Transactions of 2019 International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement Vol. 4 No. 1

The Fourth International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement Kalamazoo, Michigan, October 31 - Nov. 1, 2019. Conference Co-Chairs Bernard T. Han and Muhammad Razi, Department of Business Information Systems, Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008 Transaction Editor Dr. Huei Lee, Professor, Department of Computer Information Systems, Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI 48197 Volume 4, No. 1 Hosted by The Center for Health Information Technology Advancement, WM

Building a tiered rehabilitation system: the case of Yunnan Province

Research purposes: The hierarchical rehabilitation system model of Yunnan Province is built to provide a reference for the establishment of a standardized three-level rehabilitation system so as to meet the patient demands for different functional rehabilitation at different stages during the whole treatment. Research methods: 1. The General System Theory model is adopted as a guidance for the organizational structure construction of the hierarchical rehabilitation system model in rehabilitation centers, rehabilitation sub-centers, and rehabilitation stations in Yunnan Province. Standardized hierarchical rehabilitation hardware construction for these rehabilitation institutions of different levels helps form an exemplary structural model of a three-level standardized rehabilitation system. 2. The Learning Cycle Theory model is adopted as a guidance for the unified standardized training for patient rehabilitation management in the exemplary rehabilitation institutions of the three-level system. The researchers regularly guide, supervise, and summarize the standard implementation situations of patient rehabilitation management in these institutions and assess the operational quality and management efficiency of the hierarchical rehabilitation system model in Yunnan Province, finally forming the exemplary and standardized three-level rehabilitation system model. 3. The researchers analyze the operating parameters of the medical institutions at all levels in the three-level standardization rehabilitation system and evaluate the structural process and operational efficiency of the three-level standardized rehabilitation system model based on the analysis results.O modelo do sistema de reabilitação hierárquico da Província Yunnanfoi concebido comoumreferencial para a implementação de um sistema de reabilitação estruturado em três níveis, de modo a responder às necessidades dos doentes nas diferentes fases da sua reabilitação funcional. Como guias metodológicos foram adotadosa Teoria Geral dos Sistemas e o LearningCycleTheory, entre outros contributos teóricos considerados relevantes. Os investigadores participantes supervisionaram a operacionalização do sistema e avaliaram as instituições de cada um dos três níveis, quanto àestrutura, ao processo e à eficiência operacional. Quanto aos resultados houve uma clara perceção dos ganhos obtidos em várias dimensões. Pelo lado das instituições governamentais, pela redução dos recursos utilizados e pela maior mobilização e empenhamento dos profissionais e por parte dos doentes, pela maior rapidez de resposta às suas necessidades e a uma redução do tempo da sua reintegração no mercado de trabalho. A reputação deste sistema implicoutambém ganhos significativos nas receitas obtidas, que aumentaram em mais de 10% em dois anos, tendo mesmo algumas serviços atingido incrementos de 89,6%. A mudança de cultura organizacional das instituições envolvidas,no sentido da inovação e da proatividadeé também um facto a reter com particular relevância. Como conclusão, poderemos referir que este modelorespondeu as expectativas de todos os stakeholders, desde o governo, aos doentes e ao público em geral, bem assim como às das instituições de saúde implicadas e os seus profissionais. Deste modo, este modelo pode fornecer contributos sustentados de aprendizagem para a conceção e implementação de sistemas de reabilitação regional de um modo rápido e estruturado

