Ambient Intelligence in the Intensive Care Unit: Designing the Electronic Medical Record of the Future

Abstract

Electronic medical record (EMR) systems have a lot to live up to. They have been proclaimed as the solution to many of the ills that afflict our health care systems, offering lower costs, fewer errors, increased efficiency, as well as clinical decision support for providers and patient empowerment. While the potential benefits are encouraging, in truth these claims are largely unsubstantiated. Where evidence does exist, the results are often conflicting or compromised by methodological limitations. As EMR systems become more prevalent, their impact on the quality and safety of health care delivery — good, bad or indifferent — will be amplified. In this chapter, we outline some of the key opportunities and challenges associated with the development and testing of integrated electronic environments and present a vision for the incorporation of smart EMR systems into acute care. With rigorous attention to development and testing, we contend that such systems will yield higher quality, safer care for our patients.