Summary: This study investigated the feasibility of using Internet technology to provide access to our department’s computerised medical records. The purpose of this was twofold: to share data with other departments within the same institution and to allow physicians in other regions or countries to see the clinical data of patients of theirs who may have been treated in our cardiology clinic. The study was part of a larger project to create virtual electronic healthcare records for patients on the island of Crete.
Methods: A flexible approach was chosen, designed to take full advantage of the existing database system, while retaining compatibility with available Internet software and avoiding the need for a specific computing environment on the part of the remote user. The database package employed extracts information from patients’ data archives and uses it to create a hierarchical tree of linked temporary files that may be viewed using Internet browser software. These “web pages” can contain not only textual information but also digital and image data, such as ECG recordings. For security reasons, the temporary files are deleted once the transaction is completed.
Results: The above approach has led to the development of a fully functional system, which allows easy and rapid access to medical data by authorised users, through an Internet connection employing a variety of computer platforms. A demonstration version, using fictitious data, can be seen on the Internet at http://arachne.ics.forth.gr:8080/cardioS, or http://cardio.med.uch.gr/DBdemo.
Conclusions: The use of the Internet for remote access to medical records is feasible and is a useful step towards the realisation of the virtual electronic healthcare record.