Patient Engagement to Improve Medication Safety in the Hospital

Purpose: There is a pressing need to enhance patient safety in the hospital environment. While there are many initiatives that focus on improving patient safety, few have studied engaging patients themselves to participate in patient safety efforts. This work was motived by the belief that patients can contribute valuable information to their care and when equipped with the right tools, can play a role in improving medication safety in the hospital. Methods: This research had three aims and used a mixed-methods approach to better understand the concept of engaging patients to improve medication safety. In order to gain insight into whether patients could beneficially contribute to the safety of their hospital care, my first aim was to understand current perspectives on the sharing of clinical information with patients while they were in the hospital. To accomplish this aim, I conducted surveys with clinicians and enrolled patients in a short field study in which they received full access to their clinical chart. In Aim 2, I conducted a study to establish that the Patient Activation Measure (PAM), a common measure of patient engagement in the outpatient setting, showed reliability and validity in the inpatient setting. Building on the knowledge from Aim 1 and using the PAM instrument from Aim 2, my third aim evaluated the impact of providing patients with access to a medication review tool while they were preparing to be admitted to the hospital. Aim 3 was achieved through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 65 patients I recruited from the emergency department at Columbia University Medical Center. I also conducted a survey of admitting clinicians who had patients participate in the trial to identify the impact on clinician practices and to elicit feedback on their perceptions of the intervention. Results: My research findings suggest that increased patient information sharing in the inpatient setting is beneficial and desirable to patients, and generally acceptable to clinicians. The clinician survey from Aim 1 showed that most respondents were comfortable with the idea of providing patients with their clinical information. Some expressed reservations that patients might misunderstand information and become unnecessarily alarmed or offended. In the patient field study from Aim 1, patients reported perceiving the information they received as highly useful, even if they did not fully understand complex medical terms. My primary contribution in Aim 2 was to provide sound evidence that the Patient Activation Measure is a valid and reliable tool for use in the inpatient setting. Establishing the validity and reliability of the PAM instrument in inpatient setting was essential for conducting the RCT in Aim 3, and it will provide a foundation for future clinicians and research investigators to measure and understand hospital patients’ levels of engagement. The results from the RCT in Aim 3 did not support my primary hypothesis that clinicians who had patients participate in their medication review process using an informatics tool would make more changes to the home medication list than clinicians who had patients in the control group. However, the results did suggest that most hospital patients are knowledgeable, willing, and able to contribute useful and important information to the medication reconciliation process. Interestingly, the clinicians I surveyed seemed far less convinced that their patients would be able to beneficially participate in the medication reconciliation process due to low health literacy and other barriers. Nevertheless, the clinicians did seem to believe that in theory, at least, patient involvement in the medication reconciliation process could have positive impacts on their workflow and potentially save them time. Conclusion: The overall theme resulting from my research is that patients can be a valuable resource to improve patient safety in the hospital. Patients are generally knowledgeable and willing to more actively participate in their hospital care. By developing the structures and processes to facilitate greater patient engagement, hospitals can provide an extra layer of safety and error prevention, particularly with respect to the medications patients take at home. As with any medical treatment, active participation in patient safety efforts may not be possible for all patients. However, I believe that if the culture of a hospital encourages openness and transparency, and if patients are given the proper tools and information, the quality and safety of hospital care will improve

Front-Line Physicians' Satisfaction with Information Systems in Hospitals

Day-to-day operations management in hospital units is difficult due to continuously varying situations, several actors involved and a vast number of information systems in use. The aim of this study was to describe front-line physicians' satisfaction with existing information systems needed to support the day-to-day operations management in hospitals. A cross-sectional survey was used and data chosen with stratified random sampling were collected in nine hospitals. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The response rate was 65 % (n = 111). The physicians reported that information systems support their decision making to some extent, but they do not improve access to information nor are they tailored for physicians. The respondents also reported that they need to use several information systems to support decision making and that they would prefer one information system to access important information. Improved information access would better support physicians' decision making and has the potential to improve the quality of decisions and speed up the decision making process.Peer reviewe

