Sample records for accessing medical information

  1. Accessing Your Health Information: How can I access my health information and medical records?

    MedlinePlus

    ... Privacy & Security How can I access my health information/medical record? Know your rights. It is your ... to see and get copies of your health information, or share it with a third party, such ...

  2. Medical education and information literacy in the era of open access.

    PubMed

    Brower, Stewart M

    2010-01-01

    The Open Access movement in scholarly communications poses new issues and concerns for medical education in general and information literacy education specifically. For medical educators, Open Access can affect the availability of new information, instructional materials, and scholarship in medical education. For students, Open Access materials continue to be available to them post-graduation, regardless of affiliation. Libraries and information literacy librarians are challenged in their responses to the Open Access publishing movement in how best to support Open Access endeavors within their own institutions, and how best to educate their user base about Open Access in general.

  3. A Framework for Context Sensitive Risk-Based Access Control in Medical Information Systems

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Donghee; Kim, Dohoon; Park, Seog

    2015-01-01

    Since the access control environment has changed and the threat of insider information leakage has come to the fore, studies on risk-based access control models that decide access permissions dynamically have been conducted vigorously. Medical information systems should protect sensitive data such as medical information from insider threat and enable dynamic access control depending on the context such as life-threatening emergencies. In this paper, we suggest an approach and framework for context sensitive risk-based access control suitable for medical information systems. This approach categorizes context information, estimating and applying risk through context- and treatment-based permission profiling and specifications by expanding the eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) to apply risk. The proposed framework supports quick responses to medical situations and prevents unnecessary insider data access through dynamic access authorization decisions in accordance with the severity of the context and treatment. PMID:26075013

  4. ACCESS, SOURCES AND VALUE OF NEW MEDICAL INFORMATION - VIEWS OF FINAL YEAR MEDICAL STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

    PubMed Central

    Gituma, Adrian; Masika, Moses; Muchangi, Eric; Nyagah, Lily; Otieno, Vincent; Irimu, Grace; Wasunna, Aggrey; Ndiritu, Moses; English, Mike

    2009-01-01

    Background Globally many doctors, particularly in low-income countries, have no formal training in using new information to improve their practice. As a first step clinicians must have access to information and so we explored reported access in graduating medical students in Nairobi. Objectives To evaluate final year medical students’ access to new medical information. Methods A cross-sectional survey of fifth (final) year medical students at the University of Nairobi using anonymous, self-administered questionnaires. Findings Questionnaires were distributed to 291 (85%) of a possible 343 students and returned by 152 (44%). Within the previous 12 months half reported accessing some form of new medical information most commonly from books and the internet. However, only a small number reported regular access and specific, new journal articles were rarely accessed. Absence of internet facilities, slow internet speeds and cost were common barriers to access while current training seems rarely to encourage students to seek new information. Conclusion Almost half the students had not accessed any new medical information in their final year in medical school suggesting they are ill prepared for a career that may increasingly demand life-long, self-learning. PMID:19152558

  5. Accessing medication information by ethnic minorities: barriers and possible solutions.

    PubMed

    Schaafsma, Evelyn S; Raynor, Theo D; de Jong-van den Berg, Lolkje T

    2003-10-01

    This review discusses two main questions: how suitable is current consumer medication information for minority ethnic groups, and what are effective strategies to overcome existing barriers. The focus is on minority groups whose first language is not the language of the healthcare system. We searched electronic databases and printed scientific journals focusing on (ethnic) minorities, health and/or (intercultural) communication. We also asked a discussion group for references. We found only a few articles on intercultural communication on medication or pharmacy information and one article on the improvement of intercultural communication in the pharmacy. Barriers to the access of medication information by ethnic minorities include second language issues and cultural differences due to different health beliefs, together with the low socio-economic status often seen among ethnic minorities. Cultural differences also exist among different socio-economic classes rather than only among ethnic groups. Most often, informal interpreters are used to improve intercultural communication. However, this may result in miscommunication due to a lack of medical knowledge or training on the part of the interpreter. To minimise miscommunication, bilingual health professionals or health interpreters/advocates can be used, although communication problems may still occur. The effectiveness of written information depends on the literacy skills of the target population. Cultural, medical and dialect biases should be avoided by testing the material. Multimedia systems may be alternatives to conventional written information. Barriers that ethnic minorities face in accessing medication information and possible solutions involving counselling and additional tools were identified for pharmacy practice. However, more research is needed to develop effective strategies for patient counselling in pharmacy to meet the needs of ethnic minorities.

  6. The role of tablets in accessing information throughout undergraduate medical education in Botswana.

    PubMed

    Witt, Rachel E; Kebaetse, Masego B; Holmes, John H; Littman-Quinn, Ryan; Ketshogileng, Dineo; Antwi, Cynthia; Kovarik, Carrie; Nkomazana, Oathokwa

    2016-04-01

    Mobile learning (mLearning) uses wireless networks and mobile devices to expand physician trainees' and healthcare providers' access to and exchange of medical information. Opportunities to increase implementation and expand use of mobile devices to support health care information access and delivery in Africa are vast, but the rapid growth of mLearning has caused project implementation to outpace objective measurement of impact. This study makes a contribution to the existing body of literature regarding mLearning implementation in Africa through its focus on the use of smart devices (tablets) in undergraduate medical education and medical students' perceptions of the effects on their learning environment. The population of this prospective mixed-methods study consisted of 82 undergraduate medical students (45 third year and 37 fourth year) at the University of Botswana Faculty of Medicine. They received tablets in the earliest phase of the mLearning project implementation (between November 2012 and January 2013), when they were in the third and fourth year of their medical training. Usage of the tablets was assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively, through both application usage tracking and focus groups. Based on application usage data and coding and analysis of focus group discussions, undergraduate medical students indicated that tablets were useful in their medical education, allowing them continual access to information and opportunities for communication. Participants noted that the primary barrier to use of tablets was the lack of mobile cellular Internet beyond the Wi-Fi zones at the training sites. Moreover, participants offered suggestions for improvements to the implementation process. Even in resource-limited settings where Internet access can be unreliable and intermittent, the adoption of tablets can have benefits to medical education by providing consistent access to extensive and current medical information resources. This study highlights

  7. Effects of Information Access Cost and Accountability on Medical Residents' Information Retrieval Strategy and Performance During Prehandover Preparation: Evidence From Interview and Simulation Study.

    PubMed

    Yang, X Jessie; Wickens, Christopher D; Park, Taezoon; Fong, Liesel; Siah, Kewin T H

    2015-12-01

    We aimed to examine the effects of information access cost and accountability on medical residents' information retrieval strategy and performance during prehandover preparation. Prior studies observing doctors' prehandover practices witnessed the use of memory-intensive strategies when retrieving patient information. These strategies impose potential threats to patient safety as human memory is prone to errors. Of interest in this work are the underlying determinants of information retrieval strategy and the potential impacts on medical residents' information preparation performance. A two-step research approach was adopted, consisting of semistructured interviews with 21 medical residents and a simulation-based experiment with 32 medical residents. The semistructured interviews revealed that a substantial portion of medical residents (38%) relied largely on memory for preparing handover information. The simulation-based experiment showed that higher information access cost reduced information access attempts and access duration on patient documents and harmed information preparation performance. Higher accountability led to marginally longer access to patient documents. It is important to understand the underlying determinants of medical residents' information retrieval strategy and performance during prehandover preparation. We noted the criticality of easy access to patient documents in prehandover preparation. In addition, accountability marginally influenced medical residents' information retrieval strategy. Findings from this research suggested that the cost of accessing information sources should be minimized in developing handover preparation tools. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

  8. Access Scheme for Controlling Mobile Agents and its Application to Share Medical Information.

    PubMed

    Liao, Yu-Ting; Chen, Tzer-Shyong; Chen, Tzer-Long; Chung, Yu-Fang; Chen, Yu- Xin; Hwang, Jen-Hung; Wang, Huihui; Wei, Wei

    2016-05-01

    This study is showing the advantage of mobile agents to conquer heterogeneous system environments and contribute to a virtual integrated sharing system. Mobile agents will collect medical information from each medical institution as a method to achieve the medical purpose of data sharing. Besides, this research also provides an access control and key management mechanism by adopting Public key cryptography and Lagrange interpolation. The safety analysis of the system is based on a network attacker's perspective. The achievement of this study tries to improve the medical quality, prevent wasting medical resources and make medical resources access to appropriate configuration.

  9. Qualified doctor and medical students' use of resources for accessing information: what is used and why?

    PubMed

    Brennan, Nicola; Edwards, Sarah; Kelly, Narcie; Miller, Alice; Harrower, Lucy; Mattick, Karen

    2014-09-01

    Learning to access information using resources such as books and search engines is an important and fast changing challenge for doctors and medical students. Many resources exist to support evidence-based clinical decision-making, but a wide range of factors influences their use. To explore qualified doctor and medical students' use of resources for accessing information and to determine what is used and why. A stratified sample of 46 participants was recruited in Devon, UK. Participants kept a self-report diary of resources used over a week. The diaries were then used to stimulate recall within a semi-structured interview. Diary data were collated into tables of resource use. Qualitative data from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Many resources were used by participants but typically for a short duration of time. Categories of reasons for accessing resources were 'to check', 'to learn' and 'to demonstrate'. The two main factors influencing choice of information resource were 'ease of access' and 'quality of information'. Students accessed more information, for a longer duration. Resources must be quick to use, easy to access and tailored to the different purposes that they serve for qualified doctors and medical students. © 2014 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2014 Health Libraries Group.

  10. 20 CFR 401.55 - Access to medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Access to medical records. 401.55 Section 401... INFORMATION The Privacy Act § 401.55 Access to medical records. (a) General. You have a right to access your medical records, including any psychological information that we maintain. (b) Medical records procedures...

  11. Availability and accessibility of evidence-based information resources provided by medical libraries in Australia.

    PubMed

    Ritchie, A; Sowter, B

    2000-01-01

    This article reports on the results of an exploratory survey of the availability and accessibility of evidence-based information resources provided by medical libraries in Australia. Although barriers impede access to evidence-based information for hospital clinicians, the survey revealed that Medline and Cinahl are available in over 90% of facilities. In most cases they are widely accessible via internal networks and the Internet. The Cochrane Library is available in 69% of cases. The Internet is widely accessible and most libraries provide access to some full-text, electronic journals. Strategies for overcoming restrictions and integrating information resources with clinical workflow are being pursued. State, regional and national public and private consortia are developing agreements utilising on-line technology. These could produce cost savings and more equitable access to a greater range of evidence-based resources.

  12. A Global Assessment of Access to and Use of Medical Information: The State of Evidence-Based Surgery.

    PubMed

    LaGrone, Lacey N; Fuhs, Amy K; Egoavil, Eduardo Huaman; Langdale, Lorrie A; Fuangworawong, Phupit; Hamasaki, Jose Luis; Gyedu, Adam; Mock, Charles N

    2018-02-01

    We aimed to assess surgeons' access to and use of medical information, as well as their training and perceptions about evidence-based medicine (EBM), in order to identify priority areas for improvement. An anonymous survey conducted among surgeons from the USA, Ghana, Peru, and Thailand examined access to, and use and perception of, medical literature. Of 307 participants, 98% reported access to "OK" or "good" internet. Fifty-one percent reported that language was a barrier to accessing needed medical information; most frequently in Peru (73%) and Thailand (64%). Access to priced full-text journals was poorest in Peru, where 54% lacked access, followed by Ghana (42%) and Thailand (32%). US respondents scored highest on the EBM knowledge test (1.4, SD 0.8), followed by Thailand (1.3, SD 0.9), Ghana (1.1, SD 0.8), and Peru (0.9, SD 0.8) (p < 0.001). Adjusted analysis revealed Ghanaians and Peruvians spent 5% and 1% more on medical information, respectively, relative to country income, than persons from other countries (p < 0.01). After adjustment, employment in a large and/or urban hospital and history of EBM training were associated with better EBM test scores, while middle-income origin and public hospital employment were associated with worse scores (p < 0.05). Language, access to priced full-text journals, and training are significant barriers to surgeons' practice of EBM globally. The way forward involves collaboration among surgical societies, publishers, hospital employers, and international policymakers in providing surgeons from all country income levels with the access and training necessary to interpret and apply medical information.

  13. Terminology issues in user access to Web-based medical information.

    PubMed Central

    McCray, A. T.; Loane, R. F.; Browne, A. C.; Bangalore, A. K.

    1999-01-01

    We conducted a study of user queries to the National Library of Medicine Web site over a three month period. Our purpose was to study the nature and scope of these queries in order to understand how to improve users' access to the information they are seeking on our site. The results show that the queries are primarily medical in content (94%), with only a small percentage (5.5%) relating to library services, and with a very small percentage (.5%) not being medically relevant at all. We characterize the data set, and conclude with a discussion of our plans to develop a UMLS-based terminology server to assist NLM Web users. Images Figure 1 PMID:10566330

  14. Medication safety infrastructure in critical-access hospitals in Florida.

    PubMed

    Winterstein, Almut G; Hartzema, Abraham G; Johns, Thomas E; De Leon, Jessica M; McDonald, Kathie; Henshaw, Zak; Pannell, Robert

    2006-03-01

    The medication safety infrastructure of critical-access hospitals (CAHs) in Florida was evaluated. Qualitative assessments, including a self-administered survey and site visits, were conducted in seven of nine CAHs between January and June 2003. The survey consisted of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Medication Safety Self-assessment, the 2003 Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations patient safety goals, health information technology (HIT) questions, and medication-use-process flow charts. On-site visits included interviews of CAH personnel who had safety responsibility and inspections of pharmacy facilities. The findings were compiled into a matrix reflecting structural and procedural components of the CAH medication safety infrastructure. The nine characteristics that emerged as targets for quality improvement (QI) were medication accessibility and storage, sterile product compounding, access to drug information, access to and utilization of patient information in medication order review, advanced safety technology, drug formularies and standardized medication protocols, safety culture, and medication reconciliation. Based on weighted importance and feasibility, QI efforts in CAHs should focus on enhancing medication order review systems, standardizing procedures for handling high-risk medications, promoting an appropriate safety culture, involvement in seamless care, and investment in HIT.

  15. 20 CFR 401.55 - Access to medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... of or access to medical records to an individual on a minor's behalf. (i) To protect the privacy of a....55 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION PRIVACY AND DISCLOSURE OF OFFICIAL RECORDS AND INFORMATION The Privacy Act § 401.55 Access to medical records. (a) General. You have a right to access your...

  16. 20 CFR 401.55 - Access to medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... of or access to medical records to an individual on a minor's behalf. (i) To protect the privacy of a....55 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION PRIVACY AND DISCLOSURE OF OFFICIAL RECORDS AND INFORMATION The Privacy Act § 401.55 Access to medical records. (a) General. You have a right to access your...

  17. Assessing internet access and use in a medically underserved population: implications for providing enhanced health information services.

    PubMed

    Zach, Lisl; Dalrymple, Prudence W; Rogers, Michelle L; Williver-Farr, Heather

    2012-03-01

    The relationship between health information seeking, patient engagement and health literacy is not well understood. This is especially true in medically underserved populations, which are often viewed as having limited access to health information. To improve communication between an urban health centre and the community it serves, a team of library and information science researchers undertook an assessment of patients' level and methods of access to and use of the Internet. Data were collected in 53 face-to-face anonymous interviews with patients at the centre. Interviews were tape-recorded for referential accuracy, and data were analysed to identify patterns of access and use. Seventy-two percentage of study participants reported having access to the Internet through either computers or cell phones. Barriers to Internet access were predominantly lack of equipment or training rather than lack of interest. Only 21% of those with Internet access reported using the Internet to look for health information. The findings suggest that lack of access to the Internet in itself is not the primary barrier to seeking health information in this population and that the digital divide exists not at the level of information access but rather at the level of information use. © 2011 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2011 Health Libraries Group.

  18. Evaluation of generic medical information accessed via mobile phones at the point of care in resource-limited settings

    PubMed Central

    Goldbach, Hayley; Chang, Aileen Y; Kyer, Andrea; Ketshogileng, Dineo; Taylor, Lynne; Chandra, Amit; Dacso, Matthew; Kung, Shiang-Ju; Rijken, Taatske; Fontelo, Paul; Littman-Quinn, Ryan; Seymour, Anne K; Kovarik, Carrie L

    2014-01-01

    Objective Many mobile phone resources have been developed to increase access to health education in the developing world, yet few studies have compared these resources or quantified their performance in a resource-limited setting. This study aims to compare the performance of resident physicians in answering clinical scenarios using PubMed abstracts accessed via the PubMed for Handhelds (PubMed4Hh) website versus medical/drug reference applications (Medical Apps) accessed via software on the mobile phone. Methods A two-arm comparative study with crossover design was conducted. Subjects, who were resident physicians at the University of Botswana, completed eight scenarios, each with multi-part questions. The primary outcome was a grade for each question. The primary independent variable was the intervention arm and other independent variables included residency and question. Results Within each question type there were significant differences in ‘percentage correct’ between Medical Apps and PubMed4Hh for three of the six types of questions: drug-related, diagnosis/definitions, and treatment/management. Within each of these question types, Medical Apps had a higher percentage of fully correct responses than PubMed4Hh (63% vs 13%, 33% vs 12%, and 41% vs 13%, respectively). PubMed4Hh performed better for epidemiologic questions. Conclusions While mobile access to primary literature remains important and serves an information niche, mobile applications with condensed content may be more appropriate for point-of-care information needs. Further research is required to examine the specific information needs of clinicians in resource-limited settings and to evaluate the appropriateness of current resources in bridging location- and context-specific information gaps. PMID:23535665

  19. Mobile medical visual information retrieval.

    PubMed

    Depeursinge, Adrien; Duc, Samuel; Eggel, Ivan; Müller, Henning

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we propose mobile access to peer-reviewed medical information based on textual search and content-based visual image retrieval. Web-based interfaces designed for limited screen space were developed to query via web services a medical information retrieval engine optimizing the amount of data to be transferred in wireless form. Visual and textual retrieval engines with state-of-the-art performance were integrated. Results obtained show a good usability of the software. Future use in clinical environments has the potential of increasing quality of patient care through bedside access to the medical literature in context.

  20. Practical considerations to guide development of access controls and decision support for genetic information in electronic medical records.

    PubMed

    Darcy, Diana C; Lewis, Eleanor T; Ormond, Kelly E; Clark, David J; Trafton, Jodie A

    2011-11-02

    Genetic testing is increasingly used as a tool throughout the health care system. In 2011 the number of clinically available genetic tests is approaching 2,000, and wide variation exists between these tests in their sensitivity, specificity, and clinical implications, as well as the potential for discrimination based on the results. As health care systems increasingly implement electronic medical record systems (EMRs) they must carefully consider how to use information from this wide spectrum of genetic tests, with whom to share information, and how to provide decision support for clinicians to properly interpret the information. Although some characteristics of genetic tests overlap with other medical test results, there are reasons to make genetic test results widely available to health care providers and counterbalancing reasons to restrict access to these test results to honor patient preferences, and avoid distracting or confusing clinicians with irrelevant but complex information. Electronic medical records can facilitate and provide reasonable restrictions on access to genetic test results and deliver education and decision support tools to guide appropriate interpretation and use. This paper will serve to review some of the key characteristics of genetic tests as they relate to design of access control and decision support of genetic test information in the EMR, emphasizing the clear need for health information technology (HIT) to be part of optimal implementation of genetic medicine, and the importance of understanding key characteristics of genetic tests when designing HIT applications.

  1. Factors affecting smartphone adoption for accessing information in medical settings.

    PubMed

    Tahamtan, Iman; Pajouhanfar, Sara; Sedghi, Shahram; Azad, Mohsen; Roudbari, Masoud

    2017-06-01

    This study aimed to acquire knowledge about the factors affecting smartphone adoption for accessing information in medical settings in Iranian Hospitals. A qualitative and quantitative approach was used to conduct this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 medical residents and interns in 2013 to identify determinant factors for smartphone adoption. Afterwards, nine relationships were hypothesised. We developed a questionnaire to test these hypotheses and to evaluate the importance of each factor. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the causal relations between model parameters and to accurately identify determinant factors. Eight factors were identified in the qualitative phase of the study, including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, training, internal environment, personal experience, social impacts, observability and job related characteristics. Among the studied factors, perceived usefulness, personal experience and job related characteristics were significantly associated with attitude to use a smartphone which accounted for 64% of the variance in attitude. Perceived usefulness had the strongest impact on attitude to use a smartphone. The factors that emerged from interviews were consistent with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and some previous studies. TAM is a reliable model for understanding the factors of smartphone acceptance in medical settings. © 2017 Health Libraries Group.

  2. Medical Information on Optical Disc*

    PubMed Central

    Schipma, Peter B.; Cichocki, Edward M.; Ziemer, Susan M.

    1987-01-01

    Optical discs may permit a revolutionary change in the distribution and use of medical information. A single compact disc, similar in size to that used for digital audio recording, can contain over 500 million characters of information that is accessible by a Personal Computer. These discs can be manufactured at a cost lower than that of print on paper, at reasonable volumes. Software can provide the health care professional with nearly instantaneous access to the information. Thus, for the first time, the opportunity exists to have large local medical information collections. This paper describes an application of this technology in the field of Oncology.

  3. Evaluating IAIMS at Yale: information access.

    PubMed

    Grajek, S E; Calarco, P; Frawley, S J; McKay, J; Miller, P L; Paton, J A; Roderer, N K; Sullivan, J E

    1997-01-01

    To evaluate use of information resources during the first year of IAIMS implementation at the Yale-New Haven Medical Center. The evaluation asked: (1) Which information resources are being used? (2) Who uses information resources? (3) Where are information resources used? (4) Are multiple sources of information being integrated? Measures included monthly usage data for resources delivered network-wide, in the Medical Library, and in the Hospital; online surveys of library workstation users; an annual survey of a random, stratified sample of Medical Center faculty, postdoctoral trainees, students, nurses, residents, and managerial and professional staff; and user comments. Eighty-three percent of the Medical Center community use networked information resources, and use of resources is increasing. Both status (faculty, student, nurse, etc.) and mission (teaching, research, patient care) affect use of individual resources. Eighty-eight percent of people use computers in more than one location, and increases in usage of traditional library resources such as MEDLINE are due to increased access from outside the Library. Both survey and usage data suggest that people are using multiple resources during the same information seeking session. Almost all of the Medical Center community is using networked information resources in more settings. It is necessary to support increased demand for information access from remote locations and to specific populations, such as nurses. People are integrating information from multiple sources, but true integration within information systems is just beginning. Other institutions are advised to incorporate pragmatic evaluation into their IAIMS activities and to share evaluation results with decision-makers.

  4. Planetree health information services: public access to the health information people want.

    PubMed Central

    Cosgrove, T L

    1994-01-01

    In July 1981, the Planetree Health Resource Center opened on the San Francisco campus of California Pacific Medical Center (Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center). Planetree was founded on the belief that access to information can empower people and help them face health and medical challenges. The Health Resource Center was created to provide medical library and health information resources to the general public. Over the last twelve years, Planetree has tried to develop a consumer health library collection and information service that is responsive to the needs and interests of a diverse public. In an effort to increase accessibility to the medical literature, a consumer health library classification scheme was created for the organization of library materials. The scheme combines the specificity and sophistication of the National Library of Medicine classification scheme with the simplicity of common lay terminology. PMID:8136762

  5. Expanding patient access to quality medication-related information: the potential of medication hotlines to improve patient adherence in schizophrenia.

    PubMed

    Pettit, Amy R; Marcus, Steven C

    2015-05-01

    Medication nonadherence is a widespread problem that compromises treatment outcomes, particularly in schizophrenia. Weersink et al. (Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 2015) describe telephone calls to a national medicines information line, with a focus on queries related to antipsychotic medications. Their analysis of callers' questions and concerns offers a valuable window into patient and caregiver perspectives. Given that many callers reported that they had not shared these concerns with a health care provider, this study also highlights the capacity of medication hotlines to address unmet needs. Establishing and maintaining long-term treatment regimens is a complex task, and truly patient-centered care requires a variety of creative and accessible support resources. Medication lines have the potential to serve as a resource and to provide proactive and timely adherence support.

  6. Perceived Barriers to Information Access Among Medical Residents in Iran: Obstacles to Answering Clinical Queries in Settings with Limited Internet Accessibility

    PubMed Central

    Mazloomdoost, Danesh; Mehregan, Shervineh; Mahmoudi, Hilda; Soltani, Akbar; Embi, Peter J.

    2007-01-01

    Studies performed in the US and other Western countries have documented that physicians generate many clinical questions during a typical day and rely on various information sources for answers. Little is known about the information seeking behaviors of physicians practicing in other countries, particularly those with limited Internet connectivity. We conducted this study to document the perceived barriers to information resources used by medical residents in Iran. Our findings reveal that different perceived barriers exist for electronic versus paper-based resources. Notably, paper-based resources are perceived to be limited by resident time-constraints and availability of resources, whereas electronic resources are limited by cost decentralized resources (such as PDAs) and accessibility of centralized, Internet access. These findings add to the limited literature regarding health information-seeking activities in international healthcare settings, particularly those with limited Internet connectivity, and will supplement future studies of and interventions in such settings. PMID:18693891

  7. Perceived barriers to information access among medical residents in Iran: obstacles to answering clinical queries in settings with limited Internet accessibility.

    PubMed

    Mazloomdoost, Danesh; Mehregan, Shervineh; Mahmoudi, Hilda; Soltani, Akbar; Embi, Peter J

    2007-10-11

    Studies performed in the US and other Western countries have documented that physicians generate many clinical questions during a typical day and rely on various information sources for answers. Little is known about the information seeking behaviors of physicians practicing in other countries, particularly those with limited Internet connectivity. We conducted this study to document the perceived barriers to information resources used by medical residents in Iran. Our findings reveal that different perceived barriers exist for electronic versus paper-based resources. Notably, paper-based resources are perceived to be limited by resident time-constraints and availability of resources, whereas electronic resources are limited by cost decentralized resources (such as PDAs) and accessibility of centralized, Internet access. These findings add to the limited literature regarding health information-seeking activities in international healthcare settings, particularly those with limited Internet connectivity, and will supplement future studies of and interventions in such settings.

  8. Increasing information accessibility for patients in obstetrics-gynecology domain.

    PubMed

    Crişan-Vida, Mihaela; Stoicu-Tivadar, Lăcrămioara

    2014-01-01

    It is important for the patient to have access to personal medical information in order to manage information for increased quality of medical care and life. The paper presents a module added to an Obstetrics-Gynaecology Department information system (OGD IS) supporting patient empowerment. The patient is accessing the system easily using laptops or mobile devices. The application accessed by the patient is web-based, implemented in Visual Studio. NET, using ASP.NET pages and C# language, and the application is published in the Windows Azure cloud. The solution is user friendly using familiar devices and is ubiquitous using the cloud solution. A module for translating medical terms in colloquial ones is integrated in the system. For certain situations the patient will get information related to life style influencing health status as how and what to eat or what type of exercise it is recommended.

  9. [Information technology in medical education].

    PubMed

    Ramić, A

    1999-01-01

    The role of information technology in educational models of under-graduate and post-graduate medical education is growing in 1980's influenced by PC's break-in in medical practice and creating relevant data basis, and, particularly, in 1990's by integration of information technology on international level, development of international network, Internet, Telemedicin, etc. The development of new educational information technology is evident, proving that information in transfer of medical knowledge, medical informatics and communication systems represent the base of medical practice, medical education and research in medical sciences. In relation to the traditional approaches in concept, contents and techniques of medical education, new models of education in training of health professionals, using new information technology, offer a number of benefits, such as: decentralization and access to relevant data sources, collecting and updating of data, multidisciplinary approach in solving problems and effective decision-making, and affirmation of team work within medical and non-medical disciplines. Without regard to the dynamics of change and progressive reform orientation within health sector, the development of modern medical education is inevitable for all systems a in which information technology and available data basis, as a base of effective and scientifically based medical education of health care providers, give guarantees for efficient health care and improvement of health of population.

  10. Intelligent medical information filtering.

    PubMed

    Quintana, Y

    1998-01-01

    This paper describes an intelligent information filtering system to assist users to be notified of updates to new and relevant medical information. Among the major problems users face is the large volume of medical information that is generated each day, and the need to filter and retrieve relevant information. The Internet has dramatically increased the amount of electronically accessible medical information and reduced the cost and time needed to publish. The opportunity of the Internet for the medical profession and consumers is to have more information to make decisions and this could potentially lead to better medical decisions and outcomes. However, without the assistance from professional medical librarians, retrieving new and relevant information from databases and the Internet remains a challenge. Many physicians do not have access to the services of a medical librarian. Most physicians indicate on surveys that they do not prefer to retrieve the literature themselves, or visit libraries because of the lack of recent materials, poor organisation and indexing of materials, lack of appropriate and available material, and lack of time. The information filtering system described in this paper records the online web browsing behaviour of each user and creates a user profile of the index terms found on the web pages visited by the user. A relevance-ranking algorithm then matches the user profiles to the index terms of new health care web pages that are added each day. The system creates customised summaries of new information for each user. A user can then connect to the web site to read the new information. Relevance feedback buttons on each page ask the user to rate the usefulness of the page to their immediate information needs. Errors in relevance ranking are reduced in this system by having both the user profile and medical information represented in the same representation language using a controlled vocabulary. This system also updates the user profiles

  11. Access to Biomedical Information: The Unified Medical Language System.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Squires, Steven J.

    1993-01-01

    Describes the development of a Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) by the National Library of Medicine that will retrieve and integrate information from a variety of information resources. Highlights include the metathesaurus; the UMLS semantic network; semantic locality; information sources map; evaluation of the metathesaurus; future…

  12. Structural barriers in access to medical marijuana in the USA-a systematic review protocol.

    PubMed

    Valencia, Celina I; Asaolu, Ibitola O; Ehiri, John E; Rosales, Cecilia

    2017-08-07

    There are 43 state medical marijuana programs in the USA, yet limited evidence is available on the demographic characteristics of the patient population accessing these programs. Moreover, insights into the social and structural barriers that inform patients' success in accessing medical marijuana are limited. A current gap in the scientific literature exists regarding generalizable data on the social, cultural, and structural mechanisms that hinder access to medical marijuana among qualifying patients. The goal of this systematic review, therefore, is to identify the aforementioned mechanisms that inform disparities in access to medical marijuana in the USA. This scoping review protocol outlines the proposed study design for the systematic review and evaluation of peer-reviewed scientific literature on structural barriers to medical marijuana access. The protocol follows the guidelines set forth by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) checklist. The overarching goal of this study is to rigorously evaluate the existing peer-reviewed data on access to medical marijuana in the USA. Income, ethnic background, stigma, and physician preferences have been posited as the primary structural barriers influencing medical marijuana patient population demographics in the USA. Identification of structural barriers to accessing medical marijuana provides a framework for future policies and programs. Evidence-based policies and programs for increasing medical marijuana access help minimize the disparity of access among qualifying patients.

  13. Open Access Publishing in the Field of Medical Informatics.

    PubMed

    Kuballa, Stefanie

    2017-05-01

    The open access paradigm has become an important approach in today's information and communication society. Funders and governments in different countries stipulate open access publications of funded research results. Medical informatics as part of the science, technology and medicine disciplines benefits from many research funds, such as National Institutes of Health in the US, Wellcome Trust in UK, German Research Foundation in Germany and many more. In this study an overview of the current open access programs and conditions of major journals in the field of medical informatics is presented. It was investigated whether there are suitable options and how they are shaped. Therefore all journals in Thomson Reuters Web of Science that were listed in the subject category "Medical Informatics" in 2014 were examined. An Internet research was conducted by investigating the journals' websites. It was reviewed whether journals offer an open access option with a subsequent check of conditions as for example the type of open access, the fees and the licensing. As a result all journals in the field of medical informatics that had an impact factor in 2014 offer an open access option. A predominantly consistent pricing range was determined with an average fee of 2.248 € and a median fee of 2.207 €. The height of a journals' open access fee did not correlate with the height of its Impact Factor. Hence, medical informatics journals have recognized the trend of open access publishing, though the vast majority of them are working with the hybrid method. Hybrid open access may however lead to problems in questions of double dipping and the often stipulated gold open access.

  14. The Effects of Promoting Patient Access to Medical Records: A Review

    PubMed Central

    Ross, Stephen E.; Lin, Chen-Tan

    2003-01-01

    The Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act (HIPPA) stipulates that patients must be permitted to review and amend their medical records. As information technology makes medical records more accessible to patients, it may become more commonplace for patients to review their records routinely. This article analyzes the potential benefits and drawbacks of facilitating patient access to the medical record by reviewing previously published research. Previous research includes analysis of clinical notes, surveys of patients and practitioners, and studies of patient-accessible medical records. Overall, studies suggest the potential for modest benefits (for instance, in enhancing doctor-patient communication). Risks (for instance, increasing patient worry or confusion) appear to be minimal in medical patients. The studies, however, were of limited quality and low statistical power to detect the variety of outcomes that may result from implementation of a patient-accessible medical record. The data from these studies lay the foundation for future research. PMID:12595402

  15. [Automation of medical literature--and information services].

    PubMed

    Bakker, S

    1997-01-04

    It is important for clinical practice to be able to find (or retrieve) relevant literature and to keep informed of the state of medical science. The fact that the contents of articles in journals are now accessible via computers is the result of integration of bibliographic techniques, medical knowledge and computer technology. Articles published in some 5000 medical journals can nowadays be retrieved electronically via Medline and Embase together (but medical literature in Dutch is underrepresented). Computerised insertion of publications into Internet dose not make information traceable or accessible, let alone reliable and readable. It cannot be predicted if electronic versions of scientific periodicals will replace the printed editions completely. However, valuable, reliable information will always have its price, even on Internet. It is unlikely that electronic information published privately (internet) will replace scientific publishers soon, for readers will still want selection and monitoring of contents and language. Good layout, professional typography and suitable illustrations to enhance reading comfort and cognitive processes, will even become more important. The problems arising from the immensity of scientific knowledge are not (any longer) of a technological nature-what is needed is a cultural about-turn of the information infrastructure in medical-scientific associations, organizations and institutions.

  16. An integrated multimedia medical information network system.

    PubMed

    Yamamoto, K; Makino, J; Sasagawa, N; Nagira, M

    1998-01-01

    An integrated multimedia medical information network system at Shimane Medical university has been developed to organize medical information generated from each section and provide information services useful for education, research and clinical practice. The report describes the outline of our system. It is designed to serve as a distributed database for electronic medical records and images. We are developing the MML engine that is to be linked to the world wide web (WWW) network system. To the users, this system will present an integrated multimedia representation of the patient records, providing access to both the image and text-based data required for an effective clinical decision making and medical education.

  17. 77 FR 6915 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-09

    ... Israel Deaconess Medical Center (October 22, 2009) accessible facilities and accessible medical equipment... of types of accessible medical equipment required in different types of health care facilities. If... facilities, accessible medical equipment, and auxiliary aids and services; University of Southern California...

  18. Access control based on attribute certificates for medical intranet applications.

    PubMed

    Mavridis, I; Georgiadis, C; Pangalos, G; Khair, M

    2001-01-01

    Clinical information systems frequently use intranet and Internet technologies. However these technologies have emphasized sharing and not security, despite the sensitive and private nature of much health information. Digital certificates (electronic documents which recognize an entity or its attributes) can be used to control access in clinical intranet applications. To outline the need for access control in distributed clinical database systems, to describe the use of digital certificates and security policies, and to propose the architecture for a system using digital certificates, cryptography and security policy to control access to clinical intranet applications. We have previously developed a security policy, DIMEDAC (Distributed Medical Database Access Control), which is compatible with emerging public key and privilege management infrastructure. In our implementation approach we propose the use of digital certificates, to be used in conjunction with DIMEDAC. Our proposed access control system consists of two phases: the ways users gain their security credentials; and how these credentials are used to access medical data. Three types of digital certificates are used: identity certificates for authentication; attribute certificates for authorization; and access-rule certificates for propagation of access control policy. Once a user is identified and authenticated, subsequent access decisions are based on a combination of identity and attribute certificates, with access-rule certificates providing the policy framework. Access control in clinical intranet applications can be successfully and securely managed through the use of digital certificates and the DIMEDAC security policy.

