NCJ Number
82148
Journal
New York State Journal of Medicine Volume: 77 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1977) Pages: 209-215
Date Published
1977
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Data on the magnitude and specifics of health needs and services in American correctional facilities remain scarce. This article reports recent work by a medical group in New York State who designed and began to implement a medical record and health data system for the State correctional facilities.
Abstract
Although diverse in inmate population, health personnel, and prior organization, each correctional facility reported a high utilization of the medical care facilities. In the initial phase of the project described here, efforts have been concentrated in two areas; (1) maximizing appropriate use of existing personnel; and (2) introducing a uniform medical record system. Specific modifications for appropriate personnel use include nurse screening of those who come to sick call. A related modification to rationalize personnel use is the introduction of a nonprescription pharmacy, where inmates may obtain certain medications without a nurse of physician contact. The major features of the new medical record and data collection system are the problem-oriented medical record and a computer-based data system. Facilities' health personnel have been trained to enter appropriate disease and provide code numbers when recording sick call problems or taking medical histories. The resulting computer-generated aggregate data, on the behavior of health providers as well as the complaints and chronic conditions of inmates, should be useful in planning further improvements in the delivery of health services to the institutionalized population in New York State and elsewhere. (Author abstract)