New approach to the medical information system for quality management in patient care: development of Problem Mapping System.

A new type of medical information system named Problem Mapping System (P-Map) has been developed, which aids physicians with solving patients' problems. With this system, physicians can define the problems of in-patients, monitor their progress clearly, and share information efficiently. In P-map, a list of problems, such as disease names, can be set for each inpatient easily. The progress of each problem is clearly shown using progress lines on a time axis. Physicians can save the Subjective Objective Assessment Plan (SOAP) notes which are linked to each problem. At the final stage of patient care, a discharge summary can be made easily. With the aid of this system, the quality of patient care is improved due to the following: (1) physicians can make the best decision; (2) medical staff in the same team can provide the best medical treatment; (3) evaluation of each medical treatment is easy; (4) saved data can be used effectively for education and research; (5) the system can improve cooperation with other medical institutes by providing discharge summary information which can be distributed using e-mail; and (6) the system can improve patients' understanding for the purpose of informed consent by providing clear and well organized information to patients.