Medical informatics in perinatology project AGUSTINA in Argentina.

This paper reviews the development of the field of medical informatics in Latin America. It also describes the preliminary results of a computer-based data management system, named AGUSTINA, which is comprised of maternal and infant data on 6195 deliveries that occurred between June 1990 and December 1995 in a hospital in the surroundings of Buenos Aires, Argentina. These data were fundamental for the instrumentation of preventive community-oriented activities in the area. Finally, this paper describes recommendations for future actions in the area of medical informatics in Latin America.