Introducing patient cards in clinical routine: evaluation of two research projects.

<bold>Objective: </bold>Two research projects were analyzed in order to identify key factors of success and/or failure in introducing patient card-based systems in clinical routine.<bold>Methods: </bold>In DIABCARD an evaluation study focussing on user friendliness and user acceptance was conducted. In ByMedCard-HCPP the project's system was validated and the timeliness of the project's work analyzed.<bold>Results: </bold>User friendliness and user acceptance of the DIABCARD system were fairly high. The ByMedCard-HCPP system was complete in its major components and functionalities; introducing the ByMedCard-HCPP system in clinical routine delayed the project.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>A multitude of key factors of success such as utilized technologies, user involvement, and commitment of partners seems to contribute to the success and/or failure of introducing patient card-based systems in healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]