The Consistency of Medical Information on Internet

Author conducted the review of several Internet based information sources which combine symptoms and underlying causes (diagnoses, diseases). The base was the experience with the Mayo Clinic portal for patients https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms2 . It was found that the view to this information is not consistent in relation to the other-way-around view in https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions , where in one symptom description all related diseases (diagnoses) should be listed. The symptom mentioned can be seen in “diseases view” (diagnosis “Amyloidosis”). The opposite “symptoms view” for “weight loss” does not yield diagnosis “amyloidosis” in the list of dozens of diagnoses listed. In Mayo Clinic portal this inconsistency is overall practice: the same applies for “amyloidosis” also for the symptom “leg swelling” etc, but also for other diagnoses and symptoms. Author further examined other popular health portals: WebMD 3, MSD-Priručnici 4 (Croatia), PatientsLikeMe6 and NHS5. Based on this research the finding was unanimous: there is obvious lack of consistency between categories symptoms and diseases/conditions. In addition, in almost every source mentioned, inconsistencies in terminology were observed. Author concludes that the cause of this shortcoming are obviously two separate sources of information: separate databases for diagnoses and another for symptoms. Therefore, the author finally recommends fixing these shortcomings. Implementing such improvements, “diagnosing wandering” can be substantially reduced, being advantageous for obtaining straightforward path in diagnostic process in many cases

Procjena pažnje pri čitanju uporabom alata RAAT – primjena u sustavu zdravstva

RAAT - Reading Attention Assessment Tool - applies the method of "beneficial error seeding" (3) for reading attention level assessment. Tool itself is the web-based application where original text is written, pasted, linked or uploaded and then automatically mutated with randomly added misplaced words. This mutated text is then sent out to examinees (patients, physicians, nurses) according to the distribution list. They read such mutated text in the web-application display service and urged to mark such planted errors (doubleclicked). After completing this process, web-application compares the errors marked and mutated aimed to report the "text owner" as well as to the individual examinee. Web-application is controlled by parameters defined by "text-owners": number of errors generated, character and placement of words used, time allowed for completing the reading, success threshold level, distribution lists, default messages etc. "Text-owner" can be any healthcare organization or individual who needs to check to what extent their texts (informed consent inquiries, prescriptions relevant to medication adherence, medical guidelines, manuals, scientific articles, internal procedures, terms of healthcare service, medical textbooks, ...) are read with due attention.If we only take into account medication adherence, global problem is huge: 50% patients do not adhere to the prescriptions, causing poor treatment, adverse reactions, readmissions and eventually deaths. Of course, causes of non-adhered behavior are numerous, but one of highly observed is low level of patients reading of instructions and prescriptions. Research focused strictly on reading attention level influence on non-adherence in taking drugs could not be found in scientific databases.RAAT - alat za procjenu pažnje kod čitanja - primjenjuje metodu "korisnog sijanja pogrešaka" (3) za procjenu razine pažnje prilikom čitanja. Alat je web-aplikacija u koju se originalni tekst unese, dodaje, povezuje ili prenosi, a zatim automatski mutira sa slučajnim dodavanjem pogrešno postavljenih riječi. Ovaj mutirani tekst šalje se ispitanicima (pacijentima, liječnicima, medicinskim sestrama) prema unaprijed načinjenom popisu. Ispitanici čitaju takav mutirani tekst pomoću web aplikacije pri čemu ih se potiče da označe takve zasebne pogreške (doubleclicked). Nakon završetka ovog postupka, web-aplikacija uspoređuje označene pogreške i one mutirane s ciljem da ih prijavi "vlasniku teksta" kao i samom ispitaniku. Web aplikacija se kontrolira parametrima koje definiraju "vlasnici teksta": broj generiranih pogrešaka, karakter i položaj korištenih riječi, vrijeme dopušteno za završetak čitanja, razina praga uspjeha, distribucijske liste, zadane poruke i sl. "Vlasnik teksta" može biti bilo koja zdravstvena organizacija ili pojedinac koji želi provjeriti u kojoj se mjeri njihovi tekstovi edicinske smjernice, priručnici, znanstveni članci, interni postupnici, uvjeti mpažnjom. Ako uzmemo u obzir samo pridržavanje propisane terapije lijekovima, globalni problem je ogroman: 50% pacijenata ne pridržava se recepata, uzrokujući loš ishod, nuspojave, ponovni [25] prijam i konačno smrt. Naravno, uzroci nepridržavanja ponašanja su brojni, ali jedan od visoko promatranih je niska razina pažnje pri čitanju uputa i recepata. Istraživanja usmjerena isključivo na utjecaj razine pažnje pri čitanju na nepridržavanje uputa pri uzimanju lijekova nisu nađene u znanstvenim bazama podataka

Hospital Days 2016. – osvrt na track „Alkemija u zdravstvenom sustavu – je li eZdravlje rješenje?“

Zdravstveni sustav se susreće s „alkemijskom dilemom“: može li uz smanjenje sredstava ponuditi više kvalitetnih usluga, svagdje i odmah? Ako su sve ostale velike „industrije“ u moderno doba povećale djelotvornost optimiranjem procesa uz pomoć informatike, eZdravlje možemo smatrati značajnim sredstvom u rješavanju ove enigme, čime naglašavamo važnost provedbe informatizacije zdravstva

Idea Crowdsourcing in Public Sector – Proof-of-Concept Study

Following the most innovative cities of the world, City of Zagreb started in February 2017 the pilot project “Zagreb – Innovative City”. Pilot project is aimed to prove that the advance of the communication between the city administration and public (citizens, experts, businesses) is possible via social media network for crowdsourcing of innovative ideas. Implementation of the service gathering and converting ideas to beneficial projects should improve: • services for the citizens as well as • city administration efficiency. The application www.zg-inovacija.eu was developed in March 2017 and run as a pilot, intended to be a “proof-of-concept” during the period for three months (April-June 2017). Three areas of experimentation with consequent test outcomes were foreseen: 1. Level of public engagement – proved to be sufficient 2. Responsiveness of city structures in term of efficiency and effectiveness – demonstrated substantial improvement potential 3. Technological capability check – both development and operating were fully successful The evidence for City of Zagreb responsiveness improvement potential is the fact that in the pilot project three months course not a one idea - among almost 200 submitted in total – was streamlined as an official city project. As conclusion the author brings three main recommendations areas for implementing permanent service of idea crowdsourcing, stressing as very positive the acceptance of implementing this innovative project by the City of Zagreb