Use of Electronic Coronary Care Unit Record: two years' experience

In a computer-network infrastructure realised to integrate different remote cardiovascular diagnostic laboratories, the Electronic Coronary Care Unit (CCU) Record is a station that is dedicated to collecting data derived from CCU and nurses' activities. It is only used by nurses, and there is a dynamic connection between the patient data and the medical record. The central control station, consisting of a Pentium PC, works separately from the general archive to permit the nurses to carry out their activities even if the physical link to the central system should fail. Information about patient therapy and biological parameters (temperature, blood pressure, heart rate) is available on specialized forms which are printable according to the nurses' needs (e.g. therapy distribution, patient examinations). From August 1999 to August of 2001, the system was used to integrate data from 1,500 patients recovering in a cardiological department. The time course of blood-pressure and heart-rate values in hypertensive patients enabled the treatment efficacy to be monitored.