Identifying Facilitators and Barriers in the Application of Contextual Inquiry to Understand Provider Burnout

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors and decisions that affect the implementation of Contextual Inquiry, and explain which factors act as facilitators contributing towards the success of the project and which factors act as barriers hindering the success of the project. To determine these factors this study observed the application of Contextual Inquiry in a real-world project where it was applied to understand the reasons behind healthcare provider burnout. Using methods such as interviews, surveys and group discussions with the implementation team of the real-world project, this study was able to identify 18 Facilitators, 9 Barriers, and 3 Critical Decisions that impact the outcome of a Contextual Inquiry implementation in a healthcare setting.Master of Science in Information Scienc

Aspirin and Hemocompatibility Events With a Left Ventricular Assist Device in Advanced Heart Failure The ARIES-HM3 Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) enhance quality and duration of life in advanced heart failure. The burden of nonsurgical bleeding events is a leading morbidity. Aspirin as an antiplatelet agent is mandated along with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) with continuous-flow LVADs without conclusive evidence of efficacy and safety. OBJECTIVE To determine whether excluding aspirin as part of the antithrombotic regimen with a fully magnetically levitated LVAD is safe and decreases bleeding. DESIGN, SETTING, and PARTICIPANTS This international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of aspirin (100 mg/d) vs placebo with VKA therapy in patients with advanced heart failure with an LVAD was conducted across 51 centers with expertise in treating patients with advanced heart failure across 9 countries. The randomized population included 628 patients with advanced heart failure implanted with a fully magnetically levitated LVAD (314 in the placebo group and 314 in the aspirin group), of whom 296 patients in the placebo group and 293 in the aspirin group were in the primary analysis population, which informed the primary end point analysis. The study enrolled patients from July 2020 to September 2022; median follow-up was 14 months. Intervention Patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive aspirin (100 mg/d) or placebo in addition to an antithrombotic regimen. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The composite primary end point, assessed for noninferiority (−10% margin) of placebo, was survival free of a major nonsurgical (>14 days after implant) hemocompatibility-related adverse events (including stroke, pump thrombosis, major bleeding, or arterial peripheral thromboembolism) at 12 months. The principal secondary end point was nonsurgical bleeding events. RESULTS Of the 589 analyzed patients, 77% were men; one-third were Black and 61% were White. More patients were alive and free of hemocompatibility events at 12 months in the placebo group (68%) vs those taking aspirin (74%). Noninferiority of placebo was demonstrated (absolute between-group difference, 6.0% improvement in event-free survival with placebo [lower 1-sided 97.5% CI, −1.6%]; P < .001). Aspirin avoidance was associated with reduced nonsurgical bleeding events (relative risk, 0.66 [95% confidence limit, 0.51-0.85]; P = .002) with no increase in stroke or other thromboembolic events, a finding consistent among diverse subgroups of patient characteristics. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In patients with advanced heart failure treated with a fully magnetically levitated LVAD, avoidance of aspirin as part of an antithrombotic regimen, which includes VKA, is not inferior to a regimen containing aspirin, does not increase thromboembolism risk, and is associated with a reduction in bleeding events. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0406915

Progress toward a universal biomedical data translator

Clinical, biomedical, and translational science has reached an inflection point in the breadth and diversity of available data and the potential impact of such data to improve human health and well-being. However, the data are often siloed, disorganized, and not broadly accessible due to discipline-specific differences in terminology and representation. To address these challenges, the Biomedical Data Translator Consortium has developed and tested a pilot knowledge graph-based "Translator" system capable of integrating existing biomedical data sets and "translating" those data into insights intended to augment human reasoning and accelerate translational science. Having demonstrated feasibility of the Translator system, the Translator program has since moved into development, and the Translator Consortium has made significant progress in the research, design, and implementation of an operational system. Herein, we describe the current system's architecture, performance, and quality of results. We apply Translator to several real-world use cases developed in collaboration with subject-matter experts. Finally, we discuss the scientific and technical features of Translator and compare those features to other state-of-the-art, biomedical graph-based question-answering systems