Vergil Slee, Debora Slee, and Joachim Schmidt are to be congratulated on their outstanding contribution to the field of medicine and to the management of medical information. Their book is strong on diagnosis--the authors addess the many problems with the medical record as it is currently used in most clinical settings. But unlike so many treatises on the problems with medicine, their book is equally strong on what to do about these problems. They have a powerful prescription for the endangered medical record. Furthermore, in the tradition of William Strunk and E.B.White in their masterful essay on English grammar, "The Elements of Style," the authors offer their cure in the same well-written, well-organized, comprehensible, and eminently reasonable manner that they would prescribe for the medical record itself.

Information from the health record forms the basis for health services administration. One of the reasons for health care crisis in Canada and the United States is the lack of pertinent, reliable and valid information about health services and the results of health services.

The authors weave compelling arguments to explaine why current health information systems 1)encourage distortion of information 2) fail to capture sufficient clinical detail, 3) Use ambiguous codes and 4) use classification systems for purposes for which they were not intended.

This thoughtful book will help those who wish to understand the underlying reasons why there are major problems in American and Canadian health care delivery systems.

The recommended solutions could be helpful as clinicians and administrators attempt to gain vital information about access to care, the outcomes of care and the efficency of health care delivery.

Before I read this book, I had given virtually no thought to the state of my medical record, assuming that it is accurate, complete and helpful to any physicians who care for me now or in the future. Like most non-healthcare professionals and average patients, my concerns have revolved around whether or not I received effective and compassionate care and whether my health insurance covered the costs. This book clearly explains why and how the current electronic record system is woefully lacking in specific diagnostic and treatment information that is critical in patient care and in determining public health policy. It also spells out how these flaws can be corrected. I am appalled to think that my medical record is in such sorry state...the information in this book should be common knowledge, and something should be done to correct the problem!