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Lawrence “Larry” Weed (born December 1923) is an American physician, researcher, educator, entrepreneur and author, who is best known for creating the problem-oriented medical record as well as one of the first electronic health records.
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Biography
Born in Troy, New York, he graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1947 and pursued a career in academic medicine. He retired as an Emeritus Professor of the University of Vermont.
Career
Dividing his time between research, patient care and teaching, he developed a method which reorganized the structure of the medical record from being divided into the different sources for patient records (x-rays, prescriptions, physician notes) to one structured around a well-defined list of a patient’s medical problems.
He first published about the problem oriented medical record in 1964, but a 1968 article published by the New England Journal of Medicine introduced the concept to a broader audience. In the late 1960s and early 1970’s he gave lectures at medical schools around the country and published a book that described the problem oriented medical record in more detail.
Over 2,000 academic articles and numerous medical textbooks discuss Weed’s problem oriented medical record and it has become a central component of medical and nursing education. His original idea for a patient problem list was adapted and put into law in the “Meaningful Use” requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
In addition to creating the Problem-Oriented Medical Record, he also helped develop one of the first computerized medical information systems that used a touch screen and launched the company PKC, which developed methods for clinical information management systems. In 2012, the firm was purchased by Sharecare
Honors
Weed was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in May 1972 and would later receive the Gustav O. Leinhard Award from the Institute of Medicine for his contribution of the problem-oriented medical record to the field of medicine. He was a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics