091322 140 year history - A4 landscape v1 digital - Flipbook - Page 63
1933
Medical Records Department
With typewriters clacking and papers rattling,
the staff of the medical records department
had an important role in the functioning of the
hospital. Over the years medical records have
had to keep up with the increasing complexity of
medical care. Initially patient records were filed
under the name of their physician or surgeon.
But in 1907 this approach was overhauled
and records incorporated a newly devised
international system of disease classification.
Another improvement came in 1946 when a
US consultant gave a course in medical record
library science at the main teaching hospitals.
This step was intended to introduce conformity
of classification and nomenclature throughout
Australia.
Image from the Sam Hood collection, State Library of NSW
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