  19. Access Control based on Attribute Certificates for Medical Intranet Applications

    PubMed Central

    Georgiadis, Christos; Pangalos, George; Khair, Marie

    2001-01-01

    Background Clinical information systems frequently use intranet and Internet technologies. However these technologies have emphasized sharing and not security, despite the sensitive and private nature of much health information. Digital certificates (electronic documents which recognize an entity or its attributes) can be used to control access in clinical intranet applications. Objectives To outline the need for access control in distributed clinical database systems, to describe the use of digital certificates and security policies, and to propose the architecture for a system using digital certificates, cryptography and security policy to control access to clinical intranet applications. Methods We have previously developed a security policy, DIMEDAC (Distributed Medical Database Access Control), which is compatible with emerging public key and privilege management infrastructure. In our implementation approach we propose the use of digital certificates, to be used in conjunction with DIMEDAC. Results Our proposed access control system consists of two phases: the ways users gain their security credentials; and how these credentials are used to access medical data. Three types of digital certificates are used: identity certificates for authentication; attribute certificates for authorization; and access-rule certificates for propagation of access control policy. Once a user is identified and authenticated, subsequent access decisions are based on a combination of identity and attribute certificates, with access-rule certificates providing the policy framework. Conclusions Access control in clinical intranet applications can be successfully and securely managed through the use of digital certificates and the DIMEDAC security policy. PMID:11720951

  20. 75 FR 35439 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-22

    ... ARCHITECTURAL AND TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS COMPLIANCE BOARD Medical Diagnostic Equipment... accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment to ensure that such equipment is accessible to, and... respect to medical diagnostic equipment and existing guidance for designing accessible medical diagnostic...

  1. Development of a medical module for disaster information systems.

    PubMed

    Calik, Elif; Atilla, Rıdvan; Kaya, Hilal; Aribaş, Alirıza; Cengiz, Hakan; Dicle, Oğuz

    2014-01-01

    This study aims to improve a medical module which provides a real-time medical information flow about pre-hospital processes that gives health care in disasters; transferring, storing and processing the records that are in electronic media and over internet as a part of disaster information systems. In this study which is handled within the frame of providing information flow among professionals in a disaster case, to supply the coordination of healthcare team and transferring complete information to specified people at real time, Microsoft Access database and SQL query language were used to inform database applications. System was prepared on Microsoft .Net platform using C# language. Disaster information system-medical module was designed to be used in disaster area, field hospital, nearby hospitals, temporary inhabiting areas like tent city, vehicles that are used for dispatch, and providing information flow between medical officials and data centres. For fast recording of the disaster victim data, accessing to database which was used by health care professionals was provided (or granted) among analysing process steps and creating minimal datasets. Database fields were created in the manner of giving opportunity to enter new data and search old data which is recorded before disaster. Web application which provides access such as data entry to the database and searching towards the designed interfaces according to the login credentials access level. In this study, homepage and users' interfaces which were built on database in consequence of system analyses were provided with www.afmedinfo.com web site to the user access. With this study, a recommendation was made about how to use disaster-based information systems in the field of health. Awareness has been developed about the fact that disaster information system should not be perceived only as an early warning system. Contents and the differences of the health care practices of disaster information systems were

  2. Accessibility, availability, and quality of online information for US radiation oncology residencies.

    PubMed

    Wakefield, Daniel V; Manole, Bogdan A; Jethanandani, Amit; May, Michael E; Marcrom, Samuel R; Farmer, Michael R; Ballo, Matthew T; VanderWalde, Noam A

    2016-01-01

    Radiation oncology (RO) residency applicants commonly use Internet resources for information on residency programs. The purpose of this study is to assess the accessibility, availability, and quality of online information for RO graduate medical education. Accessibility of online information was determined by surveying databases for RO residency programs within the Fellowship Residency Electronic Interactive Data Access System (FREIDA) of the American Medical Association, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and Google search. As of June 30, 2015, websites were assessed for presence, accessibility, and overall content availability based on a 55-item list of desired features based on 13 program features important to previously surveyed applicants. Quality scoring of available content was performed based on previously published Likert scale variables deemed desirable to RO applicants. Quality score labels were given based on percentage of desired information presented. FREIDA and ACGME databases listed 89% and 98% of program websites, respectively, but only 56% and 52% of links routed to a RO department-specific website, respectively. Google search obtained websites for 98% of programs and 95% of links routed to RO department-specific websites. The majority of websites had program descriptions (98%) and information on staff. However, resident information was more limited (total number [42%], education [47%], previous residents [28%], positions available [35%], contact information [13%]). Based on quality scoring, program websites contained only 47% of desired information on average. Only 13% of programs had superior websites containing 80% or more of desired information. Compared with Google, the FREIDA and ACGME program databases provide limited access to RO residency websites. The overall information availability and quality of information within RO residency websites varies widely. Applicants and programs may benefit from improved

  3. Use and perceptions of information among family physicians: sources considered accessible, relevant, and reliable.

    PubMed

    Kosteniuk, Julie G; Morgan, Debra G; D'Arcy, Carl K

    2013-01-01

    The research determined (1) the information sources that family physicians (FPs) most commonly use to update their general medical knowledge and to make specific clinical decisions, and (2) the information sources FPs found to be most physically accessible, intellectually accessible (easy to understand), reliable (trustworthy), and relevant to their needs. A cross-sectional postal survey of 792 FPs and locum tenens, in full-time or part-time medical practice, currently practicing or on leave of absence in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan was conducted during the period of January to April 2008. Of 666 eligible physicians, 331 completed and returned surveys, resulting in a response rate of 49.7% (331/666). Medical textbooks and colleagues in the main patient care setting were the top 2 sources for the purpose of making specific clinical decisions. Medical textbooks were most frequently considered by FPs to be reliable (trustworthy), and colleagues in the main patient care setting were most physically accessible (easy to access). When making specific clinical decisions, FPs were most likely to use information from sources that they considered to be reliable and generally physically accessible, suggesting that FPs can best be supported by facilitating easy and convenient access to high-quality information.

  4. Use and perceptions of information among family physicians: sources considered accessible, relevant, and reliable

    PubMed Central

    Kosteniuk, Julie G.; Morgan, Debra G.; D'Arcy, Carl K.

    2013-01-01

    Objectives: The research determined (1) the information sources that family physicians (FPs) most commonly use to update their general medical knowledge and to make specific clinical decisions, and (2) the information sources FPs found to be most physically accessible, intellectually accessible (easy to understand), reliable (trustworthy), and relevant to their needs. Methods: A cross-sectional postal survey of 792 FPs and locum tenens, in full-time or part-time medical practice, currently practicing or on leave of absence in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan was conducted during the period of January to April 2008. Results: Of 666 eligible physicians, 331 completed and returned surveys, resulting in a response rate of 49.7% (331/666). Medical textbooks and colleagues in the main patient care setting were the top 2 sources for the purpose of making specific clinical decisions. Medical textbooks were most frequently considered by FPs to be reliable (trustworthy), and colleagues in the main patient care setting were most physically accessible (easy to access). Conclusions: When making specific clinical decisions, FPs were most likely to use information from sources that they considered to be reliable and generally physically accessible, suggesting that FPs can best be supported by facilitating easy and convenient access to high-quality information. PMID:23405045

  5. 5 CFR 297.205 - Access to medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Access to medical records. 297.205... PROCEDURES FOR PERSONNEL RECORDS Request for Access § 297.205 Access to medical records. When a request for access involves medical or psychological records that the system manager believes requires special...

  6. 5 CFR 297.205 - Access to medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Access to medical records. 297.205... PROCEDURES FOR PERSONNEL RECORDS Request for Access § 297.205 Access to medical records. When a request for access involves medical or psychological records that the system manager believes requires special...

  7. 5 CFR 297.205 - Access to medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Access to medical records. 297.205... PROCEDURES FOR PERSONNEL RECORDS Request for Access § 297.205 Access to medical records. When a request for access involves medical or psychological records that the system manager believes requires special...

  8. Patients' perspectives and experiences concerning barriers to accessing information about bilateral prophylactic mastectomy.

    PubMed

    Glassey, Rachael; O'Connor, Moira; Ives, Angela; Saunders, Christobel; kConFab Investigators; O'Sullivan, Sarah; Hardcastle, Sarah J

    2018-05-11

    To explore the barriers and experiences of accessing information for women who have received genetic risk assessment/testing results for breast cancer (BC) and are considering a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy (BPM) and, exploring participants' preferences concerning information and support needs. A qualitative retrospective study guided by interpretative phenomenological analysis was utilised. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with forty-six women who were either considering BPM or had already undergone the surgery. Three themes identified barriers to accessing information; difficulties accessing information, inconsistent information and clinical focus/medicalized information. A fourth theme - preferences of information and support needs, identified three subthemes; these were, psychological support, clearly defined processes and photos of mastectomies/reconstruction surgeries. Barriers to accessing information appeared to be widespread. A lack of integrated services contributed to inconsistent information, and medicalized terminology/clinical focus of consultations further complicated understanding. Preferences for information include clearly defined processes, so women know the pathways after confirmation of familial BC risk. Clinical implications include a multidisciplinary team approach, and a protocol that reflects current practice. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. A Selective Group Authentication Scheme for IoT-Based Medical Information System.

    PubMed

    Park, YoHan; Park, YoungHo

    2017-04-01

    The technology of IoT combined with medical systems is expected to support advanced medical services. However, unsolved security problems, such as misuse of medical devices, illegal access to the medical server and so on, make IoT-based medical systems not be applied widely. In addition, users have a high burden of computation to access Things for the explosive growth of IoT devices. Because medical information is critical and important, but users have a restricted computing power, IoT-based medical systems are required to provide secure and efficient authentication for users. In this paper, we propose a selective group authentication scheme using Shamir's threshold technique. The property of selectivity gives the right of choice to users to form a group which consists of things users select and access. And users can get an access authority for those Things at a time. Thus, our scheme provides an efficient user authentication for multiple Things and conditional access authority for safe IoT-based medical information system. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed scheme is the first in which selectivity is combined with group authentication in IoT environments.

  10. 77 FR 14706 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-13

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards AGENCY: Architectural and... for medical diagnostic equipment and issues raised in the public comments on the NPRM. The Access... accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Food and...

  11. Reproductive health information for young women in Kazakhstan: disparities in access by channel.

    PubMed

    Buckley, Cynthia; Barrett, Jennifer; Adkins, Kristen

    2008-01-01

    This study explores young women's reliance on reproductive and sexual health information channels, examining the relationship between information sources and reproductive health knowledge. Utilizing 1995 and 1999 Kazakhstan Demographic and Health Surveys, we investigate access to reproductive health knowledge among young women (ages 15-24) during a key period in the development of wide-scale reproductive health programs in Kazakhstan. Despite reproductive health campaigns throughout the 1990s, we find consistently high proportions of young women without family planning information access. Among young women with access to information, few received information from channels most strongly linked to knowledge and behavioral changes (family and medical professionals). Mass media sources and peer information networks remained the most often utilized channels. Urban residence, non-Kazakh ethnicity, older age (20-24), and higher education significantly increased the odds of accessing family planning information among young Kazakhstani women, and these same factors were especially important in terms of the relative odds of accessing medical and parental channels. While overall contraceptive knowledge and prevalence rose in Kazakhstan during the 1990s, we find knowledge varied by the information channel accessed. Findings also indicate that young women, regardless of marital status, possessed consistently low levels of reproductive health knowledge at the decade's end.

  12. Rapid access to information resources in clinical biochemistry: medical applications of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA).

    PubMed

    Serdar, Muhittin A; Turan, Mustafa; Cihan, Murat

    2008-06-01

    Laboratory specialists currently need to access scientific-based information at anytime and anywhere. A considerable period of time and too much effort are required to access this information through existing accumulated data. Personal digital assistants (PDA) are supposed to provide an effective solution with commercial software for this problem. In this study, 11 commercial software products (UpToDate, ePocrates, Inforetrive, Pepid, eMedicine, FIRST Consult, and 5 laboratory e-books released by Skyscape and/or Isilo) were selected and the benefits of their use were evaluated by seven laboratory specialists. The assessment of the software was performed based on the number of the tests included, the software content of detailed information for each test-like process, method, interpretation of results, reference ranges, critical values, interferences, equations, pathophysiology, supplementary technical details such as sample collection principles, and additional information such as linked references, evidence-based data, test cost, etc. In terms of technique, the following items are considered: the amount of memory required to run the software, the graphical user interface, which is a user-friendly instrument, and the frequency of new and/or up-date releases. There is still no perfect program, as we have anticipated. Interpretation of laboratory results may require software with an integrated program. However, methodological data are mostly not included in the software evaluated. It seems that these shortcomings will be fixed in the near future, and PDAs and relevant medical applications will also become indispensable for all physicians including laboratory specialists in the field of training/education and in patient care.

  13. Personal medical information system using laser card

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cho, Seong H.; Kim, Keun Ho; Choi, Hyung-Sik; Park, Hyun Wook

    1996-04-01

    The well-known hospital information system (HIS) and the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) are typical applications of multimedia to medical area. This paper proposes a personal medical information save-and-carry system using a laser card. This laser card is very useful, especially in emergency situations, because the medical information in the laser card can be read at anytime and anywhere if there exists a laser card reader/writer. The contents of the laser card include the clinical histories of a patient such as clinical chart, exam result, diagnostic reports, images, and so on. The purpose of this system is not a primary diagnosis, but emergency reference of clinical history of the patient. This personal medical information system consists of a personal computer integrated with laser card reader/writer, color frame grabber, color CCD camera and a high resolution image scanner optionally. Window-based graphical user interface was designed for easy use. The laser card has relatively sufficient capacity to store the personal medical information, and has fast access speed to restore and load the data with a portable size as compact as a credit card. Database items of laser card provide the doctors with medical data such as laser card information, patient information, clinical information, and diagnostic result information.

  14. The Use of Enhanced Appointment Access Strategies by Medical Practices.

    PubMed

    Rodriguez, Hector P; Knox, Margae; Hurley, Vanessa; Rittenhouse, Diane R; Shortell, Stephen M

    2016-06-01

    Strategies to enhance appointment access are being adopted by medical practices as part of patient-centered medical home (PCMH) implementation, but little is known about the use of these strategies nationally. We examine practice use of open access scheduling and after-hours care. Data were analyzed from the Third National Study of Physician Organizations (NSPO3) to examine which enhanced appointment access strategies are more likely to be used by practices with more robust PCMH capabilities and with greater external incentives. Logistic regression estimated the effect of PCMH capabilities and external incentives on practice use of open access scheduling and after-hours care. Physician organizations with >20% primary care physicians (n=1106). PCMH capabilities included team-based care, health information technology capabilities, quality improvement orientation, and patient experience orientation. External incentives included public reporting, pay-for-performance (P4P), and accountable care organization participation. A low percentage of practices (19.8%) used same-day open access scheduling, while after-hours care (56.1%) was more common. In adjusted analyses, system-owned practices and practices with greater use of team-based care, health information technology capabilities, and public reporting were more likely to use open access scheduling. Accountable care organization-affiliated practices and practices with greater use of public reporting and P4P were more likely to provide after-hours care. Open access scheduling may be most effectively implemented by practices with robust PCMH capabilities. External incentives appear to influence practice adoption of after-hours care. Expanding open access scheduling and after-hours care will require distinct policies and supports.

  15. The patient perspective on the effects of medical record accessibility: a systematic review.

    PubMed

    Vermeir, Peter; Degroote, Sophie; Vandijck, Dominique; Van Tiggelen, Hanne; Peleman, Renaat; Verhaeghe, Rik; Mariman, An; Vogelaers, Dirk

    2017-06-01

    Health care is shifting from a paternalistic to a participatory model, with increasing patient involvement. Medical record accessibility to patients may contribute significantly to patient comanagement. To systematically review the literature on the patient perspective of effects of personal medical record accessibility on the individual patient, patient-physician relationship and quality of medical care. Screening of PubMed, Web of Science, Cinahl, and Cochrane Library on the keywords 'medical record', 'patient record', 'communication', 'patient participation', 'doctor-patient relationship', 'physician-patient relationship' between 1 January 2002 and 31 January 2016; systematic review after assessment for methodological quality. Out of 557 papers screened, only 12 studies qualified for the systematic review. Only a minority of patients spontaneously request access to their medical file, in contrast to frequent awareness of this patient right and the fact that patients in general have a positive view on open visit notes. The majority of those who have actually consulted their file are positive about this experience. Access to personal files improves adequacy and efficiency of communication between physician and patient, in turn facilitating decision-making and self-management. Increased documentation through patient involvement and feedback on the medical file reduces medical errors, in turn increasing satisfaction and quality of care. Information improvement through personal medical file accessibility increased reassurance and a sense of involvement and responsibility. From the patient perspective medical record accessibility contributes to co-management of personal health care.

  16. Healthcare assistant fined for accessing medical records of friends and colleagues.

    PubMed

    2017-08-23

    NHS staff are being reminded of the potentially serious consequences of prying into patients' records without a valid reason after a healthcare assistant (HCA) secretly accessed medical information on 29 people.

  17. Negotiating Access to Health Information to Promote Students' Health.

    PubMed

    Radis, Molly E; Updegrove, Stephen C; Somsel, Anne; Crowley, Angela A

    2016-04-01

    Access to student health information, such as immunizations, screenings, and care plans for chronic conditions, is essential for school nurses to fulfill their role in promoting students' health. School nurses typically encounter barriers to accessing health records and spend many hours attempting to retrieve health information. As a result, nurses' time is poorly utilized and students may suffer adverse outcomes including delayed school entry. In response to this pressing public health issue, a school medical advisor and director of school nurses in a local health department successfully negotiated access for school nurses to three health record systems: a state immunization tracking system, an electronic lead surveillance program, and an electronic health record system. This negotiation process is presented within a framework of the Theory of Diffusion of Innovation and provides a strategy for other school nurses seeking access to student health information. © The Author(s) 2015.

