University of Illinois at Chicago
IAIMS Progress Report
March 4, 2002

The IAIMS program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has matured and most of its activities subsumed into the regular functions of the University. The most notable milestones achieved here at UIC are:

1. Computer-based Patient Record: During the past 6.5 years, UIC has successfully completed the implementation of a computer-based patient records system plus ancillary systems known by the project name of Gemini. Here is a listing of the key elements of Gemini.
   1. The most visible element of Gemini is the 2,800 personal computers deployed throughout the Medical Center on a reengineered network based on the TCP/IP. Known as Winstations, they are the platform upon which the elements of the Gemini system are deployed. As the first tangible sign of the Gemini project, they played a key role in our strategy of incremental implementation.

   2. The centerpiece of Gemini is a commercial computer-based patient records (CPR) system -- the Millennium system from the Cerner Corp. Centered around a patient data repository based on an Oracle database, it provides a full range of functions, including positioned order-entry, in both the inpatient and ambulatory settings.

   3. To manage our large collection of paper-based patient records, UIC installed a medical record imaging system. When paper charts are pulled, they are scanned into the system. The combination of the system with the CPR has reduced the number of "missing" patient records by an order of magnitude.

   4. It is often very difficult to separate administrative and clerical functions from clinical needs. For this reason, Gemini includes an enterprise scheduling system and access to the Microsoft Office suite of applications.

   5. Working with the academic computing and administrative computing organizations, a single network architecture is now in place at UIC. The Winstations are completely compatible with the academic and administrative computing activities of these groups.
   There are several measures of success for Gemini. The most visible is that it received the 2001 Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence from CPRI-HOST. A more satisfying measure is that the CPR functions are used daily by an average of 1,600 of its 1,900 caregivers and used to open 500,000 patient charts (records) per month. Our caregivers have "voted with their feet" and that vote of confidence rewards the long hours of the many people who work to make Gemini successful.

2. Academic Program: An academic program in health informatics was initiated by a merger of three existing academic departments including Health Information Management and Biomedical Visualization. Building on the existing Health Informatics Certificate program in Health Information Management, the new School of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences now offers a Master's degree in Health Informatics (MS-HI) as well as Health Informatics Specializations as part of graduate degree programs in most of the other health sciences schools and the College of Business Administration. The Health Informatics Certificate program is now available in a completely asynchronous format as is approximately 50% of the MS-HI program. The current enrollment in the informatics programs is approximately 70 students, 75% of them practicing health care professionals. Between 1995-2000, five faculty were added to the informatics core faculty.
   In addition, a campus-wide entry-level health informatics course was developed under IAIMS sponsorship. Faculty from all six health sciences schools and the library participated in this process led by Dr. Annette Valenta. The course was developed in an asynchronous (online) format to eliminate the complexities in scheduling for multiple curriculums. The course was used for the first time in the fall semester of 2001.

3. Research Program: The most successful element of the new research programs is the Virtual Reality in Medicine Laboratory (VRML). The VRML creates cutting-edge applications for the visualization of complex, 3-dimensional structures of medical interest. Its most important short-term impact has been in the area of education, but it has the potential to make substantial contributions to clinical care. It successfully competed for funding in the first two phases of the Next Generation Internet (NGI) program of the National Library of Medicine. The VRML is also an important contributor to the educational programs of the School Biomedical and Health Information Sciences. During the 5-year period of 1995-2000, research funding for informatics increased 8-fold.