An Evidence Based Design Guide for Interior Designers

The intent of this thesis is to provide an introductory guide for interior designers wishing to conduct research on various aspects of the built environment. It is tailored toward designers working in the healthcare field, but the concepts discussed can be translated into any realm of interior design or architecture. Research is important to the profession and should play a role in every design project, particularly in the healthcare market. Credible design research will continue to elevate the profession and strengthen the credibility of design practitioners and firms who can successfully conduct a research program. Among the key areas of challenge are the gap between the producers of scientific evidence and its intended consumers and the lack of standardized terms, definitions, metrics, and measurement tools that are commonly accepted and understood by designers. (Debajyoti 2011) These factors combined result in difficulty translating research findings into design knowledge, difficulty developing a centralized evidence base for design, and difficulty making informed predictions based on research findings. It is hoped that the resulting guidelines for designers be straightforward enough to apply to interior design practice without sacrificing the elements essential for the thorough scientific evaluation of evidence. Adviser: Betsy Gab

Healing design: a phenomenological approach to the relation of the physical setting to positive social interaction in pediatric intensive care units in the United States and Turkey

This study examines the impact of the physical setting in the care and healing process of hospitalized children, their families, and the caregivers in two selected pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the U.S. and Turkey. A holistic, cross-cultural, comparative, and naturalistic approach emphasized the importance of the total (i.e., physical, social, cultural, spiritual, organizational, political) environment and quality of life to health and healing. Information was gathered through qualitative methods such as participant observations, behavioral maps, in-depth interviews, and floor plan analysis. Despite some universal features of the PICU atmosphere, the value and place ascribed to pediatric critical care in Turkey and the U.S. present different worldviews. Field studies revealed social interaction as a universal healing function despite its cultural specificity stemming from socio-cultural, ethnic, economic, and religious differences between different groups. Crowding, parental absence, and over-stimulation, which stem from the lack of individual patient rooms, and organizational problems related with human resources and staffing shortage play against the critically ill childÂs deep need to heal in the Turkish PICU. Despite spatial limitations, informal social interactions and cooperative relationships among caregivers, their devotion, and their ability to adapt to the existing physical and social environment enable care delivery. While staffing shortage continues to be a crucial problem in the U.S. model, specialization of labor and the systemic organization in general support care delivery, reducing the importance of informal social interactions and cooperation among caregivers. However, emphasizing the role of the family in the childÂs care, social interaction is also identified as a healing function in this setting. Therefore, despite the significant role the physical setting may play in healing, social interaction is found to be more important for improving patient outcomes and the well-being of families and caregivers. The study focuses on six healing design interventions to increase the chances for positive social interaction and collaboration. These are programmatic (provisional, scale, locational), functional, ambient, symbolic, social and psychological interventions

Implementation of a Transitions of Care Nutrition Intervention for Malnourished Patients

The topic of Transitions of Care (TOC) has been investigated by physician and nursing professions for years, while only more recently by nutrition professionals. Registered Dietitians are not always involved in TOC planning. RDs can play an important role in TOC by communicating patients’ nutrition information across health care settings, especially for patients with malnutrition. The primary aim was to use a CDC based process evaluation to evaluate if a case management, nursing focused care transitions framework, adapted for a TOC nutrition intervention, can result in a successful intervention implementation. The secondary aim was to use a CDC outcomes evaluation, to evaluate if the number of unplanned hospital readmissions within 30-days from hospital discharge is lower in the TOC nutrition intervention group compared to the comparison group, and if the nutrition status of the intervention participants improved by the end of the 5-week intervention. The primary investigator compiled retrospect patient data who were admitted to Lawrence General Hospital (LGH) during the time of November 2019 through June 2019. From this data set, the comparison group, the number of malnourished patients, and their readmission percent was calculated. A mixed-methods study design included qualitative, quantitative, and quasi-experimental pre/post intervention methods. Patients who were admitted to LGH during a 6-month period starting from the last week in July 2021, through the last week of January 2022, who agreed to participate, were enrolled in a 5-week TOC nutrition intervention. Due to the small sample size (n=21) of patients enrolled, data was analyzed with caution. There was no difference in hospital readmissions between groups. Nutrition status did improve among participants in the intervention group (n=13). The outcomes support the need to integrate a RD as part of TOC multidisciplinary team, especially for patients with malnutrition to improve health outcomes