Longitudinal Patient Records: A Re-Examination of the Possibility

It has long been recognized that the Longitudinal Patient Record (LPR) has been defined as “A life-long incremental process where each clinical encounter is merely an updating of the file” (Gabrieli, 1997) Understanding the health condition of patient longitudinally is very important to the care of the patient. However, it is not clear to what extent a longitudinal patient record is in fact possible, since a true longitudinal patient record would need to include all information for a patient, from cradle to grave, across all healthcare providers and systems, across all corporate or geographic or national boundaries. Compiling or maintaining such a record is a problem of staggering practical difficulties. Yet, there is no doubt of the potential benefit to the patient of the availability of such a record to the patient’s caregivers and providers. In this thesis, we re-examine the possibility of a longitudinal patient record, both in its pure logical sense, and in a practical sense. One point of view that we stress is to model the longitudinal patient record not so much as a static thing, but rather as a functional entity. That is, the longitudinal patient record is understood as a set of processes that provide the physician or other clinician decision maker (or for that matter the patient himself) with whatever longitudinal view of the patient information is available and practical to serve the current context of decision making. That is, the model we suggest is one of making the most out of whatever patient information is available to the decision maker

Dialogue with Feng Shui : an awareness of Chinese traditions in domestic architecture.

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN058674 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Color in Ancient and Medieval East Asia

With essays by Monica Bethe, Mary M Dusenbury, Shih-shan Susan Huang, Ikumi Kaminishi, Guolong Lai, Richard Laursen, Liu Jian and Zhao Feng, Chika Mouri, Park Ah-rim, Hillary Pedersen, Lisa Shekede and Su Bomin, Sim Yeon-ok and Lee Seonyong, Tanaka Yoko, and Zhao Feng and Long BoColor was a critical element in East Asian life and thought, but its importance has been largely overlooked in Western scholarship. This interdisciplinary volume explores the fascinating roles that color played in the society, politics, thought, art, and ritual practices of ancient and medieval East Asia (ca. 1600 B.C.E.–ca. 1400 C.E.). While the Western world has always linked color with the spectrum of light, in East Asian civilizations colors were associated with the specific plant or mineral substances from which they were derived. Many of these substances served as potent medicines and elixirs, and their transformative powers were extended to the dyes and pigments they produced. Generously illustrated, this groundbreaking publication constitutes the first inclusive study of color in East Asia. It is the outcome of years of collaboration between chemists, conservators, archaeologists, historians of art and literature, and scholars of Buddhism and Daoism from the United States, East Asia, and Europe

Routledge Handbook of Chinese Medicine

The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Medicine is an extensive, interdisciplinary guide to the nature of traditional medicine and healing in the Chinese cultural region, and its plural epistemologies. Established experts and the next generation of scholars interpret the ways in which Chinese medicine has been understood and portrayed from the beginning of the empire (third century BCE) to the globalisation of Chinese products and practices in the present day, taking in subjects from ancient medical writings to therapeutic movement, to talismans for healing and traditional medicines that have inspired global solutions to contemporary epidemics. The volume is divided into seven parts: Longue Durée and Formation of Institutions and Traditions Sickness and Healing Food and Sex Spiritual and Orthodox Religious Practices The World of Sinographic Medicine Wider Diasporas Negotiating Modernity This handbook therefore introduces the broad range of ideas and techniques that comprise pre-modern medicine in China, and the historiographical and ethnographic approaches that have illuminated them. It will prove a useful resource to students and scholars of Chinese studies, and the history of medicine and anthropology. It will also be of interest to practitioners, patients and specialists wishing to refresh their knowledge with the latest developments in the field. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 licens

An Integrated and Distributed Framework for a Malaysian Telemedicine System (MyTel)

