This and other benefits of using a web-based system are listed below.

• Functional Expandability: Web-based technology lays the foundation for a perioperative intranet that can quickly and easily (see “Rapid Development and Deployment,” below) incorporate new features and functionality: bulletin boards, staff-scheduling, research tools, computer-based staff training, multimedia patient education, etc. In all of these cases, the features are extremely easy to develop, implement, and deploy via a consistent, expandable open architecture that is becoming the de facto industry standard for networked computing.
  
• Rapid Development and Deployment: Experience has shown that developing, testing, debugging, and deploying a feature in a web-based (Active Server) application takes, on average, roughly half as long as developing a comparable feature in a conventional (Visual Basic) application. The web browser itself supplies much of the functionality for which programmers would normally have to write code.

Moreover, the usability, simplicity, modularity, and openness of the development environment invite greater participation in the development process and decreases reliance (and demands) on programmers. Software designers, web developers, artists, programmers, and content providers can now share development tasks that are generally performed exclusively by programmers for conventional applications. And thanks to a growing number of increasingly powerful, easy-to-use graphical development tools and scripting languages, the entire development process is streamlined.

• Enterprise-Wide Accessibility: Web technology makes it extremely easy (the only workstation requirements are a computer, a net­work connection, and a web browser) for interested parties throughout the hospital to see what's happening in your department.
  
• Lower Total Cost of Ownership: IS organiza­tions are constantly searching for ways to reduce their computer systems' total cost of ownership (TCO) – the various expenses involved in purchasing, installing, operating, and maintaining a system over its lifetime. Web/intranet technology is extremely well suited to decreasing TCO:
  
  • Client workstations can be much “thinner” and, consequently, less expensive. Because web applications shift much of the processing and storage from the client to the server, client workstations don't need to be as powerful as they do for conventional applications. You can generally get by with less memory, less disk space, less processor power, etc.
    
  • Deployment and maintenance of clients is much simpler and far less time-consuming. Connect a workstation to the TCP/IP network and make sure it has a web browser installed. That's basically it. IS doesn't have to initially install specialized software on each workstation. They don't have to worry about updating that software on every workstation each time the vendor issues a point upgrade. They don't have to worry about annoying “dll” conflicts with other applications. All application maintenance is done centrally on the server – not the multiple clients.
    
  • User training and support requests decrease. See “Simplicity,” below, for additional information.

• Simplicity: Perioperative managers often express concerns about training their staff to use any new computer system. “My staff isn't very computer-literate,” or “My staff is resistant to anything unfamiliar,” are the most common variations on this theme. And even well-designed software that adheres to “standard Windows conventions” can impose a significant learning requirement on users – particularly those who aren't Windows-literate. Web-based systems don't eliminate this problem, but they can help minimize it by providing a familiar, consistent, easy-to-use interface.

• Leading-Edge Technology: By laying the foundations of a web-based intranet at an early stage in its OR's computerization processes, a hospital can have a system on the leading edge of technology that makes staying up-to-date easy and cost-effective. Perioperative units are poised for expansion – not obsolescence.