Health Information Technology Commons^™

Smartphone Apps For Disasters: Workshop Lesson Plan, Paul Levett

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

This instruction was designed to be delivered to a Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) or a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Instructional Goal #1: Using a personal smartphone connected to the internet, learners will download medical information apps, before deployment to a disaster environment.

Instructional Goal #2: Recalling real and simulated patient care situations that required additional medical information, learners will identify and search smartphone apps for relevant, current, authoritative, medical information that could be applied to the care of individual patients in disasters.

The Technical Underpinnings And Extended What-If Analyses Of The Decision Support Systems Programmed For The Iom 80/20 Nursing Initiative, Christine T. Kovner, Chuo H. Lee, Edward J. Lusk, Carina Catigbak, Nellie Selander

Edward J. Lusk

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Electronic Medical Record Sophistication On U.S. Hospital Emergency Department Efficiency, Imran Chaudhri

Honors Theses

A key concern in emergency departments (EDs) is their overall efficiency, One proposed solution to making EDs more efficient is the use of electronic medical records (EMRs). This paper seeks to determine if varying levels of EMR sophistication have an effect on measures of emergency department efficiency. Furukawa (2011) found that EMR sophistication had varying effects on ED efficiency. Fully functional EMRs significantly improved ED efficiency in multiple measures, while basic EMR varied on its effects on efficiency. Since Furukawa’s results are somewhat inconclusive, this study aims to see if these effects are longstanding. I hypothesize that as EMR became …

Physician Satisfaction: The Role Of E-Mail Communication In The Practice Of Medicine, Joaquin Alvarado

Honors Theses

Communication between a physician and a patient is an integral part to the healthcare delivery system. E-mail has the power to fully utilize a physician’s medical expertise for the good of the patient. However, many physicians do not offer this service to their patients in the United States. This study analyzes factors that impact e‐mail utilization among physicians and whether e-mail use contributes to career satisfaction of physicians using the 2008 Health Tracking and Physician Survey. Controlling for the effect of physician and practice characteristics, such as financial incentive for providing services, gender, specialty, practice type, and reliance on Medicaid …

Dynamic Optimization Of Caregiver Schedules Based On Vital Sign Streams, Mohamed Saad, Bilal Khan

Publications and Research

Hospital facilities use a collection of heterogeneous devices, produced by many different vendors, to monitor the state of patient vital signs. The limited interoperability of current devices makes it difficult to synthesize multivariate moni- toring data into a unified array of real-time information regarding the patients state. Without an infrastructure for the integrated evaluation, display, and storage of vital sign data, one cannot adequately ensure that the assignment of care- givers to patients reflects the relative urgency of patient needs. This is an especially serious issue in critical care units (CCUs). We present a formal mathematical model of an operational …

Electronic Medical Records: Is It Working In Long Term Health Care?, Krista Phillips, Chris Wheeler, Josh Campbell, Alberto Coustasse

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

Long-term care (LTC) facilities possess unique characteristics in terms of implementation and utilization of electronic medical records (EMRs). The focus of LTC is on a population requiring care encompassing all aspects associated with quality of life rather than simply acute treatment. Because this focus is of a larger scale than traditional medical facilities, the priorities in the implementation and utilization of EMRs are higher in accessing patient history information. The purpose of this study was to determine the EMR utilization in the chronic care settings. In conclusion, the literature review performed does not support the fact that EMRs are currently …

Electronic Medical Records In Long-Term Care, Krista Phillips, Chris Wheeler, Josh Campbell, Alberto Coustasse

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

Long-term care (LTC) facilities possess unique characteristics in terms of implementation and utilization of electronic medical records (EMRs). The focus of LTC is on a population requiring care encompassing all aspects associated with quality of life rather than simply acute treatment. Because this focus is of a larger scale than traditional medical facilities, the priorities in the implementation and utilization of EMRs are higher in accessing patient history information. The purpose of this study was to determine the EMR utilization in the chronic care settings. In conclusion, the literature review performed does not support the fact that EMRs are currently …

Improving Healthcare Systems For Access To Care And Efficiency By Underserved Patients, Tammy Toscos, Brad Doebbeling, Ayten Turkcan

