Health Information Technology Commons^™

The Personal Health Record (Phr): The Effects On Patient Healthcare Outcomes?, Bonita R. Payne

Applied Research Projects

Electronic transmission of data is on the rise, due to the Affordable Care Act and provisions to make healthcare information more accessible, complete, and transparent. The Personal Health Record (PHR) application is a tool used to provide assistance to the goal of patient-centered and patient-centric care. Its purpose is to encourage consumers to become more participatory and informed in their healthcare treatment and healthcare needs. Since its inception, it has been questionable as to whether consumers and providers are seeing any improvements in the services provided or the care rendered. Since, the development and implementation of PHR applications, there has …

Hipaa Violations On Social Media, Tamesha Helen Parris

Applied Research Projects

With the rise of social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, healthcare professionals and students pursing healthcare careers communicate, collaborate, and network on an array of websites and apps. With the use of social media, the users can reach a large audience in a matter of seconds, with this ease; users can transmit information and has presented challenges in the form of unauthorized disclosure of patient’s health information on social media sites. The purpose of this study is to see if the number of HIPAA violations increased due to the use of social media and what steps are healthcare …

Video Visits: A Closer Look At Patient Satisfaction And Quality Of Virtual Medical Care, Saddia Cheema

Applied Research Projects

Electronic medical services via video visits has revolutionized the delivery of medical care by Physicians and medical staff alike. Its steady evolution and progression towards the future of healthcare has provided insight on how to better serve patients and community members seeking care. This study will explore patient satisfaction and the quality of virtual medical care services provided by Physicians thru video visits as well as the impact of minimizing the spread of communicable diseases. Statistical data was gathered from a major U.S. healthcare company evaluating survey responses as well as feedback provided by member experience who visited with their …

Health Literacy Improves Health Care Quality, Rebecca Cook

Applied Research Projects

A lack of knowledge about health literacy is a cause for quality healthcare concern as the world advances in health information technology. Many patients struggle to understand and navigate their health and well-being as a result of lack of understanding of the treatment plan due to low literacy skills. Several federal policy initiatives promote health literacy as the responsibility of the healthcare organization. Improving health outcomes through health literacy should be a commitment of healthcare organization through providing clear communication, simplified forms, assistance, and even follow-up calls. Three major initiatives will combat health literacy to include the Affordable Care Act; …

Maintaining The Master Patient Index: The Impact Of Patient Registration Processes On Data Integrity, Matthew Biddle

Applied Research Projects

The master patient index is one of the most important components within a healthcare system. It ensures that an individual patient is given a unique identifier that is used across the various separate clinical, financial and administrative systems and ensures that all information about that patient is organized and complete. Ensuring the MPI is accurate is critical since errors can have significant costs- both financially and in terms of patient outcomes. Patient registrars are the first line of defense when it comes to correctly identifying incoming patients and is where many errors in the MPI occur. Errors can be simple …

Understanding User Resistance To Information Technology In Healthcare: The Nature And Role Of Perceived Threats, Madison Ngafeeson

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Information technology (IT) in healthcare is here to stay. The United States government has made efforts in the past ten years to harness the power of information technologies in healthcare to improve legibility, lessen medical errors, keep costs low, and boost the overall quality of health care. However, IT user resistance in healthcare is continually cited as a major barrier to achieving desired outcomes. Understanding the nature and manifestation of resistance is clearly a key to successfully managing this industry-wide change, fostering adoption, and realizing positive outcomes. Earlier research had established perceived threats as a significant antecedent of user resistance; …

Transactions Of 2015 International Conference On Health Information Technology Advancement Vol.3, No. 1, Center For Health Information Technology Advancement

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The Third International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement Kalamazoo, Michigan, October 30-31, 2015

Conference Chair Bernard Han, Ph.D., HIT Pro Department of Business Information Systems Haworth College of Business Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008

Transactions Editor Dr. Huei Lee, Professor Department of Computer Information Systems Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI 48197

Volume 3, No. 1

Hosted by The Center for Health Information Technology Advancement, WMU

Revisiting An Integrated Health Informatics And Technology Curriculum Model, Bernard T. Han, Tracy L. Johnson, Kenneth D. Bobo

