plans prescribed by the provider. Presently, physicians spend 25 to 40 percent of their time writing--or dictating--medical notes and filling out transaction ordering forms ("The quiet," 1994, p. 78).
Respiratory therapy and radiology need to be addressed by their own physical machines, and cannot be controlled by PCs. This must be allocated as part of the working budget of the hospital, like tongue depressors and thermometers.
2. What personnel would you need to talk with to determine the OA needs of Good Samaritan?
To appropriately address the OA needs of Good Samaritan Hospital a good many hours of research and development should be logged. Included in any OA evaluation should be all clinical encounters, assessment of process flow in outpatient medical facilities and imput by almost all levels of the hospital staff in a designated time period. To effectively automate Good Samaritan, the daily operations of all staff levels must be considered. This applies to the janitor as well as the chief surgeon. As a starting point, a determination could be gleaned by talking with the head of each department and two or three workers in that department. This would assure a unbiased view of each individual department's needs.
3. Determine the word processing and graphic needs of Good Samaritan Hospital?
Graphic Documentation, as in both word processing and graphics, is essential to good office automation. Functional planning documentation results from many considerations: Minimum planning standards and guidelines; good planning practice; codes and regulations; unique client needs; anticipated procedures; staffing; equipment, both fixed and movable; process and techniques; volume of procedures; hours of operation. (Cassel, 1990, p. 245).
Word processing in general helps communication across every department. The entire concept of entering, editing, print formatting, printing, saving and recalling are concepts specific to t...