iSchools and health informatics: developing innovative and interdisciplinary curricula

Health Informatics is an emergent discipline with increasing demand for information professionals who can address complex problems at the intersection of technological, human, organizational, and societal issues. There has been a strong interest in Health Informatics within the iSchool community. Still, the community has not engaged in the discussion of what Health Informatics curricula for iSchools should look like and what would make them unique and distinguished from programs located in other schools. In this SIE we will engage the audience in designing or redesigning Health Informatics curricula for an iSchool as an activity. Through this activity, participants will think strategically about issues such as the role of iSchools in Health Informatics, market needs, and building on the strengths and mission of the iSchools

Simulated Person Method for Teaching Soft Skills in the Information Professions: A Pilot Qualitative Study

Simulated Person Methodology (SPM) is a type of experiential learning that provides learners with realistic practice of soft skills such as communication and conflict resolution. SPM utilizes humans, who are trained to portray specific roles and provide feedback to learners. SPM training interventions were implemented in a Museum Studies course and a Library and Information Science skill-building workshop. Standard evaluation forms, interviews and focus group were used to obtain post-intervention feedback from students and instructors. Results suggest that the SPM activity was beneficial to the students’ learning experience and successfully met educational objectives. Suggestions for improvement are discussed

Understanding end-user support for health information technology: a theoretical framework

Background Support is often considered an important factor for successful implementation and realising the benefits of health information technology (HIT); however, there is a dearth of research on support and theoretical frameworks to characterise it. Objective To develop and present a comprehensive, holistic, framework for characterising enduser support that can be applied to various settings and types of information systems. Method Scoping review of the medical informatics and information systems literature. Results A theoretical framework of end-user support is presented. It includes the following facets: support source, location of support, support activities, and perceived characteristics of support and support personnel. Conclusion The proposed framework may be a useful tool for describing and characterising enduser support for HIT. it may also be used by decision makers and implementation leaders for planning purposes

End-user support for a primary care electronic medical record: a qualitative case study of a vendor’s perspective

Background In primary care settings, users often rely on vendors to provide support for health information technology (HIT). Yet, little is known about the vendors’ perspectives on the support they provide, how support personnel perceive their roles, the challenges they face and the ways they deal with them.Objective To provide in-depth insight into an electronic-medical record (EMR) vendor’s perspective on end-user support.Methods As part of a larger case study research, we conducted nine semi-structured interviews with help desk staff, trainers and service managers of an EMR vendor, and observed two training sessions of a new client.Results With a growing client base, the vendor faced challenges of support staff shortage and high variance in users’ technical knowledge. Additionally, users sometimes needed assistance with infrastructure, and not just software problems. These challenges sometimes hindered the provision of timely support and required supporters to possess good interpersonal skills and adapt to diverse client population.Conclusion This study highlights the complexity of providing end-user support for HIT. With increased adoption, other vendors are likely to face similar challenges. To deal with these issues, supporters need not only strong technical knowledge of the systems, but also good interpersonal communication skills. Some responsibilities may be delegated to super-users. Users may find it useful to hire local IT staff, at least on an on-call basis, to provide assistance with infrastructure problems, which are not supported by the software vendor. Vendors may consider expanding their service packages to cover these elements

Is Qualitative Research Second Class Science? A Quantitative Longitudinal Examination of Qualitative Research in Medical Journals

