Development and evaluation of a hand held computer based on-call pack for health protection out of hours duty: A pilot study

BACKGROUND: The on call service for health protection in most parts of the UK is provided by general public health consultants, registrars and nurses as the first tier of response backed up by medical consultants in health protection. The first tier responder usually carries a large bag of papers containing both local and national guidance on the management of common cases/incidents. An electronic on call pack may provide a suitable practical alternative to large paper based systems and help professionals deliver out of hours health protection advice and response to incidents. METHODS: We developed and piloted an electronic on call pack in Hertfordshire for use at the health protection unit level containing key local and national guidelines, contact information and useful references. The on-call pack was initially piloted using a laptop and more recently using a personal digital assistant (PDA). The use of the on-call pack was evaluated. RESULTS: Key advantages of the electronic system include reduced size, faster access to information that is clearly indexed and the relative ease of updating information. As part of the pilot, the electronic on call pack was presented to a local and regional training meeting with good response from participants using qualitative and quantitative methods. CONCLUSION: It is anticipated that with suitable evaluation this system can be adapted and utilised by other health protection practitioners. This system provides a fast, reliable and easily maintained source of information for the public health on-call team

Evidence for handheld electronic medical records in improving care: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Handheld electronic medical records are expected to improve physician performance and patient care. To confirm this, we performed a systematic review of the evidence assessing the effects of handheld electronic medical records on clinical care. METHODS: To conduct the systematic review, we searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane library from 1966 through September 2005. We included randomized controlled trials that evaluated effects on practitioner performance or patient outcomes of handheld electronic medical records compared to either paper medical records or desktop electronic medical records. Two reviewers independently reviewed citations, assessed full text articles and abstracted data from the studies. RESULTS: Two studies met our inclusion criteria. No other randomized controlled studies or non-randomized controlled trials were found that met our inclusion criteria. Both studies were methodologically strong. The studies examined changes in documentation in orthopedic patients with handheld electronic medical records compared to paper charts, and both found an increase in documentation. Other effects noted with handheld electronic medical records were an increase in time to document and an increase in wrong or redundant diagnoses. CONCLUSION: Handheld electronic medical records may improve documentation, but as yet, the number of studies is small and the data is restricted to one group of patients and a small group of practitioners. Further study is required to determine the benefits with handheld electronic medical records especially in assessing clinical outcomes

The Dozen Things Experimental Economists Should Do (More of)

What was once broadly viewed as an impossibility—learning from experimental data in economics—has now become commonplace. Governmental bodies, think tanks, and corporations around the world employ teams of experimental researchers to answer their most pressing questions. For their part, in the past two decades academics have begun to more actively partner with organizations to generate data via field experimentation. Although this revolution in evidence‐based approaches has served to deepen the economic science, recently a credibility crisis has caused even the most ardent experimental proponents to pause. This study takes a step back from the burgeoning experimental literature and introduces 12 actions that might help to alleviate this credibility crisis and raise experimental economics to an even higher level. In this way, we view our “12 action wish list” as discussion points to enrich the field

How to publish a book

Writing a book can seem like a daunting prospect. However, with the right idea, motivation, and effort, it is entirely possible. In this "How to" article we demonstrate and explain how one can take their book idea and successfully deliver it to publication.This article is freely available online. Click on the Additional Link above to access the full-text via the publisher's site