Reference: Shortliffe, E. H. The Networked Physician: Practitioner of the Future. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1991.
Abstract: For the physicians of the 1990s and beyond, computer workstations will be their windows on the world. Much of the necessary technology already exists. Desktop or bedside, in the office or at the hospital, computers can respond to a simple click of a mouse pointing device. Furthermore, physicians are increasingly using computers in their office practices. In the future, the physician will be able to access the medical record largely by using the mouse and doing very little typing. Moreover, the record will include graphics and images as well as extensive text. Outpatient records will be integrated with inpatient data by using the capabilities of communications networks that link hospitals with the clinics and private offices of their medical staff members. At the same time, the physician--not the hospital--will retain control of the outpatient records for the private practice.