Title: MARS: the electronic medical record system: the core of the Kaiser galaxy

Authors: Nilmini Wickramasinghe, Gail L. Mills

Addresses: Computer and Information Science Department, James J. Nance College of Business Administration, Cleveland State University, 1860 East 18th Street, Cleveland, OH 44114-3610, USA. Information Technology, Kaiser Permanente, Ohio, Cleveland, OH 44131, USA

Abstract: The growth of e-commerce (electronic commerce) is vast, complex and rapidly expanding. E-commerce is clearly an integral part of business, spreading across the areas of Business to Consumer, Business to Business, e-government and e-health. In fact, we could be forgiven for thinking we are in the e-millennium. E-medical records are an example of one such e-initiative to touch the healthcare sector. However, the true advantages of these e-medical records are not clear. We present the case example of MARS, the automated medical record system at Kaiser Permanente-Ohio. In so doing we show that the true advantage of this system is that it functions as a knowledge management system (KMS) simultaneously enabling and facilitating convergence and compliance of healthcare treatment as well as enhancing and supporting the creation and renewal of knowledge pertaining to healthcare delivery.

Keywords: e-medical records; e-health; healthcare; managed care; knowledge management systems; knowledge workers; information systems; information technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2001.001119

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2001 Vol.3 No.5/6, pp.406-423

Published online: 30 Jun 2003 *

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