  18. Introducing information technologies into medical education: activities of the AAMC.

    PubMed

    Salas, A A; Anderson, M B

    1997-03-01

    Previous articles in this column have discussed how new information technologies are revolutionizing medical education. In this article, two staff members from the Association of American Medical College's Division of Medical Education discuss how the Association (the AAMC) is working both to support the introduction of new technologies into medical education and to facilitate dialogue on information technology and curriculum issues among AAMC constituents and staff. The authors describe six AAMC initiatives related to computing in medical education: the Medical School Objectives Project, the National Curriculum Database Project, the Information Technology and Medical Education Project, a professional development program for chief information officers, the AAMC ACCESS Data Collection and Dissemination System, and the internal Staff Interest Group on Medical Informatics and Medical Education.

  19. New Advanced Technologies to Provide Decentralised and Secure Access to Medical Records: Case Studies in Oncology

    PubMed Central

    Quantin, Catherine; Coatrieux, Gouenou; Allaert, François André; Fassa, Maniane; Bourquard, Karima; Boire, Jean-Yves; de Vlieger, Paul; Maigne, Lydia; Breton, Vincent

    2009-01-01

    The main problem for health professionals and patients in accessing information is that this information is very often distributed over many medical records and locations. This problem is particularly acute in cancerology because patients may be treated for many years and undergo a variety of examinations. Recent advances in technology make it feasible to gain access to medical records anywhere and anytime, allowing the physician or the patient to gather information from an “ephemeral electronic patient record”. However, this easy access to data is accompanied by the requirement for improved security (confidentiality, traceability, integrity, ...) and this issue needs to be addressed. In this paper we propose and discuss a decentralised approach based on recent advances in information sharing and protection: Grid technologies and watermarking methodologies. The potential impact of these technologies for oncology is illustrated by the examples of two experimental cases: a cancer surveillance network and a radiotherapy treatment plan. It is expected that the proposed approach will constitute the basis of a future secure “google-like” access to medical records. PMID:19718446

  20. Quality of medication information available on retail pharmacy Web sites.

    PubMed

    Ghoshal, Malini; Walji, Muhammad F

    2006-12-01

    The Internet is becoming an important source for medication information. Although the quality of consumer medication information (CMI) in brick and mortar pharmacies has been reported to be suboptimal, little is known about the quality of CMI offered by pharmacy Web sites. To evaluate the quality, readability, and provision of Web functionality of 4 popular medications (atenolol, nitroglycerin, atorvastatin, and glyburide) available on the websites of 3 of the largest retail pharmacies: Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, and Rite Aid. The quality of online medication information was evaluated by 2 reviewers using a preexisting evaluation instrument created by a national panel of experts. Readability level was assessed using the Gunning Fog Test. We also assessed the presence of 4 Web-specific functional criteria: (1) capability for font enlargement, (2) availability of a glossary of terms, (3) presence of an "Ask a pharmacist" feature, and (4) access to detailed medication information or full prescribing information. Overall, medication information was 77% adherent to the criteria evaluated. When broken down by drug, CMI was most adherent for atorvastatin (83%), followed by glyburide (77%), atenolol (76%), and nitroglycerin (75%). The average readability level was found to be 10th grade. No pharmacy Web site provided the ability for font enlargement, a glossary of terms, or access to detailed medication information; however, all pharmacy Web sites provided an "Ask a pharmacist" service. Although pharmacy Web sites were found to have an overall good content quality, the high readability level of text, areas of incomplete information, and limited use of desirable Web functionality suggest room for improvement.

  1. 42 CFR 480.131 - Access to medical records for the monitoring of QIOs.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS ACQUISITION, PROTECTION, AND DISCLOSURE OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATION INFORMATION Utilization and Quality Control Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) Disclosure of Confidential Information § 480.131 Access to medical records...

  2. 42 CFR 480.131 - Access to medical records for the monitoring of QIOs.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS ACQUISITION, PROTECTION, AND DISCLOSURE OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATION INFORMATION Utilization and Quality Control Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) Disclosure of Confidential Information § 480.131 Access to medical records...

  3. 42 CFR 480.131 - Access to medical records for the monitoring of QIOs.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS ACQUISITION, PROTECTION, AND DISCLOSURE OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATION INFORMATION Utilization and Quality Control Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) Disclosure of Confidential Information § 480.131 Access to medical records...

  4. Medical information, confidentiality, and privacy.

    PubMed

    Liang, Bryan A

    2002-12-01

    State laws and accreditation requirements dictate the form, ownership, and substance of medical records, as well as requirements for storage, access, and confidentiality. There are limited exceptions to these requirements but they are highly circumscribed. Federal law also outlines requirements to ensure the privacy of patient-identifiable information. Thus, providers must be aware of these rules both to protect patient information from being abused and to understand the affirmative obligations they have so as to avoid the significant penalties associated with breach of these provisions.

  5. 42 CFR 480.131 - Access to medical records for the monitoring of QIOs.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS ACQUISITION, PROTECTION, AND DISCLOSURE OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATION REVIEW INFORMATION Utilization and Quality Control Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) Disclosure of Confidential Information § 480.131 Access to medical records...

  6. 42 CFR 480.131 - Access to medical records for the monitoring of QIOs.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS ACQUISITION, PROTECTION, AND DISCLOSURE OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATION REVIEW INFORMATION Utilization and Quality Control Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) Disclosure of Confidential Information § 480.131 Access to medical records...

  7. Consent-based access to core EHR information. Collaborative approaches in Norway.

    PubMed

    Heimly, Vigdis; Berntsen, Kirsti E

    2009-01-01

    Lack of access to updated drug information is a challenge for healthcare providers in Norway. Drug charts are updated in separate EHR systems but exchange of drug information between them is lacking. In order to provide ready access to updated medication information, a project for consent-based access to a core EHR has been established. End users have developed requirements for additions to the medication modules in the EHR systems in cooperation with vendors, researchers and standardization workers. The modules are then implemented by the vendors, tested in the usability lab, and finally tested by the national testing and approval service before implementation. An ethnographic study, with focus on future users and their interaction with other actors regarding medicines and medication, has included semi-/unstructured interviews with the involved organizational units. The core EHR uses the EHR kept by the patient's regular GP as the main source of information. A server-based solution has been chosen in order to keep the core EHR accessible outside the GP's regular work hours. The core EHR is being tested, and the EHR-vendors are implementing additions to their systems in order to facilitate communication with the core EHR. All major EHR-system vendors in Norway participate in the project. The core EHR provides a generic basis that may be used as a pilot for a national patient summary. Examples of a wider use of the core EHR can be: shared individual plans to support continuity of care, summary of the patient's contacts with health providers in different organizations, and core EHR information such as important diagnoses, allergies and contact information. Extensive electronic cooperation and communication requires that all partners adjust their documentation practices to fit with other actors' needs. The implementation effects on future work practices will be followed by researchers.

  8. Medical Devices Transition to Information Systems: Lessons Learned

    PubMed Central

    Charters, Kathleen G.

    2012-01-01

    Medical devices designed to network can share data with a Clinical Information System (CIS), making that data available within clinician workflow. Some lessons learned by transitioning anesthesia reporting and monitoring devices (ARMDs) on a local area network (LAN) to integration of anesthesia documentation within a CIS include the following categories: access, contracting, deployment, implementation, planning, security, support, training and workflow integration. Areas identified for improvement include: Vendor requirements for access reconciled with the organizations’ security policies and procedures. Include clauses supporting transition from stand-alone devices to information integrated into clinical workflow in the medical device procurement contract. Resolve deployment and implementation barriers that make the process less efficient and more costly. Include effective field communication and creative alternatives in planning. Build training on the baseline knowledge of trainees. Include effective help desk processes and metrics. Have a process for determining where problems originate when systems share information. PMID:24199054

  9. Profiling Characteristics of Internet Medical Information Users

    PubMed Central

    Weaver, James B.; Mays, Darren; Lindner, Gregg; Eroğlu, Doğan; Fridinger, Frederick; Bernhardt, Jay M.

    2009-01-01

    Objective The Internet's potential to bolster health promotion and disease prevention efforts has attracted considerable attention. Existing research leaves two things unclear, however: the prevalence of online health and medical information seeking and the distinguishing characteristics of individuals who seek that information. Design This study seeks to clarify and extend the knowledge base concerning health and medical information use online by profiling adults using Internet medical information (IMI). Secondary analysis of survey data from a large sample (n = 6,119) representative of the Atlanta, GA, area informed this investigation. Measurements Five survey questions were used to assess IMI use and general computer and Internet use during the 30 days before the survey was administered. Five questions were also used to assess respondents' health care system use. Several demographic characteristics were measured. Results Contrary to most prior research, this study found relatively low prevalence of IMI-seeking behavior. Specifically, IMI use was reported by 13.2% of all respondents (n = 6,119) and by 21.1% of respondents with Internet access (n = 3,829). Logistic regression models conducted among respondents accessing the Internet in the previous 30 days revealed that, when controlling for several sociodemographic characteristics, home computer ownership, online time per week, and health care system use are all positively linked with IMI-seeking behavior. Conclusions The data suggest it may be premature to embrace unilaterally the Internet as an effective asset for health promotion and disease prevention efforts that target the public. PMID:19567794

  10. Profiling characteristics of internet medical information users.

    PubMed

    Weaver, James B; Mays, Darren; Lindner, Gregg; Eroglu, Dogan; Fridinger, Frederick; Bernhardt, Jay M

    2009-01-01

    The Internet's potential to bolster health promotion and disease prevention efforts has attracted considerable attention. Existing research leaves two things unclear, however: the prevalence of online health and medical information seeking and the distinguishing characteristics of individuals who seek that information. This study seeks to clarify and extend the knowledge base concerning health and medical information use online by profiling adults using Internet medical information (IMI). Secondary analysis of survey data from a large sample (n = 6,119) representative of the Atlanta, GA, area informed this investigation. Five survey questions were used to assess IMI use and general computer and Internet use during the 30 days before the survey was administered. Five questions were also used to assess respondents' health care system use. Several demographic characteristics were measured. RESULTS Contrary to most prior research, this study found relatively low prevalence of IMI-seeking behavior. Specifically, IMI use was reported by 13.2% of all respondents (n = 6,119) and by 21.1% of respondents with Internet access (n = 3,829). Logistic regression models conducted among respondents accessing the Internet in the previous 30 days revealed that, when controlling for several sociodemographic characteristics, home computer ownership, online time per week, and health care system use are all positively linked with IMI-seeking behavior. The data suggest it may be premature to embrace unilaterally the Internet as an effective asset for health promotion and disease prevention efforts that target the public.

  11. Prevalence of Sharing Access Credentials in Electronic Medical Records

    PubMed Central

    Korach, Tzfania; Shreberk-Hassidim, Rony; Thomaidou, Elena; Uzefovsky, Florina; Ayal, Shahar; Ariely, Dan

    2017-01-01

    Objectives Confidentiality of health information is an important aspect of the physician patient relationship. The use of digital medical records has made data much more accessible. To prevent data leakage, many countries have created regulations regarding medical data accessibility. These regulations require a unique user ID for each medical staff member, and this must be protected by a password, which should be kept undisclosed by all means. Methods We performed a four-question Google Forms-based survey of medical staff. In the survey, each participant was asked if he/she ever obtained the password of another medical staff member. Then, we asked how many times such an episode occurred and the reason for it. Results A total of 299 surveys were gathered. The responses showed that 220 (73.6%) participants reported that they had obtained the password of another medical staff member. Only 171 (57.2%) estimated how many time it happened, with an average estimation of 4.75 episodes. All the residents that took part in the study (45, 15%) had obtained the password of another medical staff member, while only 57.5% (38/66) of the nurses reported this. Conclusions The use of unique user IDs and passwords to defend the privacy of medical data is a common requirement in medical organizations. Unfortunately, the use of passwords is doomed because medical staff members share their passwords with one another. Strict regulations requiring each staff member to have it's a unique user ID might lead to password sharing and to a decrease in data safety. PMID:28875052

  12. A network of web multimedia medical information servers for a medical school and university hospital.

    PubMed

    Denier, P; Le Beux, P; Delamarre, D; Fresnel, A; Cleret, M; Courtin, C; Seka, L P; Pouliquen, B; Cleran, L; Riou, C; Burgun, A; Jarno, P; Leduff, F; Lesaux, H; Duvauferrier, R

    1997-08-01

    Modern medicine requires a rapid access to information including clinical data from medical records, bibliographic databases, knowledge bases and nomenclature databases. This is especially true for University Hospitals and Medical Schools for training as well as for fundamental and clinical research for diagnosis and therapeutic purposes. This implies the development of local, national and international cooperation which can be enhanced via the use and access to computer networks such as Internet. The development of professional cooperative networks goes with the development of the telecommunication and computer networks and our project is to make these new tools and technologies accessible to the medical students both during the teaching time in Medical School and during the training periods at the University Hospital. We have developed a local area network which communicates between the School of Medicine and the Hospital which takes advantage of the new Web client-server technology both internally (Intranet) and externally by access to the National Research Network (RENATER in France) connected to the Internet network. The address of our public web server is http:(/)/www.med.univ-rennesl.fr.

  13. Health information exchange associated with improved emergency department care through faster accessing of patient information from outside organizations.

    PubMed

    Everson, Jordan; Kocher, Keith E; Adler-Milstein, Julia

    2017-04-01

    To assess whether electronic health information exchange (HIE) is associated with improved emergency department (ED) care processes and utilization through more timely clinician viewing of information from outside organizations. Our data included 2163 patients seen in the ED of a large academic medical center for whom clinicians requested and viewed outside information from February 14, 2014, to February 13, 2015. Outside information requests w.ere fulfilled via HIE (Epic's Care Everywhere) or fax/scan to the electronic health record (EHR). We used EHR audit data to capture the time between the information request and when a clinician accessed the data. We assessed whether the relationship between method of information return and ED outcomes (length of visit, odds of imaging [computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiographs] and hospitalization, and total charges) was mediated by request-to-access time, controlling for patient demographics, case mix, and acuity. In multivariate analysis, there was no direct association between return of information via HIE vs fax/scan and ED outcomes. HIE was associated with faster outside information access (58.5 minutes on average), and faster access was associated with changes in ED care. For each 1-hour reduction in access time, visit length was 52.9 minutes shorter, the likelihood of imaging was lower (by 2.5, 1.6, and 2.4 percentage points for CT, MRI, and radiographs, respectively), the likelihood of admission was 2.4 percentage points lower, and average charges were $1187 lower ( P  ≤ .001 for all). The relationship between HIE and improved care processes and reduced utilization in the ED is mediated by faster accessing of information from outside organizations. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  14. Comparing Information Access Approaches.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chalmers, Matthew

    1999-01-01

    Presents a broad view of information access, drawing from philosophy and semiology in constructing a framework for comparative discussion that is used to examine the information representations that underlie four approaches to information access--information retrieval, workflow, collaborative filtering, and the path model. Contains 32 references.…

  15. DS-MAC: differential service medium access control design for wireless medical information systems.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Xiaojing; Bagga, Sumegha; Shen, Jian; Balakrishnan, M; Benhaddou, D

    2008-01-01

    The integration of wireless networking technologies with medical information systems (telemedicine) have a significant impact on healthcare services provided to our society. Applications of telemedicine range from personalized medicine to affordable healthcare for underserved population. Though wireless technologies and medical informatics are individually progressing rapidly, wireless networking for healthcare systems is still at a very premature stage. In this paper we first present our open architecture for medical information systems that integrates both wired and wireless networked data acquisition systems. We then present the implementation at the physical layer and differential service MAC design that adapts channel provisioning based on the information criticality. Performance evaluation using analytical modeling and simulation shows that our DS-MAC provides differentiated services for emergency, warning, and normal traffic.

  16. Differing perspectives on parent access to their child's electronic medical record during neonatal intensive care hospitalization: a pilot study.

    PubMed

    Chung, Rebecca K; Kim, Una Olivia; Basir, Mir Abdul

    2018-04-01

    To improve informed medical decision-making, principles for family-centered neonatal care recommend that parents have access to their child's medical record on an ongoing basis during neonatal intensive unit care (NICU) hospitalization. Currently, many NICUs do not allow independent parent access to their child's electronic medical record (EMR) during hospitalization. We undertook a cross-sectional survey pilot study of medical professionals and parents to explore opinions regarding this practice. Inclusion criteria: 18-years old, English-literate, legal guardian of patients admitted to the NICU for 14 days. NICU medical professionals included physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and respiratory therapists. Medical professionals believed parent access would make their work more difficult, increase time documenting and updating families, making them more liable to litigation and hesitant to chart sensitive information. However, parents felt that they lacked control over their child's care and desired direct access to the EMR. Parents believed this would improve accuracy of their child's medical chart, and increase advocacy and understanding of their child's illness. NICU parents and medical professionals have differing perspectives on independent parental access to their child's EMR. More research is needed to explore the potential of independent parental EMR access to further improve family-centered neonatal care.

  17. 77 FR 62479 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-15

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee (Committee) will hold... Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee...

  18. 77 FR 53163 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-31

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee (Committee) will hold... previously published Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility...

  19. Managing medications for individuals living with a dementia: Evaluating a web-based information resource for informal carers.

