Expanding M NET: lessons from the development of a referring physician computer network.

M NET, the University of Michigan Medical Center's statewide referring physician computer network, was implemented as a pilot project in 1990. After three years of design, development and implementation, M NET has progressed from its pilot project status to a production system within the institution's strategic plan for hospital networking. This paper describes the evolution of M NET from a small pilot project to its current production status encompassing all clinical departments and hundreds of physicians across the state. The lessons learned from the pilot, the requirements of both the referring physicians and the Medical Center, and the development of a flexible and robust network architecture to allow network expansion are addressed.