A MECHANISM FOR MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT TRANSFER OF RECORDED MEDICAL INFORMATION BY PHYSICIANS WILL BE THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT. THE IMMEDIATE NEED FOR THIS SERVICE HAS BEEN EXPRESSED THROUGH INFORMAL DISCUSSIONS WITH PHYSICIANS. THE POPULATION FOR THIS SIX-MONTH STUDY WILL BE RESIDENTS, FACULTY, AND FELLOWS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS. A MEDICAL INFORMATION SPECIALIST/WRITER WILL SEARCH THE LITERATURE VIA MEDLARS AND DIALOG, SELECT ARTICLES BASED ON CLIENT REQUESTS, AND WRITE CURRENT AWARENESS MEDICAL REVIEW SYNTHESES. THE USERS WILL COMPLETE QUESTIONNAIRES AND A COMPARISON AMONG THE THREE USER GROUPS WILL BE MADE. EFFICIENCY WILL BE MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF TIMES A USER USES THE SYSTEM, TIMELINESS AND PERCEIVED VALUE OF INFORMATION, ETC. EFFECTIVE-WILL BE MEASURED BY WHETHER THE SYSTEM SERVES USER NEEDS, WHETHER THE SAME QUALITY OF INFORMATION CAN BE GATHERED WITHOUT THE SYSTEM, ETC. PHASE I, THEN, WILL ASSESS THE NEED FOR A CURRENT AWARENESS MEDICAL REVIEW SYNTHESES SERVICE FOR PHYSICIANS WHILE PHASE II WILL ALLOW MORE PHYSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE AND LEAD TO STATISTICAL ANALYSES ABOUT THE NEED FOR THIS SERVICE. IF CURRENT AWARENESS MEDICAL REVIEW SYNTHESES ARE SUCCESSFUL, PHYSICIANS WILL BE WILLING TO SHARE COSTS.
