LifeLinks

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The foundation for the Lifespan information and communication system is LifeLinks, a secure web browser that allows more than 800 physicians to access patient records from any desktop or laptop computer logged into the system, whether at the hospital or at home.

LifeLinks combines information that was previously maintained on hundreds of individual computers, including clinical test and laboratory results, medical records from other affiliated hospitals, discharge summaries, diagnoses and procedure listings, surgical notes and consults. Everyone on the team stays informed, regardless of hospital location, of the patient's status.

At any time, physicians and other team members can view a patient's five most recent laboratory, radiology and EKG results, either in tabular form or in a graph. LifeLinks includes pharmacy information for inpatient medication lists and also provides access to records of outpatients who are scheduled for clinic visits or testing. The system can locate patients by name, specific number, nursing station or physician group.

Lifespan-affiliated physicians can test LifeLinks from their own offices with a Lifespan Intranet-based tutorial. Contact Steve Reinert at sreinert@lifespan.org for details.