Health Information Technology Commons^™

Personal Health Records: The People's Choice?, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

Information technology (IT), especially in the form of an electronic health record (EHR), is touted by many as a key component of meaningful improvement in health care delivery and outcomes. A personal health record (PHR) may be an element of an EHR or a stand-alone record. Proponents of PHRs see them as tools that will improve consumers’ ability to manage their care and will also enlist consumers as advocates for widespread health IT adoption. This issue brief explores what a PHR is, the extent of demand for it, issues that need to be resolved before such records can be expected …

Single Molecule Detection Systems And Methods, John G. K. Williams, Gregory R. Bashford

Biomedical Imaging and Biosignal Analysis Laboratory

A micofluidic system is provided that includes a substrate, a first microchannel disposed in the substrate for providing a reactant to a reaction zone, a second microchannel disposed in the substrate, the third microchannel providing fluid communication between the first and second microchannels. The system also typically includes first and second electrodes, positioned at opposite ends of the second microchannel, for providing an electric field within the second microchannel. In operation, when the reactant is in the reaction zone, a reaction product is produced having a net electric charge different from the electric of the reactant.

Health Information Technology In The United States: The Information Base For Progress, David Blumenthal, Catherine M. Desroches, Karen Donelan, Sara J. Rosenbaum, Timothy Ferris

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

Health information technology (HIT) has the potential to advance health care quality by helping patients with acute and chronic conditions receive recommended care, diminishing disparities in treatment and reducing medical errors. Nevertheless, HIT dissemination has not occurred rapidly, due in part to the high costs of electronic health record (EHR) systems for providers of care—including the upfront capital investment, ongoing maintenance and short-term productivity loss. Also, many observers are concerned that, if HIT follows patterns observed with other new medical technologies, HIT and EHRs may diffuse in ways that systematically disadvantage vulnerable patient populations, thus increasing or maintaining existing disparities …

Girls' Perception Of Physical Environmental Factors And Transportation: Reliability And Association With Physical Activity And Active Transport To School, Kelly R. Evenson, Amanda Birnbaum, Ariane L. Bedimo-Rung, James Sallis, Carolyn C. Voorhees, Kimberly Ring, John P. Elder

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Preliminary evidence suggests that the physical environment and transportation are associated with youth physical activity levels. Only a few studies have examined the association of physical environmental factors on walking and bicycling to school. Therefore, the purpose of this study was (1) to examine the test-retest reliability of a survey designed for youth to assess perceptions of physical environmental factors (e.g. safety, aesthetics, facilities near the home) and transportation, and (2) to describe the associations of these perceptions with both physical activity and active transport to school.

Methods

Test and retest surveys, administered a median of 12 days later, …

Electrowetting Droplet Microfluidics On A Single Planar Surface, Christopher G. Cooney, Chao Yi Chen, Michael R. Emerling, Ali Nadim, James D. Sterling

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electrowetting refers to an electrostatically induced reduction in the contact angle of an electrically conductive liquid droplet on a surface. Most designs ground the droplet by either sandwiching the droplet with a grounding plate on top or by inserting a wire into the droplet. Washizu and others have developed systems capable of generating droplet motion without a top plate while allowing the droplet potential to float. In contrast to these designs, we demonstrate an electrowetting system in which the droplet can be electrically grounded from below using thin conductive lines on top of the dielectric layer. This alternative method of …

Mobile Healthcare Informatics, Keng Siau, Zixing Shen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Advances in wireless technology give pace to the rapid development of mobile applications. The coming mobile revolution will bring dramatic and fundamental changes to our daily life. It will influence the way we live, the way we do things, and the way we take care of our health. For the healthcare industry, mobile applications provide a new frontier in offering better care and services to patients, and a more flexible and mobile way of communicating with suppliers and patients. Mobile applications will provide important real time data for patients, physicians, insurers, and suppliers. In addition, it will revolutionalize the way …

The Electronic Health Record In Practice: Why, How, And What Next?, Lisa Sprague, Sally Coberly

National Health Policy Forum

This local site visit was intended to allow participants to observe the electronic health record (EHR) as used in practice by two U.S. leaders in technology and quality, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Kaiser Permanente (KP). The VHA has employed an EHR system since 1997; KP is in the process of implementing a standard system for all clinicians nationwide. The site visit was designed to provide an opportunity for participants to explore both the expected benefits from EHR adoption and the specific lessons these two large, integrated delivery systems have learned in their transition from paper to electronic records. …

Technology Brief: Digital Pen And Paper: A Review Of The Technology And Its Potential Application In Healthcare, Martin Schiavenato

Nursing Faculty Scholarship

Electronic medical records (EMR) are a priority in the landscape of US healthcare. Digital pen and paper systems offer an expedient and innovative way of adapting the familiar handwriting medium into the EMR. The technology of the digital pen and paper and its components is reviewed and critically evaluated as to its potential advantages, disadvantages, and implications to patient care. In addition, field testing of a commercial digital pen and paper system was carried out in an informal educational setting by a panel of expert clinicians and educators. Potential nursing and healthcare applications and implications are listed and discussed.

