Health Information Technology Commons^™

Physicians, Patients, And Facebook: Could You? Would You? Should You?, Joy Peluchette, Katherine Karl, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

This paper investigates the opinions of physicians and patients regarding the use of Facebook to communicate with one another about health-related issues. We analyzed 290 comments posted on online discussion boards and found that most (51.7%) were opposed to physicians being Facebook “friends” with patients and many (42%) were opposed to physicians having any kind of Facebook presence. The primary reasons for this opposition were concerns about privacy and the need to maintain professional boundaries in the physician-patient relationship. Others expressed concerns about HIPAA violations. Some believed it was acceptable for physicians to use Facebook as long as they were …

Impact Of Radio-Frequency Identification (Rfid) Technologies On The Hospital Supply Chain: A Literature Review, Alberto Coustasse, Shane Tomblin, Chelsea Slack

Management Faculty Research

Supply costs account for more than one-third of the average operating budget and constitute the second largest expenditure in hospitals. As hospitals have sought to reduce these costs, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has emerged as a solution. This study reviews existing literature to gauge the recent and potential impact and direction of the implementation of RFID in the hospital supply chain to determine current benefits and barriers of adoption. Findings show that the application of RFID to medical equipment and supplies tracking has resulted in efficiency increases in hospitals with lower costs and increased service quality. RFID technology can reduce …

Telepsychiatry In Correctional Facilities: Using Technology To Improve Access And Decrease Costs Of Mental Health Care In Underserved Populations, Stacie Anne Deslich, Timothy Thistlethwaite, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Objective: It is unclear if telepsychiatry, a subset of telemedicine, increases access to mental health care for inmates in correctional facilities or decreases costs for clinicians or facility administrators. The purpose of this investigation was to determine how utilization of telepsychiatry affected access to care and costs of providing mental health care in correctional facilities.

Methods: A literature review complemented by a semistructured interview with a telepsychiatry practitioner. Five electronic databases, the National Bureau of Justice, and the American Psychiatric Association Web sites were searched for this research, and 49 sources were referenced. The literature review examined implementation of telepsychiatry …

Telepsychiatry In The 21st Century: Transforming Healthcare With Technology, Stacie Deslich, Bruce Stec, Shane Tomblin, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

This article describes the benefits and constraints of telemedicine, focusing primarily on the field of psychiatry in the United States with the current system of healthcare. Telepsychiatry is believed to provide better access and higher-quality care to patients who need psychiatric care and cost savings to providers of such care. Telemedicine has been successfully integrated into psychiatric facilities reaching rural areas, prisons, and urban facilities. It has increased the volume of patients that physicians can reach and diagnose, as well as allowing them to treat patients with limitations in mobility. While telepsychiatry has been shown to be beneficial, this technology …

Adoption Of The Icd-10 Standard In The United States: The Time Is Now, Alberto Coustasse, David P. Paul Iii

Management Faculty Research

The United States is facing a revolution in the health care system soon when the present coding system (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision) will be replaced with what has for some years been the international standard: International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10). The ICD-10 system will provide a tremendous opportunity for better capturing information in the increasingly complex delivery of health care. Although the transition to ICD-10 will undoubtedly result in substantial short-term costs, the long-term benefits make the transition imperative.

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.

A Review Of Radio Frequency Identification Technologies And Impacts On The Hospital Supply Chain: 2002–2012, Alberto Coustasse, Shane Tomblin, Chelsea Slack

Management Faculty Research

Supply costs are the second largest expenditure in hospitals, accounting for more than one third of the average operating budget. RFID technology can reduce these costs, improve patient safety, and supply chain management by increasing the ability to track and locate equipment, as well as monitoring theft prevention, distribution management, and patient billing. Findings of this study have shown that the application of RFID on medical equipment and supplies have resulted in efficiency increase in healthcare with lower costs and increased quality services. Even though the cost of RFID implementation is decreasing, the total expenditures are still significant and the …

Computer Physician Order Entry And Clinical Decision Support Systems: Benefits And Concerns, Joseph Shaffer, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Computerized Physician Order Entry has emerged as the greatest potential to decrease medications errors and improve efficiency. A literature review was conducted in systematic stages that included the research data from the last 25 years. Efficiencies were found with a decrease in overall workload of nurses, pharmacists and clerical workers. This led to decreased operating expenses. A secure way of transferring physician orders electronically will help hospitals and physicians practice a more efficient and higher quality of care in the US healthcare system.

