Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2004
Transforming written guidelines into electronic formats--international perspectives.
The Guidelines International Network (G-1-N www.g-i-n.net) is a major new international initiative involving guideline-developing organisations from around the world. G-I-N seeks to improve the quality of health care by promoting systematic development of clinical practice guidelines and their application into practice. The Network now has over 45 international members, most of whom prepare evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, or actively promote the use of evidence in practice. ⋯ To be effective, there must be formal internationally agreed standards that allow electronic guidelines to be shared and automatically updated. The Guidelines International Network will be taking a leading international role in working with designers and vendors of electronic decision support systems and tools to guarantee the integrity of guidelines when translated into electronic formats. This presentation by Catherine Marshall, Kitty Rosenbrand and Guenter Ollenschlaeger will: --explore current experiences from New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands --identify issues from the perspective of guideline developers --make recommendations for establishing opportunities for software designers, vendors and informatics experts to collaborate with guideline developers to ensure that up to date evidence can be easily implemented and shared throughout the world.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2004
Comparative StudyIntroduction of an operating room information management system improved overall operating room efficiency.
Operating Room (OR) information systems should manage the OR time, assigned to every surgeon, thereby minimizing the sum of costs of unused OR time and minimizing the costs of elective cases performed outside normal allocated OR time (excess OR-time). The aim of this paper is to illustrate how the introduction of an OR information system influenced daily OR activity performance. Since January 2001, we introduced an OR information system with a visual, airport-like, screen as central part, displaying all scheduled OR activity linked in real-time activity with all OR theatres. ⋯ In conclusion, in 2001 we recorded an increase in total OR activity for elective abdominal surgery by 7% in number of procedures and by 8% in total duration. However, in 2001 we recorded a decrease in excess time by 16% (123 h 04 min vs 147 h 20 min), which was for a large part due to a 23% decrease in unused OR time in 2001 compared to 2000 (35 h 21min vs 46 h 45 min). Therefore, the introduction of an OR information system, with a real-time visual display of ongoing OR activity, resulted in a increased performance of OR activity, with more OR procedures performed despite less excess time and less extra costs.
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The use of web-based education has increased significantly. As a result there is a need to focus on methods, employed to evaluate teaching and learning outcomes, when technology is used to enhance learning. This chapter provides an overview of what, how, and why to assess, test and measure learning. ⋯ Evaluation generates information which can be used for different purposes e.g. planning, implementing and guiding teaching and learning processes timely and for the future as well. Based on experiences of teaching health informatics, an evaluation model for web-based courses is described. The risks of dishonesty and misbehavior related to web-based education are recognized.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2004
Edutainment tools for initial education of type-1 diabetes mellitus: initial diabetes education with fun.
Appropriate initial education for type-1 diabetes mellitus patients is important to prevent late complications. However, type-1 diabetic children have not appreciated traditional learning methods since they rarely contain the elements of fun and interactivity. In this study, we developed, implemented and evaluated a preliminary version of edutainment tools for initial education for type-1 diabetic children. ⋯ Our edutainment systems were accepted as attractive learning tools for type-1 diabetic children who need initial education.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2004
Challenges and barriers to development of telemedicine programs.
The collection of data is a vital step in assuring that a system works, a method is correct and the process is adequate. As data is collected databases are created. These databases could be nothing more than a box or it could be in a computer-based, indexed database. ⋯ With the advent of telecommunications capabilities and information systems, medicine has embraced these two disciplines, resulting in a new tool - telemedicine. This new tool is undergoing rigorous peer review and scientific challenge. This has lead to a plethora of data, which indicates telemedicine is an excellent tool for medicine.