COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS
Since valuable medical information is routinely being stored in a large
variety of computer systems, accessing that material has become a vital part of
the clinician's practice.
For example, a hospital
information system contains demographic information about the patient, the
results of all of the graphic information about the patient, the results of all
the clinical tests that were ordered, and even computerized EKG readings. On a
larger scale, there are nationally maintained data banks, such as the National
Library of Medicine's MEDLINE, which contains over 20 years of biomedical
literature. Historically, access to particular computer systems was only
possible if one possessed a terminal (a combination of a CRT and keyboard) that
was directly connected to a particular computer system through an electrical
cable. Intercomputer communication today uses a wide variety of techniques
ranging from satellite links to fiberoptic links, but also to a great extent,
the existing telephone system.