Benefits And Constraints Of Telepsychiatry Utilization In The United States, Bruce A. Stec, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

This conference presentation describes the benefits and constraints of utilizing telemedicine primarily focusing on the field of psychiatry in the United States with the current system of healthcare. The utilization of telemedicine in the field of psychiatry is believed to provide better access, quality and care to the patients who necessitate psychiatric care in their overall medical care. Telemedicine has been a successfully integrated program into psychiatric facilities reaching rural, prisons or city facilities based on that it has increased the volume of patients in which physicians can reach out to and diagnose, as well as treat patients with limitations …

The Emergence And Potential Impact Of Medicine 2.0 In The Healthcare Industry, Terra Stump, Sarah Zilch, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Medicine 2.0 has emerged within healthcare information technology to enable more defined relationships among providers and patients. Physicians, hospitals, and patients are using Medicine 2.0 through social networking to maintain their foothold in the evolution of medical technologies. The authors’ purpose was to determine potential improvements that Medicine 2.0 has on communication and collaboration of healthcare information. Research has shown that Medicine 2.0 has integrated into the healthcare industry and is enabling an increase in communication in healthcare matters. The provider-patient relationship is improving through the use of Medicine 2.0 and has positively impacted society so far.

New Portable Tool To Screen Vestibular And Visual Function—National Institutes Of Health Toolbox Initiative, Rose Marie Rine, Dale Roberts, Bree A. Corbin, Roberta Mckean-Cowdin, Rohit Varma, Jennifer Beaumont, Jerry Slotkin, Michael C. Schubert

Physical Therapy Faculty Research

As part of the National Institutes of Health Toolbox initiative, we developed a low-cost, easy-to-administer, and time-efficient test of vestibular and visual function. A computerized test of dynamic visual acuity (cDVA) was used to measure the difference in visual acuity between head still and moving in yaw. Participants included 318 individuals, aged 3 to 85 years (301 without and 17 with vestibular pathology). Adults used Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) optotypes; children used ETDRS, Lea, and HOTV optotypes. Bithermal calorics, rotational chair, and light box testing were used to validate the cDVA. Analysis revealed that the cDVA test …

Professionalism And Social Networking: Can Patients, Physicians, Nurses, And Supervisors All Be ‘Friends’?, Joy Peluchette, Katherine Karl, Alberto Coustasse, Philip Rutsohn, Dennis Emmett

Management Faculty Research

This study examines the use of Facebook by certified nurse anesthetist students. Our results showed that, contrary to expectations, most were neutral about faculty, physicians, and supervisors viewing their Facebook profiles but expressed concerns about patients seeing such information. Many (30%) of our respondents had observed unprofessional content posted on the social network sites of their classmates including: intoxication or substance abuse, profanity, sexually suggestive photos or comments, and negative work-related comments. A vast majority indicated they would accept a ‘friend’ request from their supervisor and a physician but not a patient. Surprisingly, about 40% had initiated a ‘friend’ request …

Rfid And Its Impacts To The Hospital Supply Chain, Dan Feng Lu, Hai Do, Anna Jones, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

A radio frequency identification device (RFID) is a type of information technology used to improve supply chain management through an enhanced visualization of products. The RFID market in the U.S healthcare industry has been projected to be approximately $297 million and has been expected to grow at a rapid speed. RFID had a great impact on the hospital supply chain. It has been demonstrated that 30% of large healthcare organization that had IT budgets over $100 million had already deployed RFID technology. RFID is the latest technology to reduce costs by tracking both equipment and employees. This technology can also …

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

Management Faculty Research

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

Management Faculty Research

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 …

Pharmaceutical Counterfeiting And The Rfid Technology Intervention, Alberto Coustasse, Cody Arvidson, Phil Rutsohn

