Health informatics journal
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Health Informatics J · Dec 2013
Comparative StudyOnline anonymous discussion between service users and health professionals to ascertain stakeholder concerns in using e-health services in mental health.
Implementation of e-health in mental health services requires that we are aware of stakeholders' concerns. We ascertained the views of mental health professionals and mental health service users through the (1) development of 12 topics based on the research literature, (2) presentation to 31 participants (19 mental health professionals and 12 mental health service users) and discussion in three 1-week programmes, (3) thematic analysis of transcripts, and (4) comparison with the literature to identify areas requiring attention in e-health implementation. This method of engaging mental health service users and mental health professionals was effective. We identified areas that (1) should be the first to implement (e.g. discussion forums, email, and Skype), (2) where further education and engagement are necessary before e-health methods could be used (e.g. unsupported computerised cognitive behavioural therapy, computer-patient interviewing, and patient access to online medical records), and (3) for further research (e.g. the impact of bad online experiences).
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Health Informatics J · Dec 2012
Nursing informatics and data collection from the electronic medical record: Study of characteristics, factors and occupancy impacting outcomes of critical care admissions from the Emergency Department.
When collecting data from a single electronic medical record (EMR), few studies of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients admitted directly from an Emergency Department (ED) focus on observational methodologies examining occupancy of both the ICU and the ED, and population characteristics. This quantitative study design and analysis, with a sample size of 1433 cases using regression techniques, suggested odds of mortality were more likely with a higher ICU occupancy/census and if uninsured. ⋯ Inpatient ICU occupancy is one of the variables that impacts waiting time and overcrowding in the ED, and, in this study, inpatient occupancy in the ICUs impacted patient outcomes. As all healthcare providers make up the interprofessional team and work within complex systems, ease of retrieval of EMR data can hasten decision support to improve quality outcomes.
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Health Informatics J · Dec 2011
Emergency department triaging of admitted stroke patients--a Bayesian Network analysis.
This study uses hospital administrative data to ascertain the differences in the patient characteristics, process and outcomes of care between the Emergency Department (ED) triage categories of patients admitted from an ED presentation into a large metropolitan teaching hospital with a Stroke Care Unit. Bayesian Networks (BNs) derived from the administrative data were used to provide the descriptive models. ⋯ Notably, 45% of transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) were categorized as 'Semi-urgent' (to be attended within 60 minutes), indicating an opportunity to improve emergency assessment of TIAs. The results illustrate the utility of hospital administrative data and the applicability of BNs for review of the current triage practices and subsequent impact.
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Health Informatics J · Dec 2011
Not 2 old 2 TXT: there is potential to use email and SMS text message healthcare reminders for rheumatology patients up to 65 years old.
Short message service (SMS) and email reminders have the potential to improve adherence to appointments and medication taking. Within the UK, information and communication technology (ICT) is widely used with a very high proportion of people having access to the internet and mobile phones. Little is known about ICT use by older adults and those with chronic illness. ⋯ A high proportion of patients up to age 65 are successfully using ICT despite older age or functional disability caused by rheumatic disease. Forty-four percent would be willing to receive an electronic appointment reminder and 25% a medication reminder. The results suggest that reminders would be welcomed by some patients and extensive patient training would not be needed before implementation.
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We present an experimental mechanism for enriching web content with quality metadata. This mechanism is based on a simple and well-known initiative in the field of the health-related web, the HONcode. ⋯ The model of trust proposed is based on a quality model for health-related web pages that has been tested in practice over a period of thirteen years. Our model has been explored in the context of a project to develop a research tool that automatically detects the occurrence of quality criteria in health-related web pages.