Octo Barnett's Ten Commandments

Octo Barnett 10 Commandments in Clinical Data Management

1) "Thou shall know what you want to do."

2) "Thou shall construct modular systems."

3) "Thou shall build a system that can evolve in a graceful fashion."

4) "Thou shall build a system that allows easy and rapid programming development and programming modification."

5) "Thou shall build a system that has a consistently rapid time response and is easy for the non‐ computernik to use."

6) "Thou shall have duplicate hardware systems."

7) "Thou shall build and implement your system as a joint effort with real users in a real situation with real problems."

8) "Thou shall be concerned with realities of the cost and projected benefit of the computer system."

9) "Innovation in computer technology is not enough; there must be an equal commitment to the potentials of radical change in other aspects of health care delivery, particularly those having to do with organization and manpower utilization. "

10) "Be optimistic about the future, supportive of good work that is being done, passionate in your commitment, but always be guided by a fundamental skepticism."