Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects (XSL-FO): a tool to transform patient data into attractive clinical reports

AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2006:2006:719-23.

Abstract

Clinicians at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis print and carry clinical reports called "Pocket Rounds". This paper describes a new process we developed to improve these clinical reports. The heart of our new process is a World Wide Web Consortium standard: Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects (XSL-FO). Using XSL-FO stylesheets we generated Portable Document Format (PDF) and PostScript reports with complex formatting: columns, tables, borders, shading, indents, dividing lines. We observed patterns of clinical report printing during a eight month study period on three Medicine wards. Usage statistics indicated that clinicians accepted the new system enthusiastically: 78% of 26,418 reports were printed using the new system. We surveyed 67 clinical users. Respondents gave the new reports a rating of 4.2 (on a 5 point scale); they gave the old reports a rating of 3.4. The primary complaint was that it took longer to print the new reports. We believe that XSL-FO is a promising way to transform text data into functional and attractive clinical reports: relatively easy to implement and modify.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • Database Management Systems*
  • Humans
  • Medical Records Systems, Computerized
  • Medical Records*
  • Paper
  • Programming Languages*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • User-Computer Interface