The impact of IAIMS at Georgetown: strategies and outcomes.

Integration of multiple information systems of a medical center will change the way physicians work and practice medicine in the future. Several major steps must be taken by an institution to make this a reality. Since 1983, Georgetown has been engaged in an Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) project to bring together multiple sources of information that reside on different computers and database systems. Georgetown is developing a Biotechnology and Biomedical Knowledge Network that includes informational and clinical databases, scholar workstations, instruction on computer use, a campuswide network with local area network nodes, and a modular approach to systems integration. The IAIMS project, spearheaded by the medical library, has enabled a broad spectrum of health professionals to benefit directly from new, dynamic information services. The network is heavily used; in 1991, more than 2,100 individual users conducted more than 148,500 computer functions and more than 104,000 searches. There is economy of scale in high-volume use. Overall, the average search cost is $1.57; for high use databases the cost is $0.38, and for low use, it is $9.41. As described in this paper, IAIMS offers a cost-effective means of enhancing patient care by improving information services to physicians. At Georgetown, IAIMS has advanced the concept of integration, accelerated use of computers in education, increased user acceptance of advanced technologies, and established cost factors for providing information resources. While progress made in improving the transfer of medical information is impressive, it is clear that IAIMS requires several more years of support to achieve full implementation.     

Activity and Behavioral Development in Stunted and Nonstunted Children and Response to Nutritional Supplementation

It is frequently assumed that undernutrition in young children leads to poor development through reduced activity. 3 groups of 26 1-year-old stunted children were studied: nutritional supplementation, supplementation with psychosocial stimulation, and controls. 26 nonstunted comparison children were also studied. Activity levels were measured by extensive observations in the homes, and development using 4 subscales of the Griffith's Mental Development Scales. Initially, stunted children were less active than nonstunted ones ( p < .01), but after 6 months they caught up regardless of treatment. The mental ages of the stunted children were lower than those of the nonstunted children initially, and improved with either treatment. Initially, activity levels made a significant contribution to the variance in the locomotor subscale only, but not 6 months later. Activity did not predict change in development over 6 or 12 months, nor did change in activity over 6 months predict change in development over 12 months.     

Human communication needs and organizational productivity: the potential impact of office automation.

Much of what white collar workers do in offices is communication-related. White collar workers make up the majority of the labor force in the United States today and the majority of current labor costs. Because office automation represents more productive structured techniques for handling both written and oral communication, office automation therefore offers the potential to make organizations more productive by improving organizational communication. This article: (1) defines communication, (2) identifies the potential benefits to be realized from implementing office automation, and (3) offers caveats related to the implementation of office automation systems. Realization of the benefits of office automation depends upon the degree to which new modes of communication may be successfully substituted for traditional modes.