A Database And Tool, Im Browser, For Exploring And Integrating Emerging Gene And Protein Interaction Data For Drosophila, Svetlana Pacifico, Guozhen Liu, Stephen Guest, Jodi R. Parrish, Farshad Fotouhi, Russell L. Finley Jr

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Biological processes are mediated by networks of interacting genes and proteins. Efforts to map and understand these networks are resulting in the proliferation of interaction data derived from both experimental and computational techniques for a number of organisms. The volume of this data combined with the variety of specific forms it can take has created a need for comprehensive databases that include all of the available data sets, and for exploration tools to facilitate data integration and analysis. One powerful paradigm for the navigation and analysis of interaction data is an interaction graph or map that represents proteins …

K-Spmm: A Database Of Murine Spermatogenic Promoters Modules & Motifs, Yi Lu, Adrian E. Platts, G Charles Ostermeier, Stephen A. Krawetz

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Understanding the regulatory processes that coordinate the cascade of gene expression leading to male gamete development has proven challenging. Research has been hindered in part by an incomplete picture of the regulatory elements that are both characteristic of and distinctive to the broad population of spermatogenically expressed genes.

Description

K-SPMM, a database of murine Spermatogenic Promoters Modules and Motifs, has been developed as a web-based resource for the comparative analysis of promoter regions and their constituent elements in developing male germ cells. The system contains data on 7,551 genes and 11,715 putative promoter regions …

Information Systems And Health Care Xiii: Examining The Critical Requirements, Design Approaches And Evaluation Methods For A Public Health Emergency Response System, Ann L. Fruhling

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Research pertaining to emergency response systems has accelerated over the past few years, particularly since 9/11 events, and more recently due to Hurricane Katrina and concern over a potential of an avian flu pandemic. This study examines the requirements that are the most demanding with respect to software and hardware, and the associated design strategies for a public health emergency response system (ERS) for electronic laboratory diagnostics consultation. In addition, this study illustrates ways to evaluate the design decisions.

An important goal of a public health ERS is to improve the communication and notification of life-threatening diseases and harmful agents. …

Mobile Applications That Empower People To Monitor Their Personal Health, Kay Connelly, A M. Faber, Y Rogers, Katie Siek, Tammy Toscos Phd

Health Services and Informatics Research

Researchers have an opportunity to develop assistive applications that empower people to change unhealthy habits through monitoring their behavior. Mobile applications can enhance self-monitoring by providing real-time feedback and employing persuasive technology. The projects presented demonstrate the potential of persuasive, assistive applications for both chronically ill and healthy individuals.

Internet Accessibility And Usage Among Urban Adolescents In Southern California: Implications For Web-Based Health Research, C. Anderson Johnson, Ping Sun, Jennifer B. Unger, Paula Palmer, Peggy E. Gallaher, Chih-Ping Chou, Steve Sussman, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The World Wide Web (WWW) poses a distinct capability to offer interventions tailored to the individual’s characteristics. To fine tune the tailoring process, studies are needed to explore how Internet accessibility and usage are related to demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and other health related characteristics. This study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on 2373 7th grade students of various ethnic groups in Southern California. Measures of Internet use included Internet use at school or at home, Email use, chat-room use, and Internet favoring. Logistic regressions were conducted to assess the associations between Internet uses with selected demographic, psychosocial, behavioral …

Charge-Switch Nucleotides, John G. K. Williams, Gregory R. Bashford, Jiyan Chen, Dan Draney, Nara Narayanan, Bambi L. Reynolds, Pamela Sheaff

Biomedical Imaging and Biosignal Analysis Laboratory

The present invention provides compounds, methods and systems for sequencing nucleic acid using single molecule detection. Using labeled NPs that exhibit charge-switching behavior, single-molecule DNA sequencing in a microchannel sorting system is realized. In operation, sequencing products are detected enabling real-time sequencing as successive detectable moieties flow through a detection channel. By electrically sorting charged molecules, the cleaved product molecules are detected in isolation Without interference from unincorporated NPs and Without illuminating the polymerase-DNA complex.