    PubMed

    Horne, Frances; Burns, Pippa; Traynor, Victoria; Gillespie, Robyn; Mullan, Judy; Baker, Amanda; Harrison, Lindsey; Win, Khin Than

    2018-05-10

    The purpose of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of the "Managing Medicines for People with Dementia" (www.dementiameds.com) website for informal carers. The management of medications for individuals living with a dementia by informal carers is a neglected area of care. We know that informal carers find it difficult accessing reliable and comprehensive information about medications. We also know that the Internet is a contemporary and growing medium through which consumers access health information. This study was unique in that it brought these two elements together through an interdisciplinary study about the usefulness of a new website providing information on medication management. Data collection consisted of focus groups with informal carers of individuals living with a dementia. Data were analysed through content analysis. Four themes were generated from the data to explain the evaluation of the website by informal carers: (1) Suitability of the website; (2) Presentation of the website; (3) Unexpected benefits of the website content; (4) Future enhancements for website. Participants overwhelmingly agreed the content of the website filled a gap in information needs about medication management for individuals living with a dementia. This qualitative evaluation demonstrated the value of the website as a resource for informal carers of individuals living with a dementia. The resource could also be used by community nurses and other healthcare practitioners to help informal carers better manage the medication regimes of individuals living with a dementia. The resource has the potential to reduce complications associated with mismanagement of medications and contribute to new policies for implementing safe medication practices. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Physician Internet Medical Information Seeking and On-line Continuing Education Use Patterns.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Casebeer, Linda; Bennett, Nancy; Kristofco, Robert; Carillo, Anna; Centor, Robert

    2002-01-01

    Responses from 2,200 physicians indicated that nearly all have Internet access and use it primarily for medical information and professional development, not for communicating with patients. Credibility of source, speed, accessibility, and searching ease were most important. Barriers included information overload and too little information…

  1. 78 FR 10582 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-14

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its fourth...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on February...

  2. Beyond access: barriers to internet health information seeking among the urban poor.

    PubMed

    McCloud, Rachel F; Okechukwu, Cassandra A; Sorensen, Glorian; Viswanath, K

    2016-11-01

    Communication inequalities deepen health disparities even when internet access is achieved. The goal of this study is to understand how a range of barriers may inhibit individuals from low socioeconomic position (SEP) from engaging with online health information even when it is freely available. Detailed data were collected from 118 low-SEP individuals from a randomized controlled trial providing internet access. Measures triangulated the health-seeking experience through internet use tracked in real-time, call log data, and self-reported barriers. Negative binomial regression models were fitted with technology and perceived predictors, and our outcome, health information seeking, and then stratified by medical status. Participants experienced a median of two computer issues (median 6 days) and two internet issues (median 6.5 days). Duration of internet problems was associated with a decrease in the rate of internet health information seeking by a factor of 0.990 (P = .03) for each additional day. Participants with a medical problem who were frustrated in their search for health information had half the rate of health information seeking of those who were not frustrated (incidence rate ratio = 0.395, P = .030). Despite IT support, participants still experienced internet connectivity issues that negatively impacted their health information seeking. Frustration in their search to find information may serve as an additional barrier to those who have medical issues. After initial internet access, a second-level digital divide emerged due to connectivity issues, highlighting the need to understand the complex network of barriers experienced by low-SEP internet users. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  3. 78 FR 32612 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-31

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its seventh...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on June 17...

  4. 78 FR 1166 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-08

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its third...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on January 22...

  5. 78 FR 23872 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-23

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its sixth...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on May 7...

  6. 78 FR 16448 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-15

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its fifth...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on March 26...

  7. [Dissemination of medical information in Europe, the USA and Japan, 1850-1870: focusing on information concerning the hypodermic injection method].

    PubMed

    Tsukisawa, Miyoko

    2011-12-01

    Modern medicine was introduced in Japan in the second half of the nineteenth century. In order to investigate this historical process, this paper focuses on the dissemination of information of a new medical technology developed in the mid-nineteenth century; it does so by making comparisons of the access to medical information between Europe, the USA and Japan. The hypodermic injection method was introduced in the clinical field in Europe and the USA as a newly developed therapeutic method during the 1850s and 1870s. This study analyzed information on the medical assessments of this method by clinicians of these periods. The crucial factor in accumulating this information was to develop a worldwide inter-medical communication circle with the aid of the medical journals. Information on the hypodermic injection method was introduced in Japan almost simultaneously with its introduction in Europe and the USA. However, because of the geographical distance and the language barrier, Japanese clinicians lacked access to this worldwide communication circle, and they accepted this new method without adequate medical technology assessments.

  8. Beyond access: barriers to internet health information seeking among the urban poor

    PubMed Central

    Okechukwu, Cassandra A; Sorensen, Glorian; Viswanath, K

    2016-01-01

    Objective Communication inequalities deepen health disparities even when internet access is achieved. The goal of this study is to understand how a range of barriers may inhibit individuals from low socioeconomic position (SEP) from engaging with online health information even when it is freely available. Materials and methods Detailed data were collected from 118 low-SEP individuals from a randomized controlled trial providing internet access. Measures triangulated the health-seeking experience through internet use tracked in real-time, call log data, and self-reported barriers. Negative binomial regression models were fitted with technology and perceived predictors, and our outcome, health information seeking, and then stratified by medical status. Results Participants experienced a median of two computer issues (median 6 days) and two internet issues (median 6.5 days). Duration of internet problems was associated with a decrease in the rate of internet health information seeking by a factor of 0.990 (P = .03) for each additional day. Participants with a medical problem who were frustrated in their search for health information had half the rate of health information seeking of those who were not frustrated (incidence rate ratio = 0.395, P = .030). Discussion Despite IT support, participants still experienced internet connectivity issues that negatively impacted their health information seeking. Frustration in their search to find information may serve as an additional barrier to those who have medical issues. Conclusion After initial internet access, a second-level digital divide emerged due to connectivity issues, highlighting the need to understand the complex network of barriers experienced by low-SEP internet users. PMID:27206459

  9. An end-to-end secure patient information access card system.

    PubMed

    Alkhateeb, A; Singer, H; Yakami, M; Takahashi, T

    2000-03-01

    The rapid development of the Internet and the increasing interest in Internet-based solutions has promoted the idea of creating Internet-based health information applications. This will force a change in the role of IC cards in healthcare card systems from a data carrier to an access key medium. At the Medical Informatics Department of Kyoto University Hospital we are developing a smart card patient information project where patient databases are accessed via the Internet. Strong end-to-end data encryption is performed via Secure Socket Layers, transparent to transmit patient information. The smart card is playing the crucial role of access key to the database: user authentication is performed internally without ever revealing the actual key. For easy acceptance by healthcare professionals, the user interface is integrated as a plug-in for two familiar Web browsers, Netscape Navigator and MS Internet Explorer.

  10. Sea-change or change challenge? Health information access in developing countries: The U.S. National Library of Medicine experience.

    PubMed

    Royall, J; Lyon, B

    2011-09-01

    Health professionals in developing countries want access to information to help them make changes in health care and contribute to medical research. However, they face challenges of technology limitations, lack of training, and, on the village level, culture and language. This report focuses on the U.S. National Library of Medicine experience with access: for the international medical/scientific community to health information which has been published by researchers in developing countries; for scientists and clinicians in developing countries to their own literature and to that of their colleagues around the world; for medical librarians who are a critical conduit for students, faculty, researchers, and, increasingly, the general public; and for the front line workers at the health center in the village at the end of the line. The fundamental question of whether or not information communication technology can make a difference in access and subsequently in health is illustrated by an anecdote regarding an early intervention in Africa in 1992. From that point, we examine programs to improve access involving malaria researchers, medical journal editors, librarians, and medical students working with local health center staff in the village. Although access is a reality, the positive change in health that the information technology intervention might produce often remains a mirage. Information and technology are not static elements in the equation for better access. They must function together, creating a dialectic in which they transform and inform one another and those whom their combination touches.

  11. [Ethical reflection on multidisciplinarity and confidentiality of information in medical imaging through new information and communication technologies].

    PubMed

    Béranger, J; Le Coz, P

    2012-05-01

    Technological advances in medical imaging has resulted in the exponential increase of the number of images per examination, caused the irreversible decline of the silver film and imposed digital imaging. This digitization is a concept whose levels of development are multiple, reflecting the complexity of this process of technological change. Under these conditions, the use of medical information via new information and communication technologies is at the crossroads of several scientific approaches and several disciplines (medicine, ethics, law, economics, psychology, etc.) surrounding the information systems in health, doctor-patient relationship and concepts that are associated. Each day, these new information and communication technologies open up new horizons and the space of possibilities, spectacularly developing access to information and knowledge. In this perspective of digital technology emergence impacting the multidisciplinary use of health information systems, the ethical questions are numerous, especially on the preservation of privacy, confidentiality and security of medical data, and their accessibility and integrity. Copyright © 2012 Société française de radiothérapie oncologique (SFRO). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  12. In emergency departments, radiologists' access to EHRs may influence interpretations and medical management.

    PubMed

    Franczak, Michael J; Klein, Madeline; Raslau, Flavius; Bergholte, Jo; Mark, Leighton P; Ulmer, John L

    2014-05-01

    The adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) that meet federal meaningful-use standards is a major US national policy priority. Policy makers recognize the potential of electronic communication in delivering high-quality health care, particularly in an environment of expanding remote access to medical care and the ever-increasing need to transmit health care records across institutions. To demonstrate this principle, we sought to estimate the significance of EHR access in emergent neuroradiologic interpretations. Three neuroradiologists conducted a prospective expert-rater analysis of 2,000 consecutive head computed tomography (CT) exams ordered by emergency department (ED) physicians. For each head CT exam, the neuroradiologists compared medical information generated by ED physicians to information generated by the interpreting radiologists who had access to additional EHR-derived patient data. In 6.1 percent of the head CT exams, the neuroradiologists reached consensus--meaning two out of three agreed--that the additional clinical data derived from the EHR was "very likely" to influence radiological interpretations and that the lack of that data would have adversely affected medical management in those patients. Health care providers must recognize the value of implementing EHRs and foster their widespread adoption.

  13. Managing Information Resources for Accessibility.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    General Services Administration, Washington, DC. Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation.

    This handbook presents guidance for federal managers and other personnel who are unfamiliar with the policy and practice of information accessibility to accommodate users with disabilities and to provide for their effective access to information resources. It addresses federal requirements for accessibility, adopting accessibility as a sound…

  14. 28 CFR 115.182 - Access to emergency medical services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... medical services. (a) Detainee victims of sexual abuse in lockups shall receive timely, unimpeded access to emergency medical treatment. (b) Treatment services shall be provided to the victim without... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Access to emergency medical services. 115...

  15. 28 CFR 115.182 - Access to emergency medical services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... medical services. (a) Detainee victims of sexual abuse in lockups shall receive timely, unimpeded access to emergency medical treatment. (b) Treatment services shall be provided to the victim without... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Access to emergency medical services. 115...

  16. 28 CFR 115.182 - Access to emergency medical services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... medical services. (a) Detainee victims of sexual abuse in lockups shall receive timely, unimpeded access to emergency medical treatment. (b) Treatment services shall be provided to the victim without... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Access to emergency medical services. 115...

  17. A patient privacy protection scheme for medical information system.

    PubMed

    Lu, Chenglang; Wu, Zongda; Liu, Mingyong; Chen, Wei; Guo, Junfang

    2013-12-01

    In medical information systems, there are a lot of confidential information about patient privacy. It is therefore an important problem how to prevent patient's personal privacy information from being disclosed. Although traditional security protection strategies (such as identity authentication and authorization access control) can well ensure data integrity, they cannot prevent system's internal staff (such as administrators) from accessing and disclosing patient privacy information. In this paper, we present an effective scheme to protect patients' personal privacy for a medical information system. In the scheme, privacy data before being stored in the database of the server of a medical information system would be encrypted using traditional encryption algorithms, so that the data even if being disclosed are also difficult to be decrypted and understood. However, to execute various kinds of query operations over the encrypted data efficiently, we would also augment the encrypted data with additional index, so as to process as much of the query as possible at the server side, without the need to decrypt the data. Thus, in this paper, we mainly explore how the index of privacy data is constructed, and how a query operation over privacy data is translated into a new query over the corresponding index so that it can be executed at the server side immediately. Finally, both theoretical analysis and experimental evaluation validate the practicality and effectiveness of our proposed scheme.

  18. Early assessment of medical technologies to inform product development and market access: a review of methods and applications.

    PubMed

    Ijzerman, Maarten J; Steuten, Lotte M G

    2011-09-01

    Worldwide, billions of dollars are invested in medical product development and there is an increasing pressure to maximize the revenues of these investments. That is, governments need to be informed about the benefits of spending public resources, companies need more information to manage their product development portfolios and even universities may need to direct their research programmes in order to maximize societal benefits. Assuming that all medical products need to be adopted by the heavily regulated healthcare market at one point in time, it is worthwhile to look at the logic behind healthcare decision making, specifically, decisions on the coverage of medical products and decisions on the use of these products under competing and uncertain conditions. With the growing tension between leveraging economic growth through R&D spending on the one hand and stricter control of healthcare budgets on the other, several attempts have been made to apply the health technology assessment (HTA) methodology to earlier stages of technology development and implementation. For instance, horizon scanning was introduced to systematically assess emerging technologies in order to inform health policy. Others have introduced iterative economic evaluation, e.g. economic evaluations in earlier stages of clinical research. However, most of these methods are primarily intended to support governments in making decisions regarding potentially expensive new medical products. They do not really inform biomedical product developers on the probability of return on investment, nor do they inform about the market needs and specific requirements of technologies in development. It is precisely this aspect that increasingly receives attention, i.e. is it possible to use HTA tools and methods to inform biomedical product development and to anticipate further development and market access. Several methods have been used in previous decades, but have never been compiled in a comprehensive review

  19. Access to continued-use medication among older adults, Brazil

    PubMed Central

    Viana, Karynna Pimentel; Brito, Alexandre dos Santos; Rodrigues, Claudia Soares; Luiz, Ronir Raggio

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and associated access factors for all continued-use prescription drugs and the ways in which they can be obtained. METHODS Data was obtained from the 2008 Household National Survey. The sample comprised 27,333 individuals above 60 years who reported that they used continued-use prescription drugs. A descriptive analysis and binary and multiple multinomial logistic regressions were performed. RESULTS 86.0% of the older adults had access to all the medication they needed, and among them, 50.7% purchased said medication. Those who obtained medication from the public health system were younger (60-64 years), did not have health insurance plans, and belonged to the lower income groups. It is remarkable that 14.0% of the subjects still had no access to any continued-use medication, and for those with more than four chronic diseases, this amount reached 22.0%. Those with a greater number of chronic diseases ran a higher risk of not having access to all the medication they needed. CONCLUSIONS There are some groups of older adults with an increased risk of not obtaining all the medication they need and of purchasing it. The results of this study are expected to contribute to guide programs and plans for access to medication in Brazil. PMID:25741646

  20. Health and medication information resources on the World Wide Web.

    PubMed

    Grossman, Sara; Zerilli, Tina

    2013-04-01

    Health care practitioners have increasingly used the Internet to obtain health and medication information. The vast number of Internet Web sites providing such information and concerns with their reliability makes it essential for users to carefully select and evaluate Web sites prior to use. To this end, this article reviews the general principles to consider in this process. Moreover, as cost may limit access to subscription-based health and medication information resources with established reputability, freely accessible online resources that may serve as an invaluable addition to one's reference collection are highlighted. These include government- and organization-sponsored resources (eg, US Food and Drug Administration Web site and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' Drug Shortage Resource Center Web site, respectively) as well as commercial Web sites (eg, Medscape, Google Scholar). Familiarity with such online resources can assist health care professionals in their ability to efficiently navigate the Web and may potentially expedite the information gathering and decision-making process, thereby improving patient care.

  1. Management information system of medical equipment using mobile devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Núñez, C.; Castro, D.

    2011-09-01

    The large numbers of technologies currently incorporated into mobile devices transform them into excellent tools for capture and to manage the information, because of the increasing computing power and storage that allow to add many miscellaneous applications. In order to obtain benefits of these technologies, in the biomedical engineering field, it was developed a mobile information system for medical equipment management. The central platform for the system it's a mobile phone, which by a connection with a web server, it's capable to send and receive information relative to any medical equipment. Decoding a type of barcodes, known as QR-Codes, the management process is simplified and improved. These barcodes identified the medical equipments in a database, when these codes are photographed and decoded with the mobile device, you can access to relevant information about the medical equipment in question. This Project in it's actual state is a basic support tool for the maintenance of medical equipment. It is also a modern alternative, competitive and economic in the actual market.

  2. IT Challenges for Space Medicine or How do We Protect Medical Information and Still Get Useful Work Done?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson-Throop, Kathy A.

    2010-01-01

    Space Medicine provides healthcare services of various types for astronauts throughout their lifetime starting from the time they are selected as astronauts. IT challenges include: protection of private medical information, access from locations both inside and outside NASA, nearly 24x7 access, access during disasters, international partner access, data archiving, off-region backup, secure communication of medical data to people outside the NASA system (e.g. expert consultants), efficient movement of medical record information between locations, search and retrieval of relevant information, and providing all of these services/capabilities within a limited budget. In Space Medicine, we have provided for these in various ways: limit the amount of private medical information stored locally, utilize encryption mechanisms that the international partners can also use, utilize 2-factor authentication, virtualize servers, employ concept-based search, and use of standardized terminologies (SNOMED) and messaging (HL7).

  3. Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) in an Anti-Access (A2) and Area Denial (AD) Environment

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-03-01

    OFFICE OF THE COMMAND SURGEON, AIR COMBAT COMMAND FELLOWSHIP PAPER HEALTHCARE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HIT) IN AN ANTI-ACCESS (A2) AND AREA...expeditionary responses. A light and lean medical response that utilizes emerging technology , specifically HIT, enhances the AFMS’ readiness posture and...expeditionary medical capability. The new USAF reality in an A2/AD environment is impeded access, very little if any technological dominance

  4. An analysis of contextual information relevant to medical care unexpectedly volunteered to researchers by asthma patients.