Tammy R Toscos

BACKGROUND Community Health Clinics (CHCs) provide a safety net for the underinsured. Despite recent changes to policy, work to establish Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) and investment in health information technology, we found that widespread problems with access to care still exist. The National Healthcare Quality Report describes access to healthcare as comprised of three distinct steps: (1) achieving entry into the health care system; (2) obtaining access to sites providing needed health care services; and (3) locating providers that can meet the individual patient’s medical needs, and with whom they can build a respectful and trusting relationship. The literature …

An Ehealth System Supporting Palliative Care For Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Randomized Trial, David H. Gustafson, Lori L. Dubenske, Kang Namkoong, Robert Hawkins, Ming-Yuan Chih, Amy K. Atwood, Roberta Johnson, Abhik Bhattacharya, Cindy L. Carmack, Anne M. Traynor, Toby C. Campbell, Mary K. Buss, Ramaswamy Govindan, Joan H. Schiller, James F. Cleary

Community & Leadership Development Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: In this study, the authors examined the effectiveness of an online support system (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System [CHESS]) versus the Internet in relieving physical symptom distress in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS: In total, 285 informal caregiver-patient dyads were assigned randomly to receive, for up to 25 months, standard care plus training on and access to either use of the Internet and a list of Internet sites about lung cancer (the Internet arm) or CHESS (the CHESS arm). Caregivers agreed to use CHESS or the Internet and to complete bimonthly surveys; for patients, these tasks …

Stay Beautiful -- Stay Alive: Assessing The Receptivity Of African American Beauty Salon Owners To The Integration Of Breast Cancer Intervention Programs Into Salon Operations, Funmi Apantaku-Onayemi

Ed.D. Dissertations

The lower incidence rate of breast cancer in African American women is dwarfed by the excessive number of deaths due to late diagnosis and treatment. Lack of screening, socioeconomic factors, fatalistic beliefs and inequality of care are major contributing factors. Studies have suggested that those who had more knowledge about breast cancer are more likely to have reduced fatalistic attitudes and engage in screening behaviors. This study investigated beauty salons as sustainable and viable venues to reach women with health intervention programs because they fit the prescriptions of the principles of adult learning. In a mixed-method, descriptive study involving 115 …

Mobile Personal Health System For Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring, Luis J. Mena, Vanessa G. Felix, Rodolfo Ostos, Jesus A. Gonzalez, Armando Cervantes, Armando Ochoa, Carlos Ruiz, Roberto Ramos, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

The ARVmobile v1.0 is a multiplatform mobile personal health monitor (PHM) application for ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring that has the potential to aid in the acquisition and analysis of detailed profile of ABP and heart rate (HR), improve the early detection and intervention of hypertension, and detect potential abnormal BP and HR levels for timely medical feedback. The PHM system consisted of ABP sensor to detect BP and HR signals and smartphone as receiver to collect the transmitted digital data and process them to provide immediate personalized information to the user. Android and Blackberry platforms were developed to detect …

The Path To Health Information Technology Adoption: How Far Have We Reached?, Pranav Gokhale

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Health Information Technology (HIT) is an overarching framework that describes the management of health information across various computerized systems and the secure exchange between consumers, providers, government, and insurers. It has been viewed as a promising tool for improving the overall quality, safety and efficiency of the health delivery system (Chaudhry et al., 2006). This capstone examines the problem of urban rural divide in the process of Health IT adoption especially with regard to Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This paper also tracks the progress made during years 2009 to 2013 to the process of Electronic Health Record adoption in the …

Levels Of Adoption Of Electronic Health Records And Patient Safety: Effectiveness And Efficiency, Scott Neishi, Yili Gan, Christopher R. Cochran, Jay J. Shen

Interdisciplinary Research Scholarship Day

• Patient safety, including hospital acquired infections has become one of the major concerns in healthcare delivery in recent years
• Electronic health records are becoming an integral aspect of the health care delivery
• Health policies have been looking to improve quality / patient safety and efficiency of healthcare through the adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems
• Can EHR adoption improve patient safety?
• Can EHR adoption reduce cost?
• H1: Patients treated at hospitals with a higher level of EHR adoption are less likely to incur poorer patient safety indicators
• H2: Patients treated at hospitals with a higher level of EHR adoption …

