In the previous chapter, hospital information systems were discussed. The patients served by the HIS receive comprehensive treatment over a period of days or weeks. Each is suffering from an acute episode that requires some degree of continuous monitoring. The facility normally treats fewer than 500 patients at any one time and has a large staff to accommodate their needs. In addition to providing the care function, the hospital also supports a full range of hotel functions: food services, housekeeping, registration, etc. Thus, the hospital has a small number of patients, a great deal of information to manage for each patient, a large staff and overhead, and many ancillary functions to support. In this environment, it is not unrealistic to add $5.00 or more per patient day for a computer system to help manage the patient’s (and institution’s) data.