    PubMed

    Black, Heather L; Priolo, Chantel; Gonzalez, Rodalyn; Geer, Sabrina; Adam, Bariituu; Apter, Andrea J

    2012-09-01

    To describe and categorize contextual information relevant to patients' medical care unexpectedly volunteered to research personnel as part of a patient advocate (PA) intervention to facilitate access health care, communication with medical personnel, and self-management of a chronic disease such as asthma. We adapted a patient navigator intervention, to overcome barriers to access and communication for adults with moderate or severe asthma. Informed by focus groups of patients and providers, our PAs facilitated preparation for a visit with an asthma provider, attended the visit, confirmed understanding, and assisted with post-visit activities. During meetings with researchers, either for PA activities or for data collection, participants frequently volunteered personal and medical information relevant for achieving successful self-management that was not routinely shared with medical personnel. For this project, researchers journaled information not captured by the structured questionnaires and protocol. Using a qualitative analysis, we describe (1) researchers' journals of these unique communications; (2) their relevance for accomplishing self-management; (3) PAs' formal activities including teach-back, advocacy, and facilitating appointment making; and (4) observations of patients' interactions with the clinical practices. In 83 journals, patients' social support (83%), health (68%), and deportment (69%) were described. PA assistance with navigating the medical system (59%), teach-back (46%), and observed interactions with patient and medical staff (76%) were also journaled. Implicit were ways patients and practices could overcome barriers to access and communication. These journals describe the importance of seeking contextual and medically relevant information from all patients and, especially, those with significant morbidities, prompting patients for barriers to access to health care, and confirming understanding of medical information.

  5. An analysis of contextual information relevant to medical care unexpectedly volunteered to researchers by asthma patients

    PubMed Central

    Black, Heather L.; Priolo, Chantel; Gonzalez, Rodalyn; Geer, Sabrina; Adam, Bariituu; Apter, Andrea J.

    2012-01-01

    Objective To describe and categorize contextual information relevant to patients’ medical care unexpectedly volunteered to research personnel as part of a patient advocate intervention to facilitate access health care, communication with medical personnel, and self-management of a chronic disease like asthma. Methods We adapted a patient navigator intervention, to overcome barriers to access and communication for adults with moderate or severe asthma. Informed by focus groups of patients and providers, our Patient Advocates facilitated preparation for a visit with an asthma provider, attended the visit, confirmed understanding, and assisted with post-visit activities. During meetings with researchers, either for PA activities or data collection, participants frequently volunteered personal and medical information relevant for achieving successful self-management that was not routinely shared with medical personnel. For this project, researchers journaled information not captured by the structured questionnaires and protocol. Using a qualitative analysis, we describe 1) researchers’ journals of these unique communications, 2) their relevance for accomplishing self-management, 3) Patient Advocates’ formal activities including teach-back, advocacy, and facilitating appointment-making, and 4) observations of patients’ interactions with the clinical practices. Results In 83 journals, patients’ social support (83%), health (68%), and deportment (69%) were described. Patient Advocate assistance with navigating the medical system (59%), teach-back (46%), and observed interactions with patient and medical staff (76%) were also journaled. Implicit were ways patients and practices could overcome barriers to access and communication. Conclusions These journals describe the importance of seeking contextual and medically relevant information from all patients and especially those with significant morbidities, prompting patients for barriers to accessing care, and

  6. Beyond Information Retrieval—Medical Question Answering

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Minsuk; Cimino, James; Zhu, Hai Ran; Sable, Carl; Shanker, Vijay; Ely, John; Yu, Hong

    2006-01-01

    Physicians have many questions when caring for patients, and frequently need to seek answers for their questions. Information retrieval systems (e.g., PubMed) typically return a list of documents in response to a user’s query. Frequently the number of returned documents is large and makes physicians’ information seeking “practical only ‘after hours’ and not in the clinical settings”. Question answering techniques are based on automatically analyzing thousands of electronic documents to generate short-text answers in response to clinical questions that are posed by physicians. The authors address physicians’ information needs and described the design, implementation, and evaluation of the medical question answering system (MedQA). Although our long term goal is to enable MedQA to answer all types of medical questions, currently, we currently implement MedQA to integrate information retrieval, extraction, and summarization techniques to automatically generate paragraph-level text for definitional questions (i.e., “What is X?”). MedQA can be accessed at http://www.dbmi.columbia.edu/~yuh9001/research/MedQA.html. PMID:17238385

  7. Accessing wound-care information on the Internet: the implications for patients.

    PubMed

    Bovill, E S; Hormbrey, E; Gillespie, P H; Banwell, P E

    2001-02-01

    The Internet and the World Wide Web have revolutionised communication and provide a unique forum for the exchange of information. It has been proposed that the Internet has given the public more access to medical information resources and improved patient education. This study assessed the impact of the Internet on the availability of information on wound care management. The search phrases 'wound care', 'wound healing' and 'wounds' were analysed using a powerful Metacrawler search engine (www.go2net.com). Web site access was classified according to the target audience (wound-care specialists, other health professionals, patients) and the author (societies, institutions or commercial companies). The largest proportion of web sites were commercially based (32%). Of the total number, 23% specifically targeted patients, mostly by advertising. Only 20% were aimed at wound specialists. Extensive surfing was required to obtain wound-care information, and objective information sites were under-represented. Regulated, easily accessible, objective information sites on wound-healing topics are needed for improved patient education and to balance the existing commercial bias.

  8. Rising Expectations: Access to Biomedical Information

    PubMed Central

    Lindberg, D. A. B.; Humphreys, B. L.

    2008-01-01

    Summary Objective To provide an overview of the expansion in public access to electronic biomedical information over the past two decades, with an emphasis on developments to which the U.S. National Library of Medicine contributed. Methods Review of the increasingly broad spectrum of web-accessible genomic data, biomedical literature, consumer health information, clinical trials data, and images. Results The amount of publicly available electronic biomedical information has increased dramatically over the past twenty years. Rising expectations regarding access to biomedical information were stimulated by the spread of the Internet, the World Wide Web, advanced searching and linking techniques. These informatics advances simplified and improved access to electronic information and reduced costs, which enabled inter-organizational collaborations to build and maintain large international information resources and also aided outreach and education efforts The demonstrated benefits of free access to electronic biomedical information encouraged the development of public policies that further increase the amount of information available. Conclusions Continuing rapid growth of publicly accessible electronic biomedical information presents tremendous opportunities and challenges, including the need to ensure uninterrupted access during disasters or emergencies and to manage digital resources so they remain available for future generations. PMID:18587496

  9. Development of digital dashboard system for medical practice: maximizing efficiency of medical information retrieval and communication.

    PubMed

    Lee, Kee Hyuck; Yoo, Sooyoung; Shin, HoGyun; Baek, Rong-Min; Chung, Chin Youb; Hwang, Hee

    2013-01-01

    It is reported that digital dashboard systems in hospitals provide a user interface (UI) that can centrally manage and retrieve various information related to patients in a single screen, support the decision-making of medical professionals on a real time basis by integrating the scattered medical information systems and core work flows, enhance the competence and decision-making ability of medical professionals, and reduce the probability of misdiagnosis. However, the digital dashboard systems of hospitals reported to date have some limitations when medical professionals use them to generally treat inpatients, because those were limitedly used for the work process of certain departments or developed to improve specific disease-related indicators. Seoul National University Bundang Hospital developed a new concept of EMR system to overcome such limitations. The system allows medical professionals to easily access all information on inpatients and effectively retrieve important information from any part of the hospital by displaying inpatient information in the form of digital dashboard. In this study, we would like to introduce the structure, development methodology and the usage of our new concept.

  10. 77 FR 67595 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-13

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee (Committee) will hold... Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on December 3, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 5...

  11. Overcoming inertia: increasing public health departments' access to evidence-based information and promoting usage to inform practice.

    PubMed

    LaPelle, Nancy R; Dahlen, Karen; Gabella, Barbara A; Juhl, Ashley L; Martin, Elaine

    2014-01-01

    In 2010, the New England Region-National Network of Libraries of Medicine at University of Massachusetts Medical School received funding to improve information access for public health departments in 6 New England states and Colorado. Public health departments were provided with desktop digital access to licensed e-resources available through special pricing. In January through mid-April 2012, we evaluated the effectiveness of providing access to and training for using e-resources to public health department staff to motivate usage in practice. We found that additional strategies are needed to accomplish this.

  12. Internet and computer access and use for health information in an underserved community.

    PubMed

    Kind, Terry; Huang, Zhihuan J; Farr, Deeonna; Pomerantz, Karyn L

    2005-01-01

    The "digital divide" is the gap between those with access to information tools such as the Internet and those without access. The gap has been described by income, education, age, and race. Little information exists on computer and Internet access and use for health information by parents, particularly among populations of low income and low education level. To describe computer and Internet access and use, including health information retrieval, among low-income, urban, African American caregivers (parents). Cross-sectional survey administered in pediatric waiting rooms of urban community-based health centers in a low-income area. Caregivers of pediatric outpatients. Access to computers, Internet access, and use of Internet for health information. In 2003, among 260 African Americans who completed surveys, 58% had a computer and 41% had home Internet access. Fifty-two percent had used the Internet for finding health information. Ninety-three percent agreed or strongly agreed that there is useful health information on the Internet. Ninety-two percent agreed or strongly agreed that they would want to talk with a medical professional about health information on the Internet. Sixty-five percent of respondents had no additional schooling after high school. Annual household income was access were significantly higher in caregivers with higher education and income. Most pediatric patients' families have home computers and believe there is useful health information on the Internet, even among low-income and traditionally underserved populations. Most would like to discuss Internet-based health information with their providers.

  13. Enabling Access to Medical and Health Education in Rwanda Using Mobile Technology: Needs Assessment for the Development of Mobile Medical Educator Apps

    PubMed Central

    Tomaszewski, Brian; Dusabejambo, Vincent; Ndayiragije, Vincent; Gonsalves, Snedden; Sawant, Aishwarya; Mumararungu, Angeline; Gasana, George; Amendezo, Etienne; Haake, Anne; Mutesa, Leon

    2016-01-01

    Background Lack of access to health and medical education resources for doctors in the developing world is a serious global health problem. In Rwanda, with a population of 11 million, there is only one medical school, hence a shortage in well-trained medical staff. The growth of interactive health technologies has played a role in the improvement of health care in developed countries and has offered alternative ways to offer continuous medical education while improving patient's care. However, low and middle-income countries (LMIC) like Rwanda have struggled to implement medical education technologies adapted to local settings in medical practice and continuing education. Developing a user-centered mobile computing approach for medical and health education programs has potential to bring continuous medical education to doctors in rural and urban areas of Rwanda and influence patient care outcomes. Objective The aim of this study is to determine user requirements, currently available resources, and perspectives for potential medical education technologies in Rwanda. Methods Information baseline and needs assessments data collection were conducted in all 44 district hospitals (DHs) throughout Rwanda. The research team collected qualitative data through interviews with 16 general practitioners working across Rwanda and 97 self-administered online questionnaires for rural areas. Data were collected and analyzed to address two key questions: (1) what are the currently available tools for the use of mobile-based technology for medical education in Rwanda, and (2) what are user's requirements for the creation of a mobile medical education technology in Rwanda? Results General practitioners from different hospitals highlighted that none of the available technologies avail local resources such as the Ministry of Health (MOH) clinical treatment guidelines. Considering the number of patients that doctors see in Rwanda, an average of 32 patients per day, there is need for a

  14. Enabling Access to Medical and Health Education in Rwanda Using Mobile Technology: Needs Assessment for the Development of Mobile Medical Educator Apps.

    PubMed

    Rusatira, Jean Christophe; Tomaszewski, Brian; Dusabejambo, Vincent; Ndayiragije, Vincent; Gonsalves, Snedden; Sawant, Aishwarya; Mumararungu, Angeline; Gasana, George; Amendezo, Etienne; Haake, Anne; Mutesa, Leon

    2016-06-01

    Lack of access to health and medical education resources for doctors in the developing world is a serious global health problem. In Rwanda, with a population of 11 million, there is only one medical school, hence a shortage in well-trained medical staff. The growth of interactive health technologies has played a role in the improvement of health care in developed countries and has offered alternative ways to offer continuous medical education while improving patient's care. However, low and middle-income countries (LMIC) like Rwanda have struggled to implement medical education technologies adapted to local settings in medical practice and continuing education. Developing a user-centered mobile computing approach for medical and health education programs has potential to bring continuous medical education to doctors in rural and urban areas of Rwanda and influence patient care outcomes. The aim of this study is to determine user requirements, currently available resources, and perspectives for potential medical education technologies in Rwanda. Information baseline and needs assessments data collection were conducted in all 44 district hospitals (DHs) throughout Rwanda. The research team collected qualitative data through interviews with 16 general practitioners working across Rwanda and 97 self-administered online questionnaires for rural areas. Data were collected and analyzed to address two key questions: (1) what are the currently available tools for the use of mobile-based technology for medical education in Rwanda, and (2) what are user's requirements for the creation of a mobile medical education technology in Rwanda? General practitioners from different hospitals highlighted that none of the available technologies avail local resources such as the Ministry of Health (MOH) clinical treatment guidelines. Considering the number of patients that doctors see in Rwanda, an average of 32 patients per day, there is need for a locally adapted mobile education app

  15. User-Centered Indexing for Adaptive Information Access

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chen, James R.; Mathe, Nathalie

    1996-01-01

    We are focusing on information access tasks characterized by large volume of hypermedia connected technical documents, a need for rapid and effective access to familiar information, and long-term interaction with evolving information. The problem for technical users is to build and maintain a personalized task-oriented model of the information to quickly access relevant information. We propose a solution which provides user-centered adaptive information retrieval and navigation. This solution supports users in customizing information access over time. It is complementary to information discovery methods which provide access to new information, since it lets users customize future access to previously found information. It relies on a technique, called Adaptive Relevance Network, which creates and maintains a complex indexing structure to represent personal user's information access maps organized by concepts. This technique is integrated within the Adaptive HyperMan system, which helps NASA Space Shuttle flight controllers organize and access large amount of information. It allows users to select and mark any part of a document as interesting, and to index that part with user-defined concepts. Users can then do subsequent retrieval of marked portions of documents. This functionality allows users to define and access personal collections of information, which are dynamically computed. The system also supports collaborative review by letting users share group access maps. The adaptive relevance network provides long-term adaptation based both on usage and on explicit user input. The indexing structure is dynamic and evolves over time. Leading and generalization support flexible retrieval of information under similar concepts. The network is geared towards more recent information access, and automatically manages its size in order to maintain rapid access when scaling up to large hypermedia space. We present results of simulated learning experiments.

  16. The Use of BS7799 Information Security Standard to Construct Mechanisms for the Management of Medical Organization Information Security

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Shu-Fan; Chueh, Hao-En; Liao, Kuo-Hsiung

    According to surveys, 80 % of security related events threatening information in medical organizations is due to improper management. Most research on information security has focused on information and security technology, such as network security and access control; rarely addressing issues at the management issues. The main purpose of this study is to construct a BS7799 based mechanism for the management of information with regard to security as it applies to medical organizations. This study analyzes and identifies the most common events related to information security in medical organizations and categorizes these events as high-risk, transferable-risk, and controlled-risk to facilitate the management of such risk.

  17. Accessing the medical devices market in Egypt and Saudi Arabia: a systematic review of policies and regulations.

    PubMed

    Gad, Mohamed; Kriza, Christine; Fidler, Armin; Kolominsky-Rabas, Peter

    2016-07-01

    Despite the significant medical devices market size in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, information regarding policies and regulations for medical devices market access is highly deficient. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review on market access policies and regulations in both countries, to allow safe and timely access to medical technology. The following databases were searched: PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Al Manhal Arabic database. Additionally, the web portals of regulatory authorities of both countries were searched. There are 34 records included in the qualitative synthesis of this review. Expert commentary: Main findings include; adopted regulatory framework from reference countries, and interim main regulatory documents, In conclusion, the market access schemes are relatively structured. However, some recommendations are put forward to navigate towards a more comprehensive policy framework in both countries.

  18. Child Health and Access to Medical Care

    PubMed Central

    Leininger, Lindsey; Levy, Helen

    2016-01-01

    It might seem strange to ask whether increasing access to medical care can improve children’s health. Yet Lindsey Leininger and Helen Levy begin by pointing out that access to care plays a smaller role than we might think, and that many other factors, such as those discussed elsewhere in this issue, strongly influence children’s health. Nonetheless, they find that, on the whole, policies to improve access indeed improve children’s health, with the caveat that context plays a big role—medical care “matters more at some times, or for some children, than others.” Focusing on studies that can plausibly show a causal effect between policies to increase access and better health for children, and starting from an economic framework, they consider both the demand for and the supply of health care. On the demand side, they examine what happens when the government expands public insurance programs (such as Medicaid), or when parents are offered financial incentives to take their children to preventive appointments. On the supply side, they look at what happens when public insurance programs increase the payments that they offer to health-care providers, or when health-care providers are placed directly in schools where children spend their days. They also examine how the Affordable Care Act is likely to affect children’s access to medical care. Leininger and Levy reach three main conclusions. First, despite tremendous progress in recent decades, not all children have insurance coverage, and immigrant children are especially vulnerable. Second, insurance coverage alone doesn’t guarantee access to care, and insured children may still face barriers to getting the care they need. Finally, as this issue of Future of Children demonstrates, access to care is only one of the factors that policy makers should consider as they seek to make the nation’s children healthier. PMID:27516723

  19. Developing an informational tool for ethical engagement in medical tourism.

    PubMed

    Adams, Krystyna; Snyder, Jeremy; Crooks, Valorie A; Johnston, Rory

    2017-08-25

    Medical tourism, the practice of persons intentionally travelling across international boundaries to access medical care, has drawn increasing attention from researchers, particularly in relation to potential ethical concerns of this practice. Researchers have expressed concern for potential negative impacts to individual safety, public health within both countries of origin for medical tourists and destination countries, and global health equity. However, these ethical concerns are not discussed within the sources of information commonly provided to medical tourists, and as such, medical tourists may not be aware of these concerns when engaging in medical tourism. This paper describes the methodology utilized to develop an information sheet intended to be disseminated to Canadian medical tourists to encourage contemplation and further public discussion of the ethical concerns in medical tourism. The methodology for developing the information sheet drew on an iterative process to consider stakeholder feedback on the content and use of the information sheet as it might inform prospective medical tourists' decision making. This methodology includes a literature review as well as formative research with Canadian public health professionals and former medical tourists. The final information sheet underwent numerous revisions throughout the formative research process according to feedback from medical tourism stakeholders. These revisions focused primarily on making the information sheet concise with points that encourage individuals considering travelling for medical tourism to do further research regarding their safety both within the destination country, while travelling, and once returning to Canada, and the potential impacts of their trip on third parties. This methodology may be replicated for the development of information sheets intending to communicate ethical concerns of other practices to providers or consumers of a certain service.

