A Database for the Medicine Unit

The staff of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s Medicine Program has created an exhaustive database in which information on all internal medication used by the patients in four of its hospitals can be entered almost in real time. It includes detailed data on demographics and diagnoses, admission and discharge dates, and mortality. The database is widely used for research purposes by many specialized groups. It is also used to plan clinical teaching units, create ambulatory care clinics, and reduce the number of patients staying longer than they need to. It also helps in comparing results between hospitals and individual units, particularly in terms of survival, the frequency of nosocomial adverse events, and the duration of stays. By stratifying mortality risk, performance-adjusted comparisons can be established. Location-specific interventions and regional strategies aimed at improving results have been carried out.