Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2015
Review Meta AnalysisIdentification of Patient Safety Risks Associated with Electronic Health Records: A Software Quality Perspective.
Although Electronic Health Records (EHR) can offer benefits to the health care process, there is a growing body of evidence that these systems can also incur risks to patient safety when developed or used improperly. This work is a literature review to identify these risks from a software quality perspective. ⋯ This work elucidates the fact that EHR quality problems can adversely affect patient safety, resulting in errors such as incorrect patient identification, incorrect calculation of medication dosages, and lack of access to patient data. Therefore, the risks presented here provide the basis for developers and EHR regulating bodies to pay attention to the quality aspects of these systems that can result in patient harm.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jun 2020
Health Professionals' Experiences of the Benefits and Challenges of Online Symptom Checkers.
Online symptom checkers and assessment services are used by patients seeking guidance on health problems. In this study, the goal was to identify health professionals' experiences of the benefits and challenges of new symptom checkers providing triage advice. Data was collected through an online survey of 61 health professionals who were target users of the online symptom checkers implemented in six public health organizations and one private occupational health clinic. ⋯ Health professionals were satisfied with symptom checkers providing them with more useful information before meeting patients. By contrast, symptom checkers were seen as disrupting clinical work and time-consuming. The results imply that the clinical work processes should be redesigned to guide patients in an efficient manner, avoid work overlap, and provide work motivation for professionals.
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Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) provides vital information for managing patients by advising clinicians through an alert or reminders about adverse events and medication errors. Clinicians receive a high number of alerts, resulting in alert override and workflow disruptions. ⋯ The review findings identified several influencing factors of CDSS alert appropriateness including: technology (usability, alert presentation, workload and data entry), human (training, knowledge and skills, attitude and behavior), organization (rules and regulation, privacy and security) and process (waste, delay, tuning and optimization). The findings can be used to guide the design of CDSS alert and minimise potential safety hazards associated with CDSS use.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · May 2021
Delivering WHO's Life-Saving Information in Real-Time During a Pandemic Through an Online Learning Platform: Evidence from Global Use.
Accessibility, multilingualism and real-time knowledge transfer are the tenets of the OpenWHO learning platform. A descriptive analysis was conducted using anonymised statistical datasets retrieved from the OpenWHO reporting system to understand global use trends. ⋯ The massive demand for OpenWHO courses confirms the need for real-time learning materials in accessible, multilingual formats during a pandemic. Learning is a global public good and is an essential component of the response to health emergencies.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jun 2021
Morphological changes of intervertebral disc in relation with curve severity of patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis - a T2-weighted MRI study.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the morphological changes of intervertebral discs (IVD) and vertebral bodies (VB) in AIS girls according to the subgroups with different curve severity by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study included 33 age-matched female controls and 76 AIS girls with a right-sided thoracic curvature. Wedge angle, height ratio and distance ratio of VB and IVD were measured on the best midline coronal and sagittal planes from reformatted MRI spine. ⋯ On top of coronal wedging of VB and IVD, there was significantly reduced volume of IVD and NP in severe-AIS patients, despite T2 signal of IVD was preserved. The current findings indicate that early mechanical effects on the discs and vertebrae in adolescent scoliotic spine is evident on quantitative imaging. Importantly, these patients may be vulnerable to disc degeneration if no operative treatment is prescribed.