Users’ Continued Usage of Online Healthcare Virtual Communities: An Empirical Investigation in the Context of HIV Support Communities

This study uses data from an online HIV/AIDS health support virtual community to examine whether users’ emotional states and the social support they receive influence their continued usage. We adopt grief theory to conceptualize the negative emotions that people living with HIV/AIDS could experience. Linguistic analysis is used to measure the emotional states of the users and the informational and emotional support that they receive. Results show that users showing a higher level of disbelief and yearning are more likely to leave the community while those with a high level of anger and depression are more likely to stay on. Users who receive more informational support are more likely to leave once they have obtained the information they sought, but those who receive more emotional support are more likely to stay on. The findings of this study can help us better understand users’ support seeking behavior in online support VCs

The North Dakota Experience: Achieving High-Performance Health Care Through Rural Innovation and Cooperation

Explores how North Dakota has met the healthcare challenges of rural communities with support for primary care and the idea of a medical home, organization of care through coordination and cooperation networks, and the innovative use of technology

Driving Value in Medicaid Primary Care: The Role of Shared Support Networks for Physician Practices

Examines the challenges of transforming small primary care practices under healthcare reform and options for Medicaid to drive changes through practice supports to help implement and sustain new models of care or catalyze investments in new systems

Munchausen by internet: current research and future directions.

The Internet has revolutionized the health world, enabling self-diagnosis and online support to take place irrespective of time or location. Alongside the positive aspects for an individual's health from making use of the Internet, debate has intensified on how the increasing use of Web technology might have a negative impact on patients, caregivers, and practitioners. One such negative health-related behavior is Munchausen by Internet

Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health

Based on a literature review and interviews with digital learning experts, explores how digital games can foster skills and knowledge for better academic performance and health. Makes recommendations for government research, partnerships, and media

Organizing the U.S. Health Care Delivery System for High Performance

Analyzes the fragmentation of the healthcare delivery system and makes policy recommendations -- including payment reform, regulatory changes, and infrastructure -- for creating mechanisms to coordinate care across providers and settings

Supporting security-oriented, inter-disciplinary research: crossing the social, clinical and geospatial domains

How many people have had a chronic disease for longer than 5-years in Scotland? How has this impacted upon their choices of employment? Are there any geographical clusters in Scotland where a high-incidence of patients with such long-term illness can be found? How does the life expectancy of such individuals compare with the national averages? Such questions are important to understand the health of nations and the best ways in which health care should be delivered and measured for their impact and success. In tackling such research questions, e-Infrastructures need to provide tailored, secure access to an extensible range of distributed resources including primary and secondary e-Health clinical data; social science data, and geospatial data sets amongst numerous others. In this paper we describe the security models underlying these e-Infrastructures and demonstrate their implementation in supporting secure, federated access to a variety of distributed and heterogeneous data sets exploiting the results of a variety of projects at the National e-Science Centre (NeSC) at the University of Glasgow

Electronic Consultations Between Primary and Specialty Care Clinicians: Early Insights

Outlines how e-consultation enables clinicians and specialists to communicate more easily and reduce the need for in-person referrals; experiences for patients, clinicians, and health systems; benefits such as continuity of care; and barriers to adoption

Health Care Evolves From Reactive to Proactive.

Decoding health and disease pathways drives healthcare evolution. Historically, therapeutic paradigms have relied on interventions that mitigate symptoms of established diseases. Increasingly, molecular insights into pathophysiology now provide unprecedented opportunities to offer curative solutions or even prevent disease and thereby secure longitudinal wellness. These opportunities extend past individual patients to entire populations and geographies. Moreover, they optimize prospective healthspan across lifespan. Linking discovery science and its translatable innovations beyond reactive disease intervention to proactive prevention will maximize society’s returns creating the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people globally