Safety Feature

Explanation                   

Promotes the maintenance of normal physiological variables

The inability to “smooth” vital signs as with handwritten record may provide further motivation to the anesthesiologist to maintain normal vital signs.

Integration of AIMS with other patient information systems

Examples:  allergy alerts, notification of abnormal laboratory results, access to other health consultants’ notes, access to full patient history.

Provision of prompts for specific actions

Examples:  timing for antibiotic re-dosing

Improved legibility and accuracy

Provides a more accurate medical record for future reference for either medical or medico-legal purposes

Reduction in the time the anesthesiologist spends on clerical/recording tasks

Allows time and attention to be directed toward higher-order “managerial” roles