Towards Knowledge Morphing: A Triangulation Approach To Link Tacit And Explicit Knowledge, Fehmida Hussain, Syed Sibte Raza Abidi, Syed Ali Raza

International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies

Current knowledge management systems are largely designed to deal with a single knowledge modality. Given the diversity of knowledge modalities that encompass any given topic/problem it is reasonable to demand access and use of all available knowledge, irrespective of their representation modality, to derive a knowledge-mediated solution. This calls for selecting all knowledge elements (represented in different modalities) that are relevant to the solution of the problem at hand. Thus here we pursue the specification and implementation of such a knowledge-mediated solution using a triangulation approach leading to Knowledge Morphing. In this paper we present a tacit-explicit knowledge morphing (TEKM) …

Nucleic Acid Sequencing Using Charge-Switch Nucleotides, John G. K. Williams, Gregory R. Bashford

Biomedical Imaging and Biosignal Analysis Laboratory

The present invention provides compounds, methods and systems for sequencing nucleic acid using single molecule detection. Using labeled NPs that exhibit charge-switching behavior, single-molecule DNA sequencing in a microchannel sorting system is realized. In operation, sequencing products are detected enabling real-time sequencing as successive detectable moieties flow through a detection channel. By electrically sorting charged molecules, the cleaved product molecules are detected in isolation without interference from unincorporated NPs and without illuminating the polymerase-DNA complex.

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 …

Implementing Computerized Physician Order Entry In Community Hospitals: Vendor Perspectives For Success, Todd D. Ellis

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand vendor perspectives for successful implementation of Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) in community hospitals. The methodology followed was based on grounded theory with an aim of generating a descriptive and explanatory theory of the likely success factors for CPOE implementations in community hospitals. The primary source of data came from telephone, face-to-face focus group interviews with CPOE vendor implementation specialists who possessed two or more years of CPOE implementation experience in community hospital settings. The interviews involved semi-structured open-ended questions that were intended to elicit views and opinions from the study participants. …

Imposed Constraints On The Smith-Waterman Alignment Algorithm For Enhanced Modeling Of A Single-Molecule Dna Sequencer, Patrick G. Humphrey, Gregory R. Bashford

Biomedical Imaging and Biosignal Analysis Laboratory

An effort has been underway to develop a system for de novo sequencing of single DNA molecules with very long reads. The system operates by optically detecting the passage of fluorescently tagged DNA bases through a detection zone. A successful system would be revolutionary with respect to speed, read length, cost and minimized laboratory infrastructure. An important part of system development is modeling of the detection process. In particular, predicting the expected error from a set of sequencing parameters is helpful in system design. This paper describes variations on the Smith-Waterman algorithm for subsequence alignment used in a single-molecule detection …

Electronic Health Records: How Close? How Far To Go?, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

This paper looks at the central role of the electronic health record (EHR) in health information technology. It considers the extent to which EHRs are in use and initiatives designed to increase their prevalence, as well as barriers to the widespread adoption of EHRs and efforts to surmount them. Particular attention is given to such obstacles as cost, the professional culture of physicians, standardization, and legal questions.

Flash Artifact Suppression In Two-Dimensional Ultrasound Imaging, Richard Yung Chiao, Gregory Ray Bashford, Mark Peter Feilen, Cynthia Andrews Owen

Biomedical Imaging and Biosignal Analysis Laboratory

Flash artifacts in ultrasound flow images are suppressed to achieve enhanced flow discrimination. Flash artifacts typically occur as region of elevated signal strength (brightness or equivalent color) within an image. A flash suppression algorithm included the steps of estimating the flash within an image and then suppressing the estimated flash. The mechanism for flash suppression is spatial filtering. An extension of this basic method used information from adjacent frames to estimate the flash and/or to smooth the resulting image sequence. Temporal information from adjacent frames is used as an adjunct to improve performance.