Evaluating A Multidisciplinary Approach To Teaching Mobile Healthcare, Dalya N. Elhady, Neal Sikka

GW Research Days 2013

PURPOSE

Mobile healthcare is a rapidly evolving opportunity to leverage technology to improve access and quality of healthcare while reducing costs and increasing the mobility of patients and providers. Innovations are often created by technical experts without adequate knowledge of the interplay between various mobile health agencies (i.e. clinical, business, regulatory, etc.). In order to improve the communication and cross-silo collaboration between mobile health leaders in a variety of fields, a multidisciplinary approach to education is necessary. Integrative teaching has received relatively little recognition in the medical education literature. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary format to …

Health Care Crisis: Potential Solutions To The Perverse Reimbursement System And The Fragmented Care Delivery System, Britney Ryan

Senior Theses and Projects

The American health care system is in a serious crisis. We have very high health care expenditures, but receive very low quality health outcomes. It is time for America to address the problems of our health care system head on, starting with the fee-for-service reimbursement structure and the fragmented care delivery system. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the systems in place in France and Japan to draw conclusions about possible solutions for the United States. This paper also discusses successful health care institutions within America and why they work. Finally, the potential results of the Affordable Care Act …

Hidden Surveillance On Consumer Health Information Websites, Jacquelyn A. Burkell, Alexandre Fortier

FIMS Publications

Behavioural tracking presents a significant privacy risk to Canadians, particularly when their online behaviours reveal sensitive information that could be used to discriminate against them. This concern is particularly relevant in the context of online health information seeking, since searches can reveal details about health conditions and concerns that the individual may wish to keep private. The privacy threats are exacerbated because behavioural tracking mechanisms are large invisible to users, and many are unaware of the strategies and mechanisms available to track online behaviour. In this project, we seek to document the behavioural tracking practices of consumer health websites, and …

Online Survey System For Image-Based Clinical Guideline Studies Using The Delphi Method, Todd Martin Harper

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing use of health information technology (HIT) is due to a rising interest in improving the quality of health care. HIT has the potential to reduce cost and transform services. Proper clinical support systems will contribute to the meaningful use of HIT systems by providing a wide array of data to clinicians for the diagnosis and treatments. Clinical guidelines, created by a consensus of experts, can be put in place to assist physicians in making clinical decisions. Delphi methods are commonly used to create consensus from surveys completed by a team of experts. Image-based studies could create guidelines that …

Rfid Technology Selection And Economic Justification For Healthcare Asset Tracking, Tyler Robert Peabody, Tali Freed

Master's Theses

Although Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Real-Time Location System (RTLS) technologies for inventory tracking have been growing in popularity, the healthcare industry has been reluctant to adopt these technologies. One of the primary reasons for this lack of enthusiasm has been the risk associated with electromagnetic interference between RFID/RTLS systems and medical equipment functionality. The other reason has been the substantial cost and complexity of implementing RFID/RTLS in healthcare organizations. In this study, we show that there are several ways to safely install RFID/RTLS systems to improve the inventory management processes of hospitals and clinics. We then analyze the inventory …

Importance Of New Technologies For Diabetes Monitoring, David P. Paul Iii, Joey Preast, Zach Garrett, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Diabetes and its ramifications and treatments are presented, followed by discussion of the importance of communication between patient and clinician. Improved communication approaches, including telephone consultations, blood glucose communications to a provider with feedback, and active electronic diaries on smartphones for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus, are reviewed.

Icd-10 In The United States: Better Late Than Never, Holly Johns, Cara Havens, Danielle Robinson, Bala S. Pothakamuri, David P. Paul Iii, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

The United States faces a revolution in the healthcare system soon, when the present coding system (ICD-9) will be replaced with what has for some years been the international standard: ICD-10. ICD-10 will provide a tremendous opportunity for better capturing the information in the increasingly complex delivery of healthcare. Although the transition to ICD-10 will undoubtedly result in substantial short-term costs, the long term benefits make the transition imperative.