  20. Health information security: a case study of three selected medical centers in iran.

    PubMed

    Hajrahimi, Nafiseh; Dehaghani, Sayed Mehdi Hejazi; Sheikhtaheri, Abbas

    2013-03-01

    Health Information System (HIS) is considered a unique factor in improving the quality of health care activities and cost reduction, but today with the development of information technology and use of internet and computer networks, patients' electronic records and health information systems have become a source for hackers. This study aims at checking health information security of three selected medical centers in Iran using AHP fuzzy and TOPSIS compound model. To achieve that security measures were identified, based on the research literature and decision making matrix using experts' points of view. Among the 27 indicators, seven indicators were selected as effective indicators and Fuzzy AHP technique was used to determine the importance of security indicators. Based on the comparisons made between the three selected medical centers to assess the security of health information, it is concluded that Chamran hospital has the most acceptable level of security and attention in three indicators of "verification and system design, user access management, access control system", Al Zahra Hospital in two indicators of "access management and network access control" and Amin Hospital in "equipment safety and system design". In terms of information security, Chamran Hospital ranked first, Al-Zahra Hospital ranked second and Al- Zahra hospital has the third place.

  1. Health Information Security: A Case Study of Three Selected Medical Centers in Iran

    PubMed Central

    Hajrahimi, Nafiseh; Dehaghani, Sayed Mehdi Hejazi; Sheikhtaheri, Abbas

    2013-01-01

    Health Information System (HIS) is considered a unique factor in improving the quality of health care activities and cost reduction, but today with the development of information technology and use of internet and computer networks, patients’ electronic records and health information systems have become a source for hackers. Methods This study aims at checking health information security of three selected medical centers in Iran using AHP fuzzy and TOPSIS compound model. To achieve that security measures were identified, based on the research literature and decision making matrix using experts’ points of view. Results and discussion Among the 27 indicators, seven indicators were selected as effective indicators and Fuzzy AHP technique was used to determine the importance of security indicators. Based on the comparisons made between the three selected medical centers to assess the security of health information, it is concluded that Chamran hospital has the most acceptable level of security and attention in three indicators of “verification and system design, user access management, access control system”, Al Zahra Hospital in two indicators of “access management and network access control” and Amin Hospital in “equipment safety and system design”. In terms of information security, Chamran Hospital ranked first, Al-Zahra Hospital ranked second and Al- Zahra hospital has the third place. PMID:23572861

  2. MedEx: a medication information extraction system for clinical narratives

    PubMed Central

    Stenner, Shane P; Doan, Son; Johnson, Kevin B; Waitman, Lemuel R; Denny, Joshua C

    2010-01-01

    Medication information is one of the most important types of clinical data in electronic medical records. It is critical for healthcare safety and quality, as well as for clinical research that uses electronic medical record data. However, medication data are often recorded in clinical notes as free-text. As such, they are not accessible to other computerized applications that rely on coded data. We describe a new natural language processing system (MedEx), which extracts medication information from clinical notes. MedEx was initially developed using discharge summaries. An evaluation using a data set of 50 discharge summaries showed it performed well on identifying not only drug names (F-measure 93.2%), but also signature information, such as strength, route, and frequency, with F-measures of 94.5%, 93.9%, and 96.0% respectively. We then applied MedEx unchanged to outpatient clinic visit notes. It performed similarly with F-measures over 90% on a set of 25 clinic visit notes. PMID:20064797

  3. Information system technologies' role in augmenting dermatologists' knowledge of prescription medication costs.

    PubMed

    DeMarco, Sebastian S; Paul, Ravi; Kilpatrick, Russell J

    2015-12-01

    Despite the recent rising costs of once affordable dermatologic prescription medications, a survey measuring dermatologists' attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge of the cost of drugs they commonly prescribe has not been conducted. Awareness of drug costs is hindered by a lack of access to data about the prices of medicines. No surveys of physicians have addressed this issue by proposing new information system technologies that augment prescription medication price transparency and measuring how receptive physicians are to using these novel solutions in their daily clinical practice. Our research aims to investigate these topics with a survey of physicians in dermatology. Members of the North Carolina Dermatology Association were contacted through their electronic mailing list and asked to take an online survey. The survey asked several questions about dermatologists' attitudes and beliefs about drug costs. To measure their knowledge of prescription medications, the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost was used as an authoritative price that was compared to the survey takers' price estimates of drugs commonly used in dermatology. Physicians' willingness to use four distinct information system technologies that increase drug price transparency was also assessed. Dermatologists believe drug costs are an important factor in patient care and believe access to price information would allow them to provide a higher quality of care. Dermatologists' knowledge of the costs of medicines they commonly prescribe is poor, but they want to utilize information system technologies that increase access to drug pricing information. There is an unmet demand for information system technologies which increase price transparency of medications in dermatology. Physicians and IT professionals have the opportunity to create novel information systems that can be utilized to help guide cost conscious clinical decision making. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Research Issues in Information Access.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Molholt, Pat

    1989-01-01

    Discusses traditional library approaches to access to information and the possible impact of information technologies, library automation, and artificial intelligence. Access issues raised by these technologies are identified and a research agenda to explore these issues is outlined. (31 references) (CLB)

  5. 76 FR 40454 - Proposed Information Collection (VSO Access to VHA Electronic Health Records) Activity; Comment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-08

    ... Access to VHA Electronic Health Records) Activity; Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Health Administration... Access to VHA Electronic Health Records, VA Form 10- 0400. OMB Control Number: 2900-0710. Type of Review... were granted power of attorney by veterans who have medical information recorded in VHA electronic...

  6. Indexing the medical open access literature for textual and content-based visual retrieval.

    PubMed

    Eggel, Ivan; Müller, Henning

    2010-01-01

    Over the past few years an increasing amount of scientific journals have been created in an open access format. Particularly in the medical field the number of openly accessible journals is enormous making a wide body of knowledge available for analysis and retrieval. Part of the trend towards open access publications can be linked to funding bodies such as the NIH1 (National Institutes of Health) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF2) requiring funded projects to make all articles of funded research available publicly. This article describes an approach to make part of the knowledge of open access journals available for retrieval including the textual information but also the images contained in the articles. For this goal all articles of 24 journals related to medical informatics and medical imaging were crawled from the web pages of BioMed Central. Text and images of the PDF (Portable Document Format) files were indexed separately and a web-based retrieval interface allows for searching via keyword queries or by visual similarity queries. Starting point for a visual similarity query can be an image on the local hard disk that is uploaded or any image found via the textual search. Search for similar documents is also possible.

  7. Bringing patient centricity to diabetes medication access in Canada

    PubMed Central

    Glennie, Judith L; Kovacs Burns, Katharina; Oh, Paul

    2016-01-01

    Canada must become proactive in addressing type 2 diabetes. With the second highest rate of diabetes prevalence in the developed world, the number of Canadians living with diabetes will soon reach epidemic levels. Against international comparisons, Canada also performs poorly with respect to diabetes-related hospitalizations, mortality rates, and access to medications. Diabetes and its comorbidities pose a significant burden on people with diabetes (PWD) and their families, through out-of-pocket expenses for medications, devices, supplies, and the support needed to manage their illness. Rising direct and indirect costs of diabetes will become a drain on Canada’s economy and undermine the financial stability of our health care system. Canada’s approach to diabetes medication assessment and funding has created a patchwork of medication access across provinces. Access to treatments for those who rely on public programs is highly restricted compared to Canadians with private drug plans, as well in contrast with public payers in other countries. Each person living with diabetes has different needs, so a “patient-centric” approach ensures treatment focused on individual circumstances. Such tailoring is difficult to achieve, with the linear approach required by public payers. We may be undermining optimal care for PWD because of access policies that are not aligned with individualized approaches – and increasing overall health care costs in the process. The scope of Canada’s diabetes challenge demands holistic and proactive solutions. Canada needs to get out from “behind the eight ball” and get “ahead of the curve” when it comes to diabetes care. Improving access to medications is one of the tools for getting there. Canada’s “call to action” for diabetes starts with effective implementation of existing best practices. A personalized approach to medication access, to meet individual needs and optimize outcomes, is also a key enabler. PWD and

  8. Poverty, Transportation Access, and Medication Nonadherence.

    PubMed

    Hensley, Caroline; Heaton, Pamela C; Kahn, Robert S; Luder, Heidi R; Frede, Stacey M; Beck, Andrew F

    2018-04-01

    Variability in primary medication nonadherence (PMN), or failure to fill a new prescription, influences disparities and widens equity gaps. This study sought to evaluate PMN across 1 metropolitan area and assess relationships with underlying zip code-level measures. This was a retrospective observational study using data extracted from 1 regional community pharmacy market-share leader (October 2016-April 2017). Data included patient age, sex, payer, medication type, and home zip code. This zip code was connected to US census measures enumerating poverty and vehicle access, which were treated as continuous variables and within quintiles. The prescription-level outcome was whether prescriptions were not filled within 30 days of reaching the pharmacy. The ecological-level outcome was PMN calculated for each zip code (numerator, unfilled prescriptions; denominator, received prescriptions). There were 213 719 prescriptions received by 54 included pharmacies; 12.2% were unfilled. Older children, boys, and those with public insurance were more likely to have prescriptions not filled. Prescriptions originating from the highest poverty quintile were significantly more likely to not be filled than those from the lowest poverty quintile (adjusted odds ratio 1.60; 95% confidence interval 1.52-1.69); a similar pattern was noted for vehicle access (adjusted odds ratio 1.77; 95% confidence interval 1.68-1.87). At the ecological level, there were significant, graded relationships between PMN rates and poverty and vehicle access (both P < .0001); these gradients extended across all medication classes. Poverty and vehicle access are related to significant differences in prescription- and ecological-level PMN across 1 metropolitan area. Pharmacists and pharmacies can be key partners in population health efforts. Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  9. A Cloud Computing Based Patient Centric Medical Information System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Agarwal, Ankur; Henehan, Nathan; Somashekarappa, Vivek; Pandya, A. S.; Kalva, Hari; Furht, Borko

    This chapter discusses an emerging concept of a cloud computing based Patient Centric Medical Information System framework that will allow various authorized users to securely access patient records from various Care Delivery Organizations (CDOs) such as hospitals, urgent care centers, doctors, laboratories, imaging centers among others, from any location. Such a system must seamlessly integrate all patient records including images such as CT-SCANS and MRI'S which can easily be accessed from any location and reviewed by any authorized user. In such a scenario the storage and transmission of medical records will have be conducted in a totally secure and safe environment with a very high standard of data integrity, protecting patient privacy and complying with all Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations.

  10. Comparing the quality of accessing medical literature using content-based visual and textual information retrieval

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Müller, Henning; Kalpathy-Cramer, Jayashree; Kahn, Charles E., Jr.; Hersh, William

    2009-02-01

    Content-based visual information (or image) retrieval (CBIR) has been an extremely active research domain within medical imaging over the past ten years, with the goal of improving the management of visual medical information. Many technical solutions have been proposed, and application scenarios for image retrieval as well as image classification have been set up. However, in contrast to medical information retrieval using textual methods, visual retrieval has only rarely been applied in clinical practice. This is despite the large amount and variety of visual information produced in hospitals every day. This information overload imposes a significant burden upon clinicians, and CBIR technologies have the potential to help the situation. However, in order for CBIR to become an accepted clinical tool, it must demonstrate a higher level of technical maturity than it has to date. Since 2004, the ImageCLEF benchmark has included a task for the comparison of visual information retrieval algorithms for medical applications. In 2005, a task for medical image classification was introduced and both tasks have been run successfully for the past four years. These benchmarks allow an annual comparison of visual retrieval techniques based on the same data sets and the same query tasks, enabling the meaningful comparison of various retrieval techniques. The datasets used from 2004-2007 contained images and annotations from medical teaching files. In 2008, however, the dataset used was made up of 67,000 images (along with their associated figure captions and the full text of their corresponding articles) from two Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) scientific journals. This article describes the results of the medical image retrieval task of the ImageCLEF 2008 evaluation campaign. We compare the retrieval results of both visual and textual information retrieval systems from 15 research groups on the aforementioned data set. The results show clearly that, currently

  11. The cost of accessing infant HIV medications and health services in Uganda.

    PubMed

    Bergmann, Julie N; Wanyenze, Rhoda K; Stockman, Jamila K

    2017-11-01

    Patient costs are a critical barrier to the elimination of mother to child HIV transmission. Despite the Ugandan government providing free public HIV services, infant antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis coverage remains low (25%). To understand costs mothers incur in accessing ARV prophylaxis for their infants, we conducted a mixed methods study to quantify and identify their direct costs. We used cross-sectional survey data and focus group discussions from 49 HIV-positive mothers in Uganda. Means and standard deviations were calculated for the direct costs (e.g., transportation, caretaker, services/medications) involved in accessing infant HIV services. The direct cost of attending HIV clinic visits averaged $3.71 (SD = $3.52). Focus group discussions identified two costs hindering access to infant HIV services: transportation costs and informal service charges. All participants reported significant costs associated with accessing infant HIV services - the equivalent of 2-3 days' income. To address transportation costs, community and home care models should be explored. Additionally, stricter policies and oversight should be implemented to prevent informal HIV service charges.

  12. Considering Governance for Patient Access to E-Medical Records.

    PubMed

    Day, Karen; Wells, Susan

    2015-01-01

    People having access to their medical records could have a transformative improvement effect on healthcare delivery and use. Our research aimed to explore the concerns and attitudes of giving people electronic access to their medical records through patient portals. We conducted 28 semi-structured interviews with 30 people, asking questions about portal design, organisational implications and governance. We report the findings of the governance considerations raised during the interviews. These revealed that (1) there is uncertainty about the possible design and extent of giving people access to their medical records to view/use, (2) existing policies about patient authentication, proxy, and privacy require modification, and (3) existing governance structures and functions require further examination and adjustment. Future research should include more input from patients and health informaticians.

  13. Child Health and Access to Medical Care

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leininger, Lindsey; Levy, Helen

    2015-01-01

    It might seem strange to ask whether increasing access to medical care can improve children's health. Yet Lindsey Leininger and Helen Levy begin by pointing out that access to care plays a smaller role than we might think, and that many other factors, such as those discussed elsewhere in this issue, strongly influence children's health.…

  14. Medical scientists' information practices in the research work context.

    PubMed

    Roos, Annikki

    2015-03-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the information practices of medical scientists in the research work context. This is a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and analysed in a web tool for qualitative analysis. Activity theory was used as the theoretical framework. The generating motives for the information related activity come from the core activity, research work. The motives result in actions such as searching and using information. Usability, accessibility and ease of use are the most important conditions that determine information related operations. Medical scientists search and use information most of all in the beginning and at the end of the research work. Information practices appear as an instrument producing activity to the central activity. Information services should be embedded in this core activity and in practice libraries should follow researchers' workflow and embed their tools and services in it. © 2015 Health Libraries Journal.

  15. Access to Medical Records.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cooper, Nancy

    Although confidentiality with regard to medical records is supposedly protected by the American Medical Associaton's principles of Ethics and the physician-patient privilege, there are a number of laws that require a physician to release patient information to public authorities without the patient's consent. These exceptions include birth and…

  16. MIMS - MEDICAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Frankowski, J. W.

    1994-01-01

    MIMS, Medical Information Management System is an interactive, general purpose information storage and retrieval system. It was first designed to be used in medical data management, and can be used to handle all aspects of data related to patient care. Other areas of application for MIMS include: managing occupational safety data in the public and private sectors; handling judicial information where speed and accuracy are high priorities; systemizing purchasing and procurement systems; and analyzing organizational cost structures. Because of its free format design, MIMS can offer immediate assistance where manipulation of large data bases is required. File structures, data categories, field lengths and formats, including alphabetic and/or numeric, are all user defined. The user can quickly and efficiently extract, display, and analyze the data. Three means of extracting data are provided: certain short items of information, such as social security numbers, can be used to uniquely identify each record for quick access; records can be selected which match conditions defined by the user; and specific categories of data can be selected. Data may be displayed and analyzed in several ways which include: generating tabular information assembled from comparison of all the records on the system; generating statistical information on numeric data such as means, standard deviations and standard errors; and displaying formatted listings of output data. The MIMS program is written in Microsoft FORTRAN-77. It was designed to operate on IBM Personal Computers and compatibles running under PC or MS DOS 2.00 or higher. MIMS was developed in 1987.

  17. The unethical focus on access: a study of medical ethics and the waiting-time guarantee.

    PubMed

    Karlberg, H I; Brinkmo, B-M

    2009-03-01

    All civilized societies favour ethical principles of equity. In healthcare, these principles generally focus on needs for medical care. Methods for establishing priorities among such needs are instrumental in this process. In this study, we analysed whether rules on access to healthcare, waiting-time guarantees, conflict with ethical principles of distributive justice. We interviewed directors, managers and other decision-makers of various healthcare providers of hospitals, primary care organizations and purchasing offices. We also conducted focus group interviews with professionals from a number of distinct medical areas. Our informants and their co-workers were reasonably familiar with the ethical platforms for priority-setting established by the Swedish parliament, giving the sickest patients complete priority. However, to satisfy the waiting-time guarantees, the informants often had to make priority decisions contrary to the ethical principles by favouring access before needs to keep waiting times within certain limits. The common opinion was that the waiting-time guarantee leads to crowding-out effects, overruling the ethical principles based on needs. For more than a decade, the interpretation in Sweden of the equitable principle based on medical needs has been distorted through political decisions, leading to healthcare providers giving priority to access rather than needs for care.