System Analysis Of Communication With Hospitalized Spanish-Speaking Patients With Limited English Proficiency, Katherine Mclendon

The Corinthian

This paper presents a study of the documentation of the methods of interpretation and instruction utilized for Spanish-speaking patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) who were hospitalized in a middle Georgia hospital. Hospital employees have been instructed by the hospital administration to utilize a telephone interpreter service as their primary interpretation resource; a reference list of local Spanish-language interpreters is available in the Human Resources Department and in the hospital's computer information system to be utilized if needed . Data were collected from a small random sample of inpatient medical records selected by Health Information Services to determine whether these …

The Ehealth Behavior Management Model: A Stage-Based Approach To Behavior Change And Management, Robert J. Bensley, Nelda Mercer, John J. Brusk, Ric Underhile, Jason Rivas, Judith Anderson, Deanne Kelleher, Melissa Lupella, André C. De Jager

Human Performance and Health Education Faculty Research

Although the Internet has become an important avenue for disseminating health information, theory-driven strategies for aiding individuals in changing or managing health behaviors are lacking. The eHealth Behavior Management Model combines the Transtheoretical Model, the behavioral intent aspect of the Theory of Planned Behavior, and persuasive communication to assist individuals in negotiating the Web toward stage-specific information. It is here — at the point of stage-specific information — that behavioral intent in moving toward more active stages of change occurs.

The eHealth Behavior Management Model is applied in three demonstration projects that focus on behavior management issues: parent-child nutrition education …

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 …

Laboratory Automation Curriculum At Keck Graduate Institute, James D. Sterling

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel curriculum in laboratory automation and high-throughput technologies has been developed at the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) over the past five years as part of the professional master's degree program in applied life sciences. The goal of this curriculum has been four-fold: (1) motivate study by describing the need for automation through several example problems in combinatorial biological discovery, (2) provide elements of fundamental engineering science that are required for the development of the technologies and tools that enable automation, (3) provide opportunities for the students to see and use state-of-the-art instruments, learn about existing industry standards, and to …

Laboratory Automation Education, James D. Sterling

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

A Generic Approach To Supporting The Management Of Computerised Clinical Guidelines And Protocols, Kudakwashe Dube

Doctoral

Clinical guidelines or protocols (CGPs) are statements that are systematically developed for the purpose of guiding the clinician and the patient in making decisions about appropriate healthcare for specific clinical problems. Using CGPs is one of the most effective and proven ways to attaining improved quality, optimised resource utilisation, cost containment and reduced variation in healthcare practice. CGPs exist mainly as paper-based natural language statements, but are increasingly being computerised. Supporting computerised CGPs in a healthcare environment so that they are incorporated into the routine used daily by clinicians is complex and presents major information management challenges. This thesis contends …

Antes: A Web-Based Acanthosis Nigricans And Other Obesity Related Information System, Chunyue Wang

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Acanthosis nigricans is a cutaneous marker associated with systemic disorders and may serve as an indicator for risk of Type 2 diabetes. Acanthosis nigricans screening can help identify children who have high insulin levels and who may be at-risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. The ANTES system is a computerization attempt for acanthosis nigricans control of the student population from elementary schools and secondary schools in Texas. A general description of the system and the medical and history background of the ANTES program is given. The technology applied to the system is demonstrated. An overview of the system operation status …

Resolution Of Multiple Ssdna Structures In Free Solution Electrophoresis, Eve F. Fabrizio, Ali Nadim, James D. Sterling

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

By using high concentrations of buffer, electroosmotic flow within uncoated channels of a microfluidic chip was minimized, allowing the free solution electrophoretic separation of DNA. More importantly, because of the ability to efficiently dissipate heat within these channels, field strengths as high as 600 V/cm could be applied with minimal Joule heating (< 2 °C). As a result of the higher field strengths, separations within an 8-cm-long channel were achieved within a few minutes. However, when the electrophoretic separation of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) less than 22 bases in length was performed, containing the fluorophore Texas Red as an end label, more than the expected single peak was observed at this high electric field. On the other hand, the free solution electrophoresis of a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) consisting of a random sequence did exhibit the expected single peak. The appearance of these multiple peaks for ssDNA is shown to be dependent upon the base content and sequence of the ssDNA as well as on the chemical structure of the fluorophore used to tag the DNA for detection. Specifically, the peaks can be attributed to different secondary structures that result either from hydrophobic interactions between the DNA bases and an uncharged fluorescent dye or from G-quadruplexes within guanine-rich strands.

Health Care Informatics, Keng Siau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The health care industry is currently experiencing a fundamental change. Health care organizations are reorganizing their processes to reduce costs, be more competitive, and provide better and more personalized customer care. This new business strategy requires health care organizations to implement new technologies, such as Internet applications, enterprise systems, and mobile technologies in order to achieve their desired business changes. This article offers a conceptual model for implementing new information systems, integrating internal data, and linking suppliers and patients.