Management Faculty Research

Both nationally and internationally, pharmaceutical counterfeiting has become a problem that is threatening economic stability and public health. The purpose of the present research study review was to analyze the scope and severity of pharmaceutical counterfeiting and to establish if the implantation of the Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) model can more efficiently be used within the pharmaceutical supply chain to reduce the problem counterfeit drugs impose on public health and international economic stability. Results indicated that implementing the RFID model for tracking drugs at the item level in the pharmaceutical supply chain has potential to alleviate the scope of …

Predicting Patients’ Use Of Provider-Delivered E-Health: The Role Of Facilitating Conditions, E. Vance Wilson, Nancy K. Lankton

Accounting Faculty Research

This chapter presents a new rational-objective (R-O) model of e-health use that accounts for effects of facilitating conditions as well as patients’ behavioral intention. An online questionnaire measured patients’ behavioral intention to use a new e-health application as well as proxy measures of facilitating conditions that assess prior use of and structural need for health services. A second questionnaire administered three months later collected patients’ self-reported use of e-health during the intervening period. The new model increased predictions of patients’ e-health use (measured in R2) by more than 300% over predictions based upon behavioral intention alone, and all measured factors …

Case Studies In Medical Futility, Douglas A. Mains, Alberto Coustasse, Sue G. Lurie

Management Faculty Research

Technology has provided means to sustain life and provide care regardless of whether the treatment is appropriate and compassionate given the condition of the patient. This study presents two case histories, compiled from historical patient charts, staff notes and observations, that illustrate the variety of ethical issues involved and the role culture plays in the decision making process related to possible futile medical treatment. Ethical and cultural issues related to the cases are discussed and processes are presented that can help hospitals to avoid, or decrease the level of, medically futile care, and improve the cultural appropriateness of medical care …

Racial/Ethnic Differences In Exposure To Environmental Volatile Organic Compounds In The U.S. General Population: The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2000, Y. S. Lin, Alberto Coustasse, W. H. Ho, K. Singh, A. Arif

Management Faculty Research

Background: Exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been associated with many health disorders. A better understanding of unequal health risk from exposure to environmental VOCs is critical to the elimination of health disparities.

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate racial/ethnic differentials in exposure to airborne VOCs within a national sample of the U.S. population and assessed socio-demographic determinants that may contribute to these racial differences.

Methods: We used data from a stratified sample of 576 participants (aged 20–59 years) who provided personal air samples for VOC measurements in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) …

Factors Associated With Integrating Self-Management Support Into Primary Care, Richard Crespo, Molly Shrewsberry

Family and Community Health

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to expand the understanding of self-management support by describing factors that contribute to implementing a comprehensive self-management program in primary care.

Methods

Four rural health centers in medically underserved areas participated in a study to document the implementation of a self-management program. This program consisted of a social marketing plan and decision-making tools to guide patients in making self-management behavior changes. The stages of change constructs of the transtheoretical model were used to design the social marketing plan. Key informant interviews were conducted at 6-month and 9-month intervals to document the implementation process. …

Information Systems And Health Care Viii-Using Paper-Based Scenarios To Examine Perceptions Of Interactive Health Communication Systems, Nancy K. Lankton, Robert D. St. Louis

Accounting Faculty Research

While information and communication technologies can increase the health care provided to underserved populations, research concerning these technologies often involves only those patients who possess access to technology or who are otherwise willing and able to use it. This issue is important for both researchers and practitioners because non-users' beliefs may not only be different from users' beliefs, they may become more important to understand as access to technology increases. To address this problem: 1. We develop a model of the antecedents to perceived usefulness of an interactive health communication (IHC) system. While our research model combines health-related beliefs with …

Interdisciplinary Research And Publication Opportunites In Information Systems And Health Care, E. Vance Wilson, Nancy K. Lankton

Accounting Faculty Research

Healthcare is a large and growing industry that is experiencing major transformation in its information technology base. IS confronted similar transformations in other industries and developed theories and methods that should prove useful in healthcare applications. In turn, IS may benefit from incorporating knowledge from health informatics, a discipline that studies IT within medical and healthcare contexts. Despite the benefits, it is often a struggle for interdisciplinary researchers in IS and healthcare to publish their work, especially in journals directed toward IS audiences. In this paper, we outline strategies and resources to help ease this publication bottleneck. As a part …