The overall aim of the research was to produce a validated framework for a Malaysian integrated and distributed telemedicine system. The framework was constructed so that it was capable of being useful in retrieving and storing a patient's lifetime health record continuously and seamlessly during the downtime of the computer system and the unavailability of a landline telecommunication network. The research methodology suitable for this research was identified including the verification and validation strategies. A case study approach was selected for facilitating the processes and development of this research. The empirical data regarding the Malaysian health system and telemedicine context were gathered through a case study carried out at the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOHM). The telemedicine approach in other countries was also analysed through a literature review and was compared and contrasted with that in the Malaysian context. A critical appraisal of the collated data resulted in the development of the proposed framework (MyTel) a flexible telemedicine framework for the continuous upkeep o f patients' lifetime health records. Further data were collected through another case study (by way of a structured interview in the outpatient clinics/departments of MOHM) for developing and proposing a lifetime health record (LHR) dataset for supporting the implementation of the MyTel framework. The LHR dataset was developed after having conducted a critical analysis of the findings of the clinical consultation workflow and the usage o f patients' demographic and clinical records in the outpatient clinics. At the end of the analysis, the LHR components, LHR structures and LHR messages were created and proposed. A common LHR dataset may assist in making the proposed framework more flexible and interoperable. The first draft of the framework was validated in the three divisions of MOHM that were involved directly in the development of the National Health JCT project. The division includes the Telehealth Division, Public and Family Health Division and Planning and Development Division. The three divisions are directly involved in managing and developing the telehealth application, the teleprimary care application and the total hospital information system respectively. The feedback and responses from the validation process were analysed. The observations and suggestions made and experiences gained advocated that some modifications were essential for making the MyTel framework more functional, resulting in a revised/ final framework. The proposed framework may assist in achieving continual access to a patient's lifetime health record and for the provision of seamless and continuous care. The lifetime health record, which correlates each episode of care of an individual into a continuous health record, is the central key to delivery of the Malaysian integrated telehealth application. The important consideration, however, is that the lifetime health record should contain not only longitudinal health summary information but also the possibility of on-line retrieval of all of the patient's health history whenever required, even during the computer system's downtime and the unavailability of the landline telecommunication network

Contemporary Christian response to ancestor practice in China

The objective of this thesis is to discover if it is possible to develop a Biblically-based solution to the pastoral and missiological problem associated with ancestor practice. There are three parts in the thesis.The aim of Part I is to trace the origin and development of ancestor practice up to the present. I propose that: (1) ancestor practice has its socio- political, religious and cultural dimensions, (2) its origin lies in the ancestor quest, and (3) it has undergone three historical developments: an orientation period, a de- orientation period and a re- orientation period. From this study, it is better to hold a holistic approach to ancestor practice and avoid any reductionism.The purpose of Part II is to describe missionaries in China and their encounter with ancestor practice. Their entries are explained as three encounters: with the Nestorians a religious encounter, with the Catholics a cultural encounter and with the Protestants a socio- political encounter. I conclude that from the experience of these historical encounters the best possible way to tackle the issue of the acceptability of ancestor practices for Christians is to approach the problem from a `both /and' perspective.The plan of Part III is to apply some Biblical principles to the issue of ancestor practice and work out a theological model (with Chinese characteristics) to tackle it. Three suggestions are proposed: (1) a biblical -theological perspective towards its socio- political dimension, (2) a pastoral perspective towards its religious dimension, and finally (3) a missiological perspective towards its cultural dimension.I argue for the potential acceptability of the veneration of the ancestors for Christians but I also discuss the `fallen' state of the traditional rites. In transforming traditional ancestor practice, a ritual transcendence is proposed to demythologise the beliefs of ancestor veneration and transform its traditional practices into modern social and civil practices in accordance with both the Christian faith and Chinese tradition

Is South Africa ready for a national Electronic Health Record (EHR)?

Bibliography: leaves 94-100eHealth Strategies in countries have shown a trend that countries are moving to Electronic Health Records(EHR). EHR implementation is expected to produce benefits for patients, professionals, organisations, and the population as a whole. The use of some format of an Electronic Health Record is used by many countries and others are in the implementation or planning phases. South Africa has kicked of the project to implement a national EHR as part of the national eHealth Strategy. This study aims to analyse the key success factors from other EHR implementation projects and evaluate if South Africa is ready to implement an EHR.Graduate School of Business LeadershipMB

A comprehension of Feng-shui and its relevance to landscape architecture

The Feng-shui theory, although hotly debated since Communism took power in China, currently serves as instrument for landscape evaluation and improvement in the pursuit of an ideal landscape mode for livelihood and eventually for harmony between nature and human being. It has arguably, as guidance, contributed a lot to shaping the ideal landscape, the mode of which, as modeled on Feng-shui, might thus be seen to provide a basic model for the traditional elements of the Chinese built environment, such as city structure, architecture and garden. This thesis attempts to draw attention to issues with regard to the Feng-shui theory from multiple perspectives, including human geography, environmental psychology and Chinese philosophy. Feng-shui stems from the Chinese cosmology and is closely related to the Ying-Yang dualism. It articulates the Chinese space-place relationship and the dread of nature that profoundly affects the pattern of Chinese landscape and architecture. The thesis also conducts a cross-cultural comparison to differentiate the Eastern and the Western landscape styles, especially since the Enlightenment, during which Chinese architectural elements were initially brought to Europe, although the authenticity of these elements has been questioned. The thesis comes to the conclusion that Feng-shui is in essence a kind of genius loci and the understanding of Feng-shui contributes to landscape architectural theory, particularly from an ecological perspective for sustainability