Center for Clinical Computing (CCC)
Joan Breuer, Ph.D. 01/12/2010 20:12 http://www.hmfpinformatics.org/index.shtml The following is history of CCC: The first time a computer was ever used to interview a patient was in 1968. Accomplishments of the CCC over time (in general): Acid-Base => 1970; E-mail => 1980; OMR => 1990; Patient Site => 2000; WebOMR => 2010 Those that started the system were:The Division of Clinical Informatics, created over 30 years ago by Drs. Howard Bleich and Warner Slack, was among the first academic divisions in the world to concentrate on the use of computers for patient care, teaching, and medical research. The current Informatics experts at CCC: Charles Safran, Division Chief plus about 2 dozen other experts in that department. Evolution of the system and clinical applications: Beginning in 1976 the faculty and staff of the Division designed, developed, implemented and studied hospital-wide, integrated computing systems for doctors, other clinicians, and students that would give the results of diagnostic studies immediately upon request; offer access to the biomedical literature with PaperChase (the first program of its kind, which in turn gave rise to a new field of literature searching and spawned numerous derivative programs); offer advice, consultation, alerts and reminders; assist with communication by electronic mail (with the Division's home-grown system, which was the first e-mail to be installed in a clinical facility); assist with order entry; and assist in the day-to-day practice of medicine, both for inpatient and ambulatory care. As far as statistics given, it was shown that over 300 publications came out of CCC from 1966 to 2009. End Edit Joan Breuer
Computing systems developed by the Center for Clinical Computing (CCC) have been in operation in Beth Israel and Brigham and Women’s hospitals for over 10 years. It was devoloped by Slacka and Bleicha at Division of Clinical Computing, Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Designed to be of direct benefit to doctors, nurses, and other clinicians in the care of their patients, the CCC systems give the results of diagnostic studies immediately upon request; offer access to the medical literature: give advice, consultation, alerts, and reminders; assist in the day-to-day practice of medicine, and participate directly in the education of medical students and house officers. The CCC systems are extensively used, even by physicians who are under no obligation to use them. Studies have shown that the systems are well received and that they help clinicians improve the quality of patient care. In addition, the CCC systems have had a beneficial impact on the finances of the two hospitals, and they have cost less than what many hospitals spend for financial computing alone.
Reference:
The CCC system in two teaching hospitals: a progress report, International Journal of Medical Informatics Volume 54, Issue 3, June 1999, Pages 183-196
