• Implementation of specific health maintenance recom[ill]endations into practice settings has been difficult. We intro[ill]ucedd a nurse-initiated health maintenance reminder system [ill]to a university-based internal medicine practice setting. We [ill]en compared performance of selected items (Papanicolaou [ill]mear, stool examination for occult blood, breast examination, [ill]nd influenza immunization) in the practice before and after [ill]stitution of the system. The system required no additional [ill]ersonnel and was quickly learned by the nursing staff. There [ill]ere significant increases in the performance of stool ex[ill]mination for occult blood (32% to 47%), breast examination [ill]29% to 46% and influenza immunization (18% to 40%) after [ill]e reminder system was introduced. A nurse-initiated health [ill]aintenance reminder system is a feasible and effective [ill]ethod for implementing periodic health examination proce[ill]ures into a practice setting.
(Arch Intern Med 1984;144:2167-2170)