Future challenges and recommendations

Rapid advances in information technology and telecommunications, and in particular mobile and wireless communications, converge towards the emergence of a new type of “infostructure” that has the potential of supporting a large spectrum of advanced services for healthcare and health. Currently the ICT community produces a great effort to drill down from the vision and the promises of wireless and mobile technologies and provide practical application solutions. Research and development include data gathering and omni-directional transfer of vital information, integration of human machine interface technology into handheld devices and personal applications, security and interoperability of date and integration with hospital legacy systems and electronic patient record. The ongoing evolution of wireless technology and mobile device capabilities is changing the way healthcare providers interact with information technologies. The growth and acceptance of mobile information technology at the point of care, coupled with the promise and convenience of data on demand, creates opportunities for enhanced patient care and safety. The developments presented in this section demonstrate clearly the innovation aspects and trends towards user oriented applications

Computer-assisted history-taking systems (CAHTS) in health care: benefits, risks and potential for further development

Background A computer-assisted history-taking system (CAHTS) is a tool that aids clinicians in gathering data from patients to inform a diagnosis or treatment plan. Despite the many possible applications and even though CAHTS have been available for nearly three decades, these remain underused in routine clinical practice. Objective Through an interpretative review of the literature, we provide an overview of the field of CAHTS, which also offers an understanding of the impact of these systems on policy, practice and research. Methods We conducted a search and critique of the literature on CAHTS. Using a comprehensive set of terms, we searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, The Cochrane Methodology Register, Health Technology Assessment Database and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database over a ten-year period (January 1997 to May 2007) to identify systematic reviews, technical reports and health technology assessments, and randomised controlled trials. Results The systematic review of the literature suggests that CAHTS can save professionals' time, improve delivery of care to those with special needs and also facilitate the collection of information, especially potentially sensitive information (e.g. sexual history, alcohol consumption). The use of CAHTS also has disadvantages that impede the process of history taking and may pose risks to patients. CAHTS are inherently limited when detecting non-verbal communication, may pose irrelevant questions and frustrate the users with technical problems. Our review suggests that barriers such as a preference for pen-and-paper methods and concerns about data loss and security still exist and affect the adoption of CAHTS. In terms of policy and practice, CAHTS make input of data from disparate sites possible, which facilitates work from disparate sites and the collection of data for nationwide screening programmes such as the vascular risk assessment programme for people aged 40_74, now starting in England. Conclusions Our review shows that for CAHTS to be adopted in mainstream health care, important changes should take place in how we conceive, plan and conduct primary and secondary research on the topic so that we provide the framework for a comprehensive evaluation that will lead to an evidence base to inform policy and practice

Developing an Asthma Self-management Intervention Through a Web-Based Design Workshop for People With Limited Health Literacy:User-Centered Design Approach

BACKGROUND: Technology, including mobile apps, has the potential to support self-management of long-term conditions and can be tailored to enhance adoption. We developed an app to support asthma self-management among people with limited health literacy in a web-based workshop (to ensure physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to develop and test a prototype asthma self-management mobile app tailored to the needs of people with limited health literacy through a web-based workshop. METHODS: We recruited participants from a primary care center in Malaysia. We adapted a design sprint methodology to a web-based workshop in five stages over 1 week. Patients with asthma and limited health literacy provided insights into real-life self-management issues in stage 1, which informed mobile app development in stages 2-4. We recruited additional patients to test the prototype in stage 5 using a qualitative research design. Participants gave feedback through a concurrent thinking-aloud process moderated by a researcher. Each interview lasted approximately 1 hour. Screen recordings of app browsing activities were performed. Interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed using a thematic approach to identify utility and usability issues. RESULTS: The stakeholder discussion identified four themes: individual, family, friends, and society and system levels. Five patients tested the prototype. Participants described 4 ways in which the app influenced or supported self-management (utility): offering information, providing access to an asthma action plan, motivating control of asthma through support for medication adherence, and supporting behavior change through a reward system. Specific usability issues addressed navigation, comprehension, and layout. CONCLUSIONS: This study proved that it was possible to adapt the design sprint workshop to a web-based format with the added advantage that it allowed the development and the testing process to be done efficiently through various programs. The resultant app incorporated advice from stakeholders, including sources for information about asthma, medication and appointment reminders, accessible asthma action plans, and sources for social support. The app is now ready to move to feasibility testing

