Local area networks and the hospital.

Hospital information systems are characterized by their complexity of individual functions, heterogeneity of functions, and dependence upon integration. A distributed computerized information system is well suited to meeting the needs of hospitals. A local area communications network (LACN) removes a major impediment to the use of distributed systems. An advanced microprocessor-based LACN using fiberoptic communications has been developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory of The Johns Hopkins University and has been implemented at the University of California, San Francisco Hospital.