The electronic medical office: optimizing solutions.

Optimizing the care for patients in the orthopaedic clinical setting involves a wide range of issues. Surgical techniques, preoperative and postoperative care, long-term outcomes follow-up, continuing education, and patient communication are a few of the important areas that surgeons deal with on a regular basis. Successful management of this information has an impact on clinical outcomes, direct patient care, financial decisions, and management of the surgeon's time. The development of a comprehensive electronic medical office is a powerful and probably necessary tool to successfully manage such information and achieve the goals of an effective and safe orthopaedic practice.