Implementing a Web-based clinical information system using EMR middle layer services.

The Clinical Summary is a Web-based application for accessing the clinical database at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The application has been developed to give physicians in our health care community access to clinical information for patients they refer to our hospital. "Middle layer" services, written previously for the hospital's clinical workstation, supply much of the application's functionality. Employment of reusable services together with a Web-based front end has afforded a rapid and inexpensive means for developing a new clinical information system. This paper discusses the system's design, function, and methods of implementation.