HIS (healthcare information systems) consultants: when are they necessary, and why?

The rapid escalation of consulting fees for the installation of healthcare information systems and the potential abuses associated with consulting relationships has prompted some to question the need to hire consultants for systems installation. Consulting arrangements were considered cost effective when information systems were first being automated, but the rising cost of consulting services along with the increasing sophistication of hospital personnel regarding computerization suggest that the use of consultants receive close scrutiny. Following some simple guidelines may limit potential abuses and allow hospitals to obtain maximum service for their investment.

Selecting a processor for computations in molecular biophysics

A number of relatively low-cost processors are now available which employ architectural features previously found only on very expensive supercomputers. The speed of these computers makes it possible to reduce the time to solution of certain problems and to resolve large problems that previously were too time consuming to perform locally. A brief overview of this type of processor is given and the implications for computations in molecular biophysics are discussed in reference to the results of a benchmark that uses the refinement of a protein structure from X-ray crystallographic data.

Developing a computer laboratory for neurotologic diagnosis

The authors, with the help of a community hospital engineering staff, constructed a modern neurotological testing facility capable of performing on-line computer measurements of vestibulo-oculomotor, visual vestibulo-oculomotor, smooth pursuit, saccade, and optokinetic reflexes. The laboratory was built from component parts and uses a Digital Corporation laboratory computer. Programs from the UCLA Human Vestibular Laboratory were modified to work with the new laboratory. Construction and program modification cost $60,000 and was completed in seven months. The laboratory was working at full capacity six months after construction testing patients with suspected neurotologic and neurologic disorders. The procedures of construction as well as the financial and safety problems are discussed.