The Doctor's Desk One vision of how to deliver the future information and communication needs of General Practice

Much of General Practice education focuses on the need to practice Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). Only in University Departments is access to the electronic databases and other electronic information needed to inform evidence-based choices made widely available. In The Doctor's Desk project we have tried to place the tools that enable the practice of EBM alongside the GP's computer system, as well as provide a conduit for electronic messaging. GP computer suppliers have previously provided global solutions for their practice clients. These have tried, alongside their clinical databases, to provide other applications, some of which have been indifferent. Most GP clinical software is hard to integrate with office software such as word processors and spreadsheets, and electronic clinical measuring devices like ECG and Spirometry. Communication with hospitals is developing slowly, but currently most GP systems can only integrate with clinical software text messages. The Doctor's Desk project integrates electronic information sources on a single computer screen. These include information databases, email and access to clinical information in both general practice and hospital computer systems. This system operates within NHSnet, to which the government has pledged to connect all GPs by 2002. We show in this pilot that not only is it possible to provide the tools of EBM and communication alongside any practice clinical system, but also that its provision promotes its use. GPs should regard their clinical software as an application just like any other. They should look for ways of integrating it with other software they may wish to run, bearing in mind only that the fewer the number of stables that software and hardware are obtained from the easier it will be to achieve this integration.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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