Background: Qualitative research appears to be gaining acceptability in medical journals. Yet, little is actually known about the proportion of qualitative research and factors affecting its publication. This study describes the proportion of qualitative research over a 10 year period and correlates associated with its publication. Design: A quantitative longitudinal examination of the proportion of original qualitative research in 67 journals of general medicine during a 10 year period (1998–2007). The proportion of qualitative research was determined by dividing original qualitative studies published (numerator) by all original research articles published (denominator). We used a generalized estimating equations approach to assess the longitudinal association between the proportion of qualitative studies and independent variables (i.e. journals' country of publication and impact factor; editorial/methodological papers discussing qualitative research; and specific journal guidelines pertaining to qualitative research). Findings: A 2.9% absolute increase and 3.4-fold relative increase in qualitative research publications occurred over a 10 year period (1.2% in 1998 vs. 4.1% in 2007). The proportion of original qualitative research was independently and significantly associated with the publication of editorial/methodological papers in the journal (b = 3.688, P = 0.012); and with qualitative research specifically mentioned in guidelines for authors (b = 6.847, P<0.001). Additionally, a higher proportion of qualitative research was associated only with journals published in the UK in comparison to other countries, yet with borderline statistical significance (b = 1.776, P = 0.075). The journals' impact factor was not associated with the publication of qualitative research. Conclusions: Despite an increase in the proportion of qualitative research in medical journals over a 10 year period, the proportion remains low. Journals' policies pertaining to qualitative research, as expressed by the appearance of specific guidelines and editorials/methodological papers on the subject, are independently associated with the publication of original qualitative research; irrespective of the journals' impact factor

iSchools and health informatics: developing innovative and interdisciplinary curricula

Health Informatics is an emergent discipline with increasing demand for information professionals who can address complex problems at the intersection of technological, human, organizational, and societal issues. There has been a strong interest in Health Informatics within the iSchool community. Still, the community has not engaged in the discussion of what Health Informatics curricula for iSchools should look like and what would make them unique and distinguished from programs located in other schools. In this SIE we will engage the audience in designing or redesigning Health Informatics curricula for an iSchool as an activity. Through this activity, participants will think strategically about issues such as the role of iSchools in Health Informatics, market needs, and building on the strengths and mission of the iSchools

Developing a tool to assess the quality of socio-demographic data in community health centres

Objective: The objectives of this study are to 1) create a quality assessment tool for socio-demographic data aligned with the needs of Community Health Centres (CHCs) and based on the data quality framework of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), and 2) test the feasibility of the tool in CHCs. Methods: The tool was developed based on both theoretical and practical knowledge. A review of the literature was performed to identify data quality frameworks and dimensions that could be employed. In addition, informal discussions with Community Health Centres staff members holding various positions were conducted and a team of subject matter experts was established. This approach supported the alignment between the tool (i.e., the indicators developed, the rating scale, and weighting system) and the setting for which it has been designed. The tool was pilot tested in five CHCs across Ontario. Results: The decision to focus on socio-demographic data was based on findings from the discussions with staff members. The team established nine principles for the development of the tool, including the use of computer software, whenever possible, to query the data and ensure consistency of the measurement. Data quality scores ranged from 45 to 74 on a scale of 0 (lowest quality) to 100 (highest data quality), with one CHC that was not able to run all of the queries. The feedback from staff was positive and supports the feasibility of the tool as an application of the CIHI data quality framework in a local setting. Conclusion: Pilot test results demonstrate the feasibility of the tool and an applicability of the CIHI framework as a basis for developing tools for data quality assessment in health care organizations

Applying Instructional Design Theories to Bioinformatics Education in Microarray Analysis and Primer Design Workshops

The need to support bioinformatics training has been widely recognized by scientists, industry, and government institutions. However, the discussion of instructional methods for teaching bioinformatics is only beginning. Here we report on a systematic attempt to design two bioinformatics workshops for graduate biology students on the basis of Gagne's Conditions of Learning instructional design theory. This theory, although first published in the early 1970s, is still fundamental in instructional design and instructional technology. First, top-level as well as prerequisite learning objectives for a microarray analysis workshop and a primer design workshop were defined. Then a hierarchy of objectives for each workshop was created. Hands-on tutorials were designed to meet these objectives. Finally, events of learning proposed by Gagne's theory were incorporated into the hands-on tutorials. The resultant manuals were tested on a small number of trainees, revised, and applied in 1-day bioinformatics workshops. Based on this experience and on observations made during the workshops, we conclude that Gagne's Conditions of Learning instructional design theory provides a useful framework for developing bioinformatics training, but may not be optimal as a method for teaching it