Studies in health technology and informatics
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Much has been written on the benefits of big data for healthcare such as improving patient outcomes, public health surveillance, and healthcare policy decisions. Over the past five years, Big Data, and the data sciences field in general, has been hyped as the "Holy Grail" for the healthcare industry promising a more efficient healthcare system with the promise of improved healthcare outcomes. ⋯ Our study results show that although Big Data is built up to be as a the "Holy Grail" for healthcare, small data techniques using traditional statistical methods are, in many cases, more accurate and can lead to more improved healthcare outcomes than Big Data methods. In sum, Big Data for healthcare may cause more problems for the healthcare industry than solutions, and in short, when it comes to the use of data in healthcare, "size isn't everything."
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2017
Disseminating a Standard for Medical Records in Emergency Departments Among Different Software Vendors Using HL7 CDA.
A standardized medical record for the emergency department (GEDMR) was released in Germany, but only sparsely and randomly implemented by emergency department (ED) electronic health record (EHR) vendors. A reason for this may be a lacking common language between the medical and the Health Information Technology (HIT) domain. HL7 clinical document architecture (CDA) may leverage this communication gap. ⋯ Five additional vendors are adapting or developing an ED-EHR. The GEDMR-CDA implementation guide with funding for implementation in project hospitals had a significant impact on the German ED-EHR market. Within two years after release, a broadening and increasingly self-enforcing support by German ED-EHR vendors is notable.
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Current efforts to improve nursing handover frequently use prescriptive approaches based on research evidence of handover issues within a single nursing ward or nursing specialty. Despite reported handover improvement, few studies adequately consider the transferability of results to other nursing handover environments or acknowledge the unique attributes that supported sustained improvement. ⋯ This paper describes a qualitative research project that examined nursing handover in three different wards - General Medicine, General Surgery and Department of Emergency Medicine in a tertiary teaching hospital. Through conduct of a detailed analysis of nursing handover processes, this paper highlights the similarities and differences in the handover among the three different wards and presents five key socio-technical insights to support safe nursing handover.
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The Government of Alberta continues to improve delivery of healthcare by allowing Albertans to access their health information online. Alberta is the only province in Canada with provincial electronic health records for all its citizens. These records are currently made available to medical practitioners, but Alberta Health believes that providing Albertans access to their health records will transform the delivery of healthcare in Alberta. ⋯ Service Alberta developed the MyAlberta Digital ID program to provide a digital identity verification service. The Ministry of Health is leveraging MyAlberta Digital ID to enable Albertans to access their personal health records through the Personal Health Portal. The Government of Alberta is advancing its vision of patient-centred healthcare by enabling Albertans to access a trusted source for health information and their electronic health records using a secure digital identity.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2017
Point-of-Care Testing Across Rural and Remote Emergency Departments in Australia: Staff Perceptions of Operational Impact.
New South Wales (NSW) Health Pathology is implementing one of the world's largest managed PoCT services across rural and remote Emergency Departments (EDs) in New South Wales, Australia to improve patient access to care. The aim of this qualitative study was to gain a context-rich understanding of the operational impact of the NSW rollout of PoCT across rural and remote ED settings as experienced by frontline clinical staff. ⋯ These factors have a potentially important role in saving lives. Staff also identified innovative and disruptive challenges to clinical work patterns associated with PoCT implementation, particularly in relation to work flows, resource allocation and the governance arrangements.