Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2013
Challenges in data quality assurance for electronic health records.
Data quality is an integral part of EHR systems. Quality assurance for these systems not only identifies the current defects in the data but also aims for minimizing the risk of their future occurrence. ⋯ Although those methods were successful in small scale research studies, their application to large scale day-to-day flow of information in EHR systems involves many challenges. In this paper, we highlighted those challenges for each method and each dimension and proposed a framework for using existing technologies to address those challenges.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2013
Knowledge representation and management enabling intelligent interoperability - principles and standards.
Based on the paradigm changes for health, health services and underlying technologies as well as the need for at best comprehensive and increasingly automated interoperability, the paper addresses the challenge of knowledge representation and management for medical decision support. After introducing related definitions, a system-theoretical, architecture-centric approach to decision support systems (DSSs) and appropriate ways for representing them using systems of ontologies is given. Finally, existing and emerging knowledge representation and management standards are presented. The paper focuses on the knowledge representation and management part of DSSs, excluding the reasoning part from consideration.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2013
Review Meta AnalysisA review of healthcare information system usability & safety.
Healthcare information systems have been designed to increase the efficiency and safety of healthcare processes. Systems such as electronic health records and pervasive computing devices have been shown to improve the safety of healthcare. However, increasing research has indicated that the design of such systems, in particular the user interface, may be related to increased incidence of other types of error. ⋯ New technology, such as CPOE, offers improvements over traditional paper tools and it is shown to have a positive effect on patient safety. New technology also creates the opportunity for new errors to occur and lead to the coining of the term "technology-induced error". The magnitude of the usability-testing needs is larger than it may seem.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison of automated and manual vital sign collection at hospital wards.
Using a cross-over study design, vital signs were collected from 60 patients by 6 nurses. Each nurse was randomly assigned for manual vital sign collection in 5 patients and for automated data collection in other 5 patients. ⋯ We found that 30% of vital sign records were transmitted to EMR with at least one error after manual data collection whereas there wasno transmission error with automated data collection. Allparticipating nurses stated that the automated vital sign collection can improve their efficiency and save their time for direct patient care.
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Electronic health records (EHRs) are increasingly being used in health care systems, hospitals, and clinics throughout North America. Over the past several years emergency departments (ED) have increasingly become more computerized. ⋯ In this paper we outline the current state of the research in using mobile devices in the ED. Our findings suggest there is very little research evidence that supports the use of mobile devices in the ED and more research is needed to better understand and optimize their use.