This work analyzes the information needs of primary care physicians (PCPs) using paper and electronic medical records to provide continuity of care. PCPs accomplish continuity of care by following-up on health issues that have long-term trajectories over a series of visits. At a given visit, PCPs must identify on-going health issues and provide the care that is appropriate at the given point in the long-term trajectory of the health issue. Using ethnographic observation and interviews, I identify four types of information that primary care physicians use to plan what to work on with a patient during a visit: active problems, history of present illness, health maintenance history, and specific work items planned for the visit. I suggest that a unified view of these types of information would support primary care physicians to provide more efficient and effective continuity of care.
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