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The shortage of health information technology workforce is quite significant in the health industry. The traditional education approach may not be effective enough to train college students to be an HIT workforce that requires both academic knowledge and extensive hands-on experiences in both healthcare and information technology. This paper presents an Integrated Health Informatics and Technology Curriculum Model to collapse the campus boundaries between regional Intermediate School Districts, Community Colleges, and a Four-Year health informatics and information management program to support expedited education with sufficient hands-on experiences in health informatics and technology. This model has been pilot tested by the …

The Expert Survey-Based Global Ranking Of Management- And Clinical-Centered Health Informatics And It Journals, Michael S. Dohan, Alexander Serenko, Joseph Tan Phd

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The goal of this study is to develop an expert survey-based journal ranking for the Health Informatics & Information Technology (HIIT) field. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association and Journal of Medical Internet Research were ranked as top HIIT management-focused journals, and BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making and IEEE Journal of Biomedical & Health Informatics were ranked as top HIIT clinical-focused journals. This ranking benefits academics who conduct research in this field because it allows them to direct their research to appropriate journals, convey their accomplishments to tenure and promotion committees, and experience other benefits.

First Generation College Students And Mobile Device Acceptance In Nursing Education, Deanna Gapp, Tsu-Yin Wu

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The National League for Nursing (2009) states that nurse educators must commit to diversity in education by reviewing practices that favor and exclude students. First generation college students (FGCS) have a background that may hinder success and require support to overcome barriers in a nursing program- including mobile device acceptance. A cross-sectional survey of 37 students showed significant differences; FGCS have higher results than non-FGCS in six of the eight key constructs of mobile device acceptance. Mobile devices may help bridge the digital divide. By increasing emphasis on mobile device functioning in the nursing curriculum, nurse educators can continue to …

Socio-Economic Dimension Of Indoor Radon Gas In West Michigan - A Public Health Discourse And Merit To Use Hit In Shaping Health Behavior, Azizur Molla

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

This study focuses on indoor radon levels and socioeconomic data from West Michigan, MI. It was designed to: i) analyze the relationship between indoor radon levels and socioeconomic status of the participating households, and ii) assess the degree of public awareness about the danger of indoor radon gas. The study participants expressed that they knew that radon was negative, and a health risk, but were not equipped with the knowledge to test for or mitigate radon. With nearly half of the participants affected in some way by cancer, radon is a concern and a source for worry among many citizens. …

Exploring Cloud Computing Implementation Issues In Healthcare Industry, Sadaf Ashtari, Ali Eydgahi, Huei Lee

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Nowadays, cloud computing—as a flexible, collaborative, cost effective and scalable computational approach—is being applied within different public and private organizations. Furthermore, the use of cloud-based applications is becoming more widespread on both the organizational and individual level than it has been in the past. Healthcare is one discipline that could benefit from cloud-based applications; however, because of various privacy and security issues, it has been adopted more slowly than in many other disciplines. The purpose of this preliminary study is to investigate the related literature in order to explore the cloud computing implementation issues in the healthcare industry. Technological, Organizational, …

Can Psychology Research Inform Health Information Data Collection?, A. Michelle Wright

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Conclusions drawn from electronic medical records (EMRs) are only as accurate as the data provided. Recent findings by psychologists and health researchers may help streamline health information data collection and subsequent data analysis. Specifically, four areas will be discussed: (1) Standardization of terms between the patient and the health professionals, (2) Impact of patient inattention and fatigue when responding to health measures, (3) Importance of source labeling within the medical record (e.g., self-administered questionnaire, responded via phone, etc.), (4) Cognitive load on patients when using mobile health technology (e.g., apps, tablets, online patient portal, etc.). Research suggests consideration of these …

Forecasting The Potential For Emergency Department Overcrowding, Jeff Skinner, Raymond J. Higbea

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

This research study used the Dixon Forecasting Model (DFM), a Bed Ratio (BR), and the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale (NEDOCS) to establish a reliable two-hour overcrowding forecasting tool within the Emergency Department. The DFM and BR were used together to predict severe overcrowding based on current census data. This two hour prediction was then be validated by the real-time NEDOCS and real-time Bed Ratio scores. Data analysis indicates that the two-hour predicted BR is moderately correlated with a real-time NEDOCS (correlation coefficient 0.508) and real-time BR (correlation coefficient 0.492) at the forecasted time. Further data analysis revealed a strong …

