Why democratize bioinformatics?

Network bioinformatics and web-based data collection instruments have the capacity to improve the efficiency of the UK’s appropriately high levels of investment into cardiovascular research. A very large proportion of scientific data falls into the long-tail of the cardiovascular research distribution curve, with numerous small independent research efforts yielding a rich variety of specialty data sets. The merging of such myriad datasets and the eradication of data silos, plus linkage with outcomes could be greatly facilitated through the provision of a national set of standardised data collection instruments—a shared-cardioinformatics library of tools designed by and for clinical academics active in the long-tail of biomedical research. Across the cardiovascular research domain, like the rest of medicine, the national aggregation and democratization of diverse long-tail data is the best way to convert numerous small but expensive cohort data sources into big data, expanding our knowledge-base, breaking down translational barriers, improving research efficiency and with time, improving patient outcomes

Modelling and Analysis of E-Health Ecosystems: A Case Study of the United States

The United States (US), a world leader in medical technology, ironically also happens to be home to one of the least efficient healthcare systems in the world. The country’s mammoth, unsustainable spending on healthcare has triggered several key healthcare reforms to put the country’s healthcare system on the path for a major overhaul. One such reform was the HITECH Act of 2009 which made provision for incentives for adoption of Electronic Health Records by physicians and hospitals. The ultimate goal of this reform was to forge connectivity across the country’s fragmented healthcare system in the hope that it would lead to efficiency and consequently, a drop in the country’s healthcare expenditure. Although the reform no doubt spurred EHR adoption, its intended goal of connectivity has not been fully realized. A set of critical success factors has been proposed to overcome these issues and make the ecosystem both patient-centric and sustainable

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