Graphical electrocardiogram waveforms as part of an integrated hospital system's patient record.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has an ongoing project to integrate diagnostic images into its existing text-based hospital information system. High-quality images from cardiology, pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, endoscopy, pathology, radiology, hematology and nuclear medicine can be displayed for clinicians quickly and conveniently on workstations throughout the hospital. As a part of this endeavor, diagnostic-quality computer generated 12-lead electrocardiograms, including both median and rhythm data, can be viewed as a part of the on-line patient record of an integrated hospital information system. Now computer generated graphics can be included in the longitudinal patient record. Incorporating generated graphics and images into a text based patient record is another step towards the next generation of integrated hospital information system with multimedia patient records.