A Case Study Perspective Toward Data-Driven Process Improvement For Balanced Perioperative Workflow, Jim Ryan, Barbara Doster, Sandra Daily, Carmen Lewis

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Based on a 143-month longitudinal study of an academic medical center, this paper examines operations management practices of continuous improvement, workflow balancing, benchmarking, and process reengineering within a hospital’s perioperative operations. Specifically, this paper highlights data-driven efforts within perioperative sub-processes to balance overall patient workflow by eliminating bottlenecks, delays, and inefficiencies. This paper illustrates how dynamic technological activities of analysis, evaluation, and synthesis applied to internal and external organizational data can highlight complex relationships within integrated processes to identify process limitations and potential process capabilities, ultimately yielding balanced workflow and improvement. Study implications and/or limitations are also included.

Realizing The Value Of Ehr Systems: Critical Success Factors, Elizabeth A. Regan, Jumee Wang

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Now that a majority of hospitals and primary care physicians have made the transition to electronic health record (EHR) systems, realizing value from this investment has become a major issue. The issue raises two key questions: Why do so many EHR implementations continue to fall short of achieving intended healthcare outcome goals? What differentiates those that succeed from those that fall short? This article builds on prior research using a systems framework to analyze the EHR implementation process. It focuses on ten common themes (CSFs) that appear to differentiate institutions which achieve positive healthcare outcomes from those that do not. …

Patient Handoffs: A Review Of Current Status In The Usa, Farzad Rafi Razi

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The goal of this paper is to highlight the status of patient handoffs in the United States. A summary of what patient handoffs are, and the current processes through which handoffs are carried out will be described, as well as the benefits and limitations of each approach. In addition, this project will describe some major flaws in the handoff system, and suggestions to how they may be remedied. This paper will conclude by mentioning a new system which has reduced handoff errors, and propose an extension to this research in order to instigate further developments.

Does Unlearning Impact Interaction Of Ehr End-Users?, Julee Hafner, Cherie Noteboom

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Organizations need to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. Technology change impacts knowledge competencies that require alteration quickly, to reduce operating costs, and eliminate human errors. Updating computer system documentation procedures require unlearning to maintain competency. Physician end-users possess specialized competencies, or knowledge base in documentation of patient data to the degree that these operations have become automatic. To change the knowledge base of practitioners, end-users must use intellectual capital to unlearn patient care EHR documentation. This study focused on competency change, with the perceptions and influencers of unlearning of old competencies during EHR updates.

Developing And Pretesting A Text Messaging Program For Health Behavior Change, Lorien C. Abroms, Robyn Whittaker, Caroline Free, Judith Mendel Van Alstyne, Jennifer M. Schindler-Ruwisch

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: A growing body of evidence demonstrates that text messaging-based programs (short message service [SMS]) on mobile phones can help people modify health behaviors. Most of these programs have consisted of automated and sometimes interactive text messages that guide a person through the process of behavior change.

Objective: This paper provides guidance on how to develop text messaging programs aimed at changing health behaviors.

Methods: Based on their collective experience in designing, developing, and evaluating text messaging programs and a review of the literature, the authors drafted the guide. One author initially drafted the guide and the others provided input …

Eemi - An Electronic Health Record For Pediatricians: Adoption Barriers, Services And Use In Mexico, Juan Carlos L. Jarquin, Roberto Garza, Lorena G. Gomez Dr., Manuel J. Silva-Cavazos, Víctor J. Lara-Díaz

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The use of paper health records and handwritten prescriptions are prone to preset errors of misunderstanding instructions or interpretations that derive in affecting patients’ health. Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems are useful tools that among other functions can assists physicians’ tasks such as finding recommended medicines (and their contraindications) and dosage for a given diagnosis, filling prescriptions and support data sharing with other systems. By using an EHR many errors can be avoided. This paper presents EEMI (Expediente Electrónico Médico Infantil), a Children EHR focused on assisting pediatricians in their daily office practice. EEMI functionality keeps the relationships among diagnosis, …