Review Based Study On Healthcare Systems In Higher Education

E-Learning in Higher Education is one of the major concern area which is recognized as an important factor, significantly contributing to the progress of an individual, social change and economic growth which leads to the holistic development of the nation. LMS has a wide range of products and services which can cater to the need of 21st century's learners and instructors. The popularity of LMS among the universities is very high, so the changing needs of stakeholder in education made a pathway to move towards more virtual learning which emphasizing to save time and money and effective delivery of instruction. As stated earlier Learning Management System is a software based application which help us to administrate, document, track, report and evaluate the teaching learning process, training programs, virtual classes, and e-Learning programs. Functions of Learning Management System can be broadly divided into 4 major parts and then sub parts will be discussed under     the   main    category: Stakeholder Functionality-In this part the participant or stakeholder has their own space by which they are able to access the following services: View the status of course and completion of courses ; Facility to print or view the certificate- Content or Course Management; Manage, add or delete the content of the course or modules. Learning Management System has different categories depending upon their usage and accessibility

Usability in healthcare : overcoming the mismatch between information systems and clinical work

Usability of clinical information technology (IT) systems is an ongoing topic of discussion. The systems should support healthcare professionals in their daily work with patients. However, critics indicate the prevalence of negative experiences and use related problems. The overall goal of the thesis is to examine the usability of current clinical IT systems from the viewpoint of physicians and nurses for the purposes of further user-centred system development. The thesis includes three empirical studies: a digital dictation study, evaluation of nursing documentation systems, and a national usability questionnaire study with physicians. The research was carried out utilizing contextual inquiry, interaction sequence illustration analysis, and tailored usability questionnaire methods. The research resulted in the following findings and conclusions. Currently used IT systems do not support the daily work and clinical tasks of clinicians well. This is due to numerous usability problems, and lack of computer support for multi-professional and cross-organizational collaboration between clinicians. Major improvements are needed to achieve the potential benefits clinical information and communication technology systems offer. Based on empirical studies, themes for potential improvements are: development of efficient and mobile documentation solutions, redesign of system user interfaces, solutions to support communication and collaboration, customisable and context-specific clinical IT systems, and conceptual redesign of nursing documentation system. In the field of health informatics, a need exists to broaden the scope of usability work. Usability is closely associated with evaluation and testing activities instead of design activities. Hence, the scope of usability is more restricted than it is in user-centred design and usability research fields. In order to overcome the current mismatch between IT systems and clinical work, it is important to understand that usability is extremely context-sensitive by nature. The study results indicated shortcomings in user-centred healthcare IT systems design and end-users' abilities to contribute to development work. User-centred design methods provide a variety of means to analyse, design, and evaluate information and communication systems for clinical purposes. However, the characteristics of the clinical context (e.g. privacy and data security issues, and the wide range of IT systems in use) need to be taken into account when applying the methods and performing research in real-life clinical surroundings

Health Informatics and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges, Opportunities, Lessons learned and the path ahead

Health Informatics and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges, Opportunities, Lessons learned and the path ahead, Drs. Venugopal Mudgundi, Farhad Nasar, and Balazs Zsenits Objective: Understanding the evolution of Health Informatics as influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Be able to anticipate the future directions of Health Informatics in post-pandemic era

InfoTech Update, Volume 9, Number 6, November/December 2000

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_news/4983/thumbnail.jp

Augmentative-Alternative Communication Access for Individuals with Communication Disorders in Medical Settings

This study surveyed speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working in medical settings in the state of Florida in order to: (a) assess the availability of AAC devices, related materials, and services in acute, sub-acute, long-term care, and outpatient medical facilities, (b) examine barriers and supports in providing AAC services to patients with complex communication needs (CCN) in the aforementioned settings, and (c) determine perceived levels of AAC knowledge of health care practitioners. One of the study\u27s major findings was that 97.59% of SLPs served at least one patient they identified as having CCNs, and 94.1% of respondents indicated that their patients could benefit from increased access to AAC devices and service delivery. A notable finding relating to the need for increased AAC-related communication partner instruction (CPI) is as follows: 97% and 100% of respondents indicated that increased CPI for medical practitioners/staff and family members, respectively, were important elements in order to ensure functional communication for individuals with AAC needs in the medical setting. Major barriers to providing AAC services related to device access (i.e., lack of AAC supports / devices, lack of funding for equipment, length of time of device funding). Other barriers were related to the nature of medical settings (i.e., frequently changing caseloads, limited time with patients) and demands of the job (i.e., lack of time to prepare AAC materials / devices). Supports to providing AAC services included low-tech AAC options and mobile technologies. In terms of practitioner knowledge, 57.6% of respondents rated themselves not at all or somewhat knowledgeable regarding AAC. Physicians, nurses, and other rehabilitation professionals were rated as less than knowledgeable by 95%, 97%, and 84.3% of participants, respectively. Overall, the findings of this study suggests there is a high prevalence of patients in medical settings with AAC needs, and some face unmet communication needs resulting from barriers related to the setting itself, lack of access to AAC devices and materials, and limited time spent on AAC service delivery