The PURPOSE of the proposal is to establish a business information service at the Clara Maass Medical Center library for the 50 members of the administrative staff to improve their decision-making in today's more business oriented health care environment.
The SPECIFIC AIMS are to: l. Serve a new patron market--adm. and managers 2)Provide them with increased availability to data and research on operation strategy, marketing, cost-effective technologies, capital financing and alternate delivery plans via the business on-line search services of DIALOG Information Retrieval Service-3) Provide a basic collection of business and management journals indexed by he DIALOG databases 4)Advertise by publicity and seminars the kinds of databases the library can access and the types of business and finance topics: that can be searched 5)Enable adm. and managers to become computer literate and knowledgeable about online searching through end-user training classes I)Serve as a model by writing final progress reports and evaluations. The HEALTH-RELATEDNESS involves the evolution of health care into a more business oriented enterprise due to reimbursement realities and competition from private, stand-alone health centers. The library must provide business information resources to health care managers so they can make informed decisions about new technologies, product lines etc. This will enable CMMC to be efficiently managed and competitive to survive in these financially difficult times. The METHODS to be used are 1)Purchase of an IBM PS-2 model 5OZ computer system; subscription to DIALOG which includes such databases as Health Planning & Adm, ABI/Inform, PTS PROMPT; subscription to a core Collection of business and health care journals 2)Development of a target audience by publicity and a profile of seminar participants 3) an educational program of lectures; exercises (in selecting subject headings and in formulating and executing a search strategy); and hands-on computer time to introduce managers and adm. to online searching and to the types of information in the DIALOG databases 4)On-site evaluations and 3-month postseminar evaluations 5)Assessment of the evaluations and of pre- and post- project library use 6) Publication of results.