Integration Between Hospital Information Systems and FileMaker Pro

Although, computerization has been widely adopted in medical communities, it is often difficult for small-scale hospitals to make the large investments necessary to introduce electronic medical record systems, such as hospital information, radiology information, and picture archiving and communication systems (HIS, RIS, PACS, respectively). We have constructed medical information support systems with the commercial database software FileMaker Pro, which was also integrated with other hospital systems, such as PACS, ordering, and general account systems. Our FileMaker databases consist of master databases containing data regarding patient attributes, drug information, disease information, etc., and operation databases consisting of administration, medical histories, examination schedules, imaging reports, operation plans, etc. FileMaker databases collect patient attributes from the general account system every 3 min. We developed an interface server for programs integration. The servers were connected with ODBC. After working with this cooperation program, we could reexamine operation of duties. Medical information support systems using FileMaker Pro are ideal for hospitals, because they can cooperate with other hospital systems or work as standalone systems. In a wide sense, this system can be defined as an electronic medical record, and it would be suitable for use in small-scale hospitals because of its low cost and ease of customization.

Keywords: Medical information supporting systems, digital divide, FileMaker Pro, small- scale hospital, electronic medical record systems, HIS, RIS, PACS, DICOM, ODBC, computerization, radiology, IHE, IHE-J, HL7.