March 1997
Volume 61 |
Number 3
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| An Intranet: Does
Your Department Need One? |
Michael P. Smith, M.D.
Committee on Electronic Media and Information Technology
You may be wondering "How does an INTRAnet differ
from the INTERnet?" The fundamental difference is
that the Internet is generally viewed as the means of sharing
information with people around the world. An intranet, by design,
however, is only available to individuals within your organization
or department. The exact definition of an intranet is different
depending on the source, but most definitions incorporate the
idea that the intranet system utilizes Internet technology for
intraorganizational communication systems.
Intranets address communication needs such as memorandums, internal
newsletters, group meeting notices and other information that
is not meant to be generally made public and may even be confidential.
Intranets are especially useful for developing communication lines
for organizations that are geographically spread across a city
or, of course, throughout the world. This is becoming more important
as anesthesiology departments merge to develop competitive service
contracts and provide high quality patient care. Intranets are
becoming the communication tool of choice for these new multicentered
departments by assisting with educational, administrative and
patient care issues.
Often, the information in these intranets may include policies
and procedures, patient care information, departmental newsletters
and staff directories. These documents are searchable by keywords
and can be accessed from any authorized computer in the organization.
One of the benefits of an intranet is that a written policy change
can be enacted by simply changing the master document located
on the intranet computer. There is no need to send out multiple
memos and no need to find the old policy manuals and update each
one at every location. This is but one example of how the efficiency
of an intranet saves time, money and paper.
The requirements for setting up an intranet are: 1) a computer
network such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network
(WAN), 2) a computer that will be a server to hold the documents
on the intranet, and 3) an individual who will be the administrator
to oversee the creation and management of the intranet. In the
anesthesiology department, the administrator may be the LAN administrator
or one of the computer-familiar anesthesiologists.
The administrator accepts the responsibility for:
- Intranet Access - There must be an adequate number of computers
with the correct software to access the intranet;
- Intranet Availability - The server must stay online without
"crashing";
- Intranet Content - The information being made available must
be correct, easily located and updated frequently;
- User Education - Orientation programs will help users become
knowledgeable about the intranet and what is available;
- Intranet Evaluation/ Feedback - The system must be readily
modified based upon user feedback to ensure optimal efficiency;
- Intranet Adaptability - The administrator should continue
to explore the use of new communication programs to increase
the operating potential of the department's intranet.
Many academic anesthesiology departments are setting up intranets
to assist with residency education and administration. For example,
the Cleveland Clinic Residency Intranet includes: 1) resident
rotation manuals, 2) policies and procedures, 3) resident lectures
in Powerpoint format, 4) interactive teaching tutorial for using
the laryngeal mask airway, and 5) morbidity and mortality case
presentations and discussions. Residents and staff anesthesiologists
can access information from any intranet workstation.
In summary, an intranet offers a new world of communication to
the anesthesiology department that can successfully help to implement
its vision. This will only be accomplished through careful planning
and continued modification of these plans as the intranet is developed
and as needs change. If you would like to join an anesthesiology
department intranet discussion group, send an e-mail to <Intranet@anesthesia.ccf.org>.
Michael P. Smith. M.D., is Staff Anesthesiologist
at Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio.
E-mail the author.
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