RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether Korean general hospital personnel get the information required to do their job successfully from hospital information systems or not. METHODS: Survey general hospital personnel who use hospital information systems by mail. Each respondent is requested to evaluate both the extent of information required to do their job successfully and the extent of information that he/she gets from the hospital information systems which he/she is using. The information deficiency is operationally defined to be the difference between the extent of information required and the extent of information supplied. RESULTS: It is revealed that both the specialty and the position of general hospital personnel strongly influence their information deficiency. CONCLUSION: The functions of hospital information systems to support(middle) managers in making managerial decisions and strategic plans should be strengthened. More extensive medical examination and treatment information should be supplied in the form customized to meet diverse needs of doctors, nurses, and dieticians. Special measures to fulfill pharmacists' unsatisfied information needs are urgent too.