicine environment, with respect to the current clinical information systems. Method. Through observation of six hours of "teaching rounds," we recorded information and coordination needs involving diagnostic and treatment decisions. Observation of eight and threequarter hours of "walking rounds" identified needs encountered during actual patient care. Table 1 provides the coding scheme.