Lawrence Weed

Lawrence “Larry” Weed (born December 1923) is an American physician, researcher, educator, entrepreneur and author, who is best known for creating the problem-oriented medical record as well as one of the first electronic health records.^[1]

Biography

Born in Troy, New York, he graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1947 and pursued a career in academic medicine.^[2] He retired as an Emeritus Professor of the University of Vermont.

Career

Dividing his time between research, patient care and teaching, he developed a method which reorganized the structure of the medical record from being divided into the different sources for patient records (x-rays, prescriptions, physician notes) to one structured around a well-defined list of a patient’s medical problems.^[2]

He first published about the problem oriented medical record in 1964,^[3] but a 1968 article published by the New England Journal of Medicine introduced the concept to a broader audience.^[4][5] In the late 1960s and early 1970’s he gave lectures at medical schools around the country^[6] and published a book that described the problem oriented medical record in more detail.^[7]

Over 2,000 academic articles and numerous medical textbooks discuss Weed’s problem oriented medical record and it has become a central component of medical and nursing education.^[8] His original idea for a patient problem list was adapted and put into law in the “Meaningful Use” requirements of the Affordable Care Act.^[8]

In addition to creating the Problem-Oriented Medical Record, he also helped develop one of the first computerized medical information systems that used a touch screen^[9] and launched the company PKC, which developed methods for clinical information management systems. In 2012, the firm was purchased by Sharecare^[10]

Honors

Weed was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in May 1972^[11] and would later receive the Gustav O. Leinhard Award from the Institute of Medicine for his contribution of the problem-oriented medical record to the field of medicine.^[12] He was a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics^[13]

• 1995 Gustav O. Lienhard Award, Institute of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
• 1991 Computers in Healthcare Health Care Pioneer for: Contributions to the development of the healthcare information systems industry.
• 1984 ACMI (American College of Medical Informatics) Founding Fellow.
• 1978 Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Medical Administrators.
• 1976 Monsour Medical Foundation Teaching Award, Health Education & Media Association.
• 1973 First Brookdale Award in Medicine, AMA National Convention.
• 1972 Elected Member of National Academy of Sciences.
• 1971 Gerald Lambert Award for Innovation in Health Care.

References

1. "The 'Miracle' of Digital Health Records, 50 Years Ago". Bits Blog. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
2. Wright, Adam; Sittig, Dean F.; McGowan, Julie; Ash, Joan S.; Weed, Lawrence L. (2014-12-01). "Bringing science to medicine: an interview with Larry Weed, inventor of the problem-oriented medical record". Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association: JAMIA. 21 (6): 964–968. doi:10.1136/amiajnl-2014-002776. ISSN 1527-974X. PMC 4215056. PMID 24872343.
3. Weed, L. L. (1964-06-01). "MEDICAL RECORDS, PATIENT CARE, AND MEDICAL EDUCATION". Irish Journal of Medical Science. 462: 271–282. doi:10.1007/BF02945791. ISSN 1863-4362. PMID 14160426.
4. Weed, L. L. (1968-03-14). "Medical records that guide and teach". The New England Journal of Medicine. 278 (11): 593–600. doi:10.1056/NEJM196803142781105. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 5637758.
5. Weed, L. L. (1968-03-21). "Medical records that guide and teach". The New England Journal of Medicine. 278 (12): 652–657 concl. doi:10.1056/NEJM196803212781204. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 5637250.
6. Larry Weed's 1971 Grand Rounds at Emory University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMsPXSMTpFI
7. Weed LL. Medical records, medical education, and patient care: the Problem-Oriented Medical Record as a basic tool. 1970. Cleveland (OH): Press of Case Western Reserve University.
8. "Clinical Problem Lists in the Electronic Health Record". CRC Press. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
9. Grady, Mary L. (1993-01-01). Automated Data Sources for Ambulatory Care Effectiveness Research. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9780788122491.
10. "Sharecare Announces the Acquisition of PKC Corporation". Sharecare. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
11. (U.S.), National Academy of Sciences (1879-01-01). Report of the National Academy of Sciences. National Academies.
12. "Past Recipients of the Gustav O. Lienhard Award - Institute of Medicine". iom.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
13. "Lawrence Weed - Rutgers Medical Informatics History Project". infohistory.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-06.