  18. [Local communalization of clinical records between the municipal community hospital and local medical institutes by using information technology].

    PubMed

    Iijima, Shohei; Shinoki, Keiji; Ibata, Takeshi; Nakashita, Chisako; Doi, Seiko; Hidaka, Kumi; Hata, Akiko; Matsuoka, Mio; Waguchi, Hideko; Mito, Saori; Komuro, Ryutaro

    2012-12-01

    We introduced the electronic health record system in 2002. We produced a community medical network system to consolidate all medical treatment information from the local institute in 2010. Here, we report on the present status of this system that has been in use for the previous 2 years. We obtained a private server, set up a virtual private network(VPN)in our hospital, and installed dedicated terminals to issue an electronic certificate in 50 local institutions. The local institute applies for patient agreement in the community hospital(hospital designation style). They are then entitled to access the information of the designated patient via this local network server for one year. They can access each original medical record, sorted on the basis of the medical attendant and the chief physician; a summary of hospital stay; records of medication prescription; and the results of clinical examinations. Currently, there are approximately 80 new registrations and accesses per month. Information is provided in real time allowing up to date information, helping prescribe the medical treatment at the local institute. However, this information sharing system is read-only, and there is no cooperative clinical pass system. Therefore, this system has a limit to meet the demand for cooperation with the local clinics.

  19. Medical care providers' perspectives on dental information needs in electronic health records.

    PubMed

    Acharya, Amit; Shimpi, Neel; Mahnke, Andrea; Mathias, Richard; Ye, Zhan

    2017-05-01

    The authors conducted this study to identify the most relevant patient dental information in a medical-dental integrated electronic health record (iEHR) necessary for medical care providers to inform holistic treatment. The authors collected input from a diverse sample of 65 participants from a large, regional health system representing 13 medical specialties and administrative units. The authors collected feedback from participants through 11 focus group sessions. Two independent reviewers analyzed focus group transcripts to identify major and minor themes. The authors identified 336 of 385 annotations that most medical care providers coded as relevant. Annotations strongly supporting relevancy to clinical practice aligned with 18 major thematic categories, with the top 6 categories being communication, appointments, system design, medications, treatment plan, and dental alerts. Study participants identified dental data of highest relevance to medical care providers and recommended implementation of user-friendly access to dental data in iEHRs as crucial to holistic care delivery. Identification of the patients' dental information most relevant to medical care providers will inform strategies for improving the integration of that information into the medical-dental iEHR. Copyright © 2017 American Dental Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. SIPP ACCESS: Information Tools Improve Access to National Longitudinal Panel Surveys.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robbin, Alice; David, Martin

    1988-01-01

    A computer-based, integrated information system incorporating data and information about the data, SIPP ACCESS systematically links technologies of laser disk, mainframe computer, microcomputer, and electronic networks, and applies relational technology to provide access to information about complex statistical data collections. Examples are given…

  1. 78 FR 77715 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Access to...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-24

    .... SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Access to Employee Exposure and Medical... Occupational Safety and Health Act authorizes this information collection. See 29 U.S.C. 651, 655, and 657...

  2. Medication abortion: Potential for improved patient access through pharmacies.

    PubMed

    Raifman, Sarah; Orlando, Megan; Rafie, Sally; Grossman, Daniel

    2018-05-08

    To discuss the potential for improving access to early abortion care through pharmacies in the United States. Despite the growing use of medications to induce termination of early pregnancy, pharmacist involvement in abortion care is currently limited. The Food and Drug Administration's Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for Mifeprex® (mifepristone 200 mg), the principal drug used in early medication abortion, prohibits the dispensing of the drug by prescription at pharmacies. This commentary reviews the pharmacology of medication abortion with the use of mifepristone and misoprostol, as well as aspects of service delivery and data on safety, efficacy, and acceptability. Given its safety record, mifepristone no longer fits the profile of a drug that requires an REMS. The recent implementation of pharmacy dispensing of mifepristone in community pharmacies in Australia and some provinces of Canada has improved access to medication abortion by increasing the number of medication abortion providers, particularly in rural areas. Provision of mifepristone in pharmacies, which involves dispensing and patient counseling, would likely improve access to early abortion in the United States without increasing risks to women. Copyright © 2018 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Information needs research in the era of the digital medical library.

    PubMed Central

    Lomax, E. C.; Lowe, H. J.

    1998-01-01

    The rapid adoption of Internet-accessible information resources by the clinical community, has resulted in an exponential growth in the variety and type of clinical information resources along with an increasing diversity of information technologies to deliver clinical information. To date, little formal work has been done to investigate the significance of new information technologies such as Internet-based digital libraries and multimedia record systems on clinical information need or information seeking behavior. In the work described in this paper, we highlight some results from our recent multimethod research design and investigation of the information-seeking behavior of Pittsburgh area medical oncologists to argue for the use of a multimethod research design as an essential component of any investigation of clinical information need and information-seeking behavior in the era of the digital medical library. PMID:9929301

  4. Evaluation of information literacy status among medical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.

    PubMed

    Bazrafkan, Leila; Hayat, Ali Asghar; Abbasi, Karim; Bazrafkan, Aghdas; Rohalamini, Azadeh; Fardid, Mozhgan

    2017-01-01

    The information literacy status and the use of information technology among students in the globalization age of course plans are very momentous. This study aimed to evaluate the information literacy status and use of information technology among medical students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2013. This was a descriptive-analytical study with cross-sectional method. The study population consisted of all medical students (physiopathology, externship and internship) studying at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The sample size (n=310) was selected by systematic random sampling. The tool of data gathering was LASSI questionnaire (assigned by America research association) with 48 closed items in five-point LIKERT scale. The questionnaire included two distinct parts of demographic questions and the information literacy skills based on the standards of information literacy capacities for academic education. The content validity was acquired by professors' and experts' comments. The reliability was also calculated by Cronbach'salpha (0.85). Data were analyzed in both descriptive (frequency- mean) and analytical level (t-test, analysis of variance) using SPSS 14 software. 60.3% of the participants were females, and the remaining (29.7%) were males. The mean score of information literacy and its five subgroups among the students weren't at a desirable level. The mean scores of information literacy for educational grades from the highest to lowest belonged to the internship, physiopathology and externship. The results showed that the highest average was related to the effective access ability to information among interns (9.27±3.57) and the lowest one was related to the ability of understanding legal and economical cases related with using information among externs (3.11±1.32).The results of ANOVA showed that there wasn't a significant difference between educational grades and information literacy. Finally, the result of independent t-test did not show a

  5. Navy Occupational Health Information Management System (NOHIMS). Medical Exam Scheduling Module. Operators’ Guide

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-01-16

    Management System (NOHIMS) Industrial Hygiene (IH) Component database in order to perform these functions: (1) enroll and remove employees from Medical...The Medical Examination Scheduling (MES) module consists of a list of options that allow users to access the Navy Occupational Health Information

  6. Navy Occupational Health Information Management System (NOHIMS). Medical Exam Scheduling Module. Users’ Manual

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-01-16

    Management System (HOHIMS) Industrial Hygiene (IH) Component database in order to perform these functions: (1) enroll and remove employees from Medical...The Medical Examination Scheduling (MES) module consists of a list of options that allow users to access the Navy Occupational Health Information

  7. [Italian physician's needs for medical information. Retrospective analysis of the medical information service provided by Novartis Pharma to clinicians].

    PubMed

    Speroni, Elisabetta; Poggi, Susanna; Vinaccia, Vincenza

    2013-10-01

    The physician's need for medical information updates has been studied extensively in recent years but the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry on this need has rarely been considered. This paper reports the results of a retrospective analysis of the medical information service provided to Italian physicians by an important pharmaceutical company, Novartis Pharma, from 2004 to 2012. The results confirm clinicians' appreciation of a service that gives them access to tailored scientific documentation and the number of requests made to the network of medical representatives has been rising steadily, peaking whenever new drugs become available to physicians. The analysis confirms what -other international studies have ascertained, that most queries are about how to use the drugs and what their properties are. The results highlight some differences between different medical specialties: for example, proportionally, neurologists seem to be the most curious. This, as well as other interesting snippets, is worth further exploration. Despite its limits in terms of representativeness, what comes out of the study is the existence of an real unmet need for information by healthcare institutions and that the support offered by the pharmaceutical industry could be invaluable; its role could go well beyond that of a mere supplier to National Healthcare Systems, to that of being recognised as an active partner the process of ensuring balanced and evidence-based information. At the same time, closer appraisal of clinicians' needs could help the pharma industries to improve their communication and educational strategies in presenting their latest clinical research and their own products.

  8. Can community health workers play a greater role in increasing access to medical abortion services? A qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Pallavi; Iyengar, Sharad D; Ganatra, Bela; Johnston, Heidi Bart; Iyengar, Kirti

    2017-05-25

    Despite being legally available in India since 1971, barriers to safe and legal abortion remain, and unsafe and/or illegal abortion continues to be a problem. Community health workers have been involved in improving access to health information and care for maternal and child health in resource poor settings, but their role in facilitating accurate information about and access to safe abortion has been relatively unexplored. A qualitative study was conducted in Rajasthan, India to study acceptability, perspectives and preferences of women and community health workers, regarding the involvement of community health workers in medical abortion referrals. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 women seeking early medical abortion at legal abortion facilities or presenting at these facilities for a follow-up assessment after medical abortion. Ten community health workers who were trained to assess eligibility for early medical abortion and/or to assess whether women needed a follow-up visit after early medical abortion were also interviewed. The transcripts were coded using ATLAS-ti 7 (version 7.1.4) in the local language and reports were generated for all the codes, emerging themes were identified and the findings were analysed. Community health workers (CHWs) were willing to play a role in assessing eligibility for medical abortion and in identifying women who are in need of follow-up care after early medical abortion, when provided with appropriate training, regular supplies and job aids. Women however had apprehensions about contacting CHWs in relation to abortions. Important barriers that prevented women from seeking information and assistance from community health workers were fear of breach of confidentiality and a perception that they would be pressurised to undergo sterilisation. Our findings support a potential for greater role of CHWs in making safe abortion information and services accessible to women, while highlighting the need to address women

  9. Mission Medical Information System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson-Throop, Kathy A.; Joe, John C.; Follansbee, Nicole M.

    2008-01-01

    This viewgraph presentation gives an overview of the Mission Medical Information System (MMIS). The topics include: 1) What is MMIS?; 2) MMIS Goals; 3) Terrestrial Health Information Technology Vision; 4) NASA Health Information Technology Needs; 5) Mission Medical Information System Components; 6) Electronic Medical Record; 7) Longitudinal Study of Astronaut Health (LSAH); 8) Methods; and 9) Data Submission Agreement (example).

  10. Information and informatics literacies of first-year medical students

    PubMed Central

    Bouquin, Daina R.; Tmanova, Lyubov L.; Wright, Drew

    2015-01-01

    Purpose The study evaluated medical students' familiarity with information literacy and informatics during the health sciences library orientation. Methods A survey was fielded at the start of the 2013 school year. Results Seventy-two of 77 students (94%) completed the survey. Over one-half (57%) expected to use library research materials and services. About half (43%) expected to use library physical space. Students preferred accessing biomedical research on laptops and learning via online-asynchronous modes. Conclusions The library identified areas for service development and outreach to medical students and academic departments. PMID:26512221

  11. Accessible information for people with complex communication needs.

    PubMed

    Owens, Janet S

    2006-09-01

    Information can be empowering if it is accessible. While a number of known information access barriers have been reported for the broader group of people with disabilities, specific information issues for people with complex communication needs have not been previously reported. In this consumer-focused study, the accessibility of information design and dissemination practices were discussed by 17 people with complex communication needs; by eight parents, advocates, therapists, and agency representatives in focus groups; and by seven individuals in individual interviews. Participants explored issues and made recommendations for content, including language, visual and audio supports; print accessibility; physical access; and human support for information access. Consumer-generated accessibility guidelines were an outcome of this study.

  12. The right to information and their exceptions in medical practices in the Iranian legal system.

    PubMed

    Sheykh-Talimi, Maysam; Shariati-Nasab, Sadegh; Zare, Mohammad Kazem; Omani-Samani, Reza

    2016-01-01

    The right to information Act was implemented in the Iranian legal system through accession of the Merida Convention ensuring the right to information as a fundamental right for the public. One significant aspects of this subject is the ratification of the "Disclosure and Access to Information Act" by which it is recognized as a right of all Persian individuals and citizens to access state-held information in Iran administration. The Iranian legislature, with regard to the role of access to information and its significance, clarified the scope, permitted subjects of access, and exceptions of the right to state-held information. In this essay, we will discuss the legal aspects and scope of ensuring access to medical information in the Iranian statutes and their exceptions. It is argued that the Iranian legislation ensures the principle of maximum disclosure, while sensitive subjects', specially classified and private information, are exempted. Therefore, the related rules in Iran's statutes not only do not threaten patient's information, but also protect them by criminalizing the breaching of the mentioned right.

  13. Airway management and vascular access simulation during a medical student rotation.

    PubMed

    Sakawi, Yasser; Vetter, Thomas R

    2011-03-01

    Medical students electing to spend a month in anaesthesiology during their third or fourth year often experience airway management and vascular access for the first time on an actual patient. An airway management and vascular access simulation course for medical students was developed and implemented at our institution. The purpose of this study was to assess the subjective comfort level after implementing this teaching tool in medical students. A brief didactic course on airway management and vascular access was provided to medical students on the first day of their anaesthesiology rotation. A survey was presented to the students immediately after a focused 1-hour lecture and prior to a simulation session. The pre-simulation survey was comprised of eight questions asking the medical students to rate their level of comfort with both types of procedures. The lecture was followed by a 1-hour simulation course on manikins. The medical students were asked to complete a post-simulation survey, which was comprised of the same initial eight questions. After participating in the didactic course and manikin simulation, the self-perceived comfort level of medical students with airway management (p < 0.0005), vascular access (p < 0.0005) and interpretation of the vascular pressure waveforms (p < 0.0005) demonstrated significant improvement. The results of this study suggest that providing medical students with a brief didactic session on airway and vascular access, including simulation on manikins, prior to the start of their encounter with actual surgical patients, can improve their comfort level in performing both procedures. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

  14. Trends in Research on the Security of Medical Information in Korea: Focused on Information Privacy Security in Hospitals.

    PubMed

    Kim, Yong-Woon; Cho, Namin; Jang, Hye-Jung

    2018-01-01

    Information technology involves a risk of privacy violation in providing easy access to confidential information,such as personal information and medical information through the Internet. In this study, we investigated medical information security to gain a better understanding of trends in research related to medical information security. We researched papers published on '의료정보' and 'medical information' in various Korean journals during a 10-year period from 2005 to 2015. We also analyzed these journal papers for each fiscal year; these papers were categorized into the areas of literature research and empirical research, and were further subdivided according to themes and subjects. It was confirmed that 48 papers were submitted to 35 academic journals. There were 33 (68.8%) literature review articles, and analysis of secondary data was not carried out at all. In terms of empirical research, 8 (16.7%) surveys and 7 (14.6%) program developments were studied. As a result of analyzing these papers according to the research theme by research method, 17 (35.4%) papers on laws, systems, and policies were the most numerous. It was found that among the literature research papers on medical personnel were the most common, and among the empirical research papers, research on experts in information protection and medical personnel were the most common. We suggest that further research should be done in terms of social perception, human resource development, and technology development to improve risk management in medical information systems.

  15. State secrets: access to information under the Human Reproductive Technology Act 1991 (WA).

    PubMed

    Tarrant, Stella

    2002-02-01

    Many Australian children have a biological father who gave his sperm so that the child's mother could conceive and raise them. Many of these children, and their parent(s), do not know who that biological father is. However, some want to know. The article examines the Western Australian law on access to information about the identity of parties in these arrangements. It is argued that there is an implied right to access identifying information where all parties consent to the exchange of information; that this right has been ignored in official and medical practice and opportunities for good record-keeping missed; and that the current law allows a parent to give consent to the exchange of identifying information on behalf of their child at any time after the child is conceived.

  16. 76 FR 56503 - Agency Information Collection Activity (VSO Access to VHA Electronic Health Records) Under OMB...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-13

    ... power of attorney by veterans who have medical information recorded in VHA electronic health records... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0710] Agency Information Collection Activity (VSO Access to VHA Electronic Health Records) Under OMB Review AGENCY: Veterans Health Administration...

  17. An Intelligent Terminal for Access to a Medical Database

    PubMed Central

    Womble, M. E.; Wilson, S. D.; Keiser, H. N.; Tworek, M. L.

    1978-01-01

    Very powerful data base management systems (DBMS) now exist which allow medical personnel access to patient record data bases. DBMS's make it easy to retrieve either complete or abbreviated records of patients with similar characteristics. In addition, statistics on data base records are immediately accessible. However, the price of this power is a large computer with the inherent problems of access, response time, and reliability. If a general purpose, time-shared computer is used to get this power, the response time to a request can be either rapid or slow, depending upon loading by other users. Furthermore, if the computer is accessed via dial-up telephone lines, there is competition with other users for telephone ports. If either the DBMS or the host machine is replaced, the medical users, who are typically not sophisticated in computer usage, are forced to learn the new system. Microcomputers, because of their low cost and adaptability, lend themselves to a solution of these problems. A microprocessor-based intelligent terminal has been designed and implemented at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine to provide a transparent interface between the user and his data base. The intelligent terminal system includes multiple microprocessors, floppy disks, a CRT terminal, and a printer. Users interact with the system at the CRT terminal using menu selection (framing). The system translates the menu selection into the query language of the DBMS and handles all actual communication with the DBMS and its host computer, including telephone dialing and sign on procedures, as well as the actual data base query and response. Retrieved information is stored locally for CRT display, hard copy production, and/or permanent retention. Microprocessor-based communication units provide security for sensitive medical data through encryption/decryption algorithms and high reliability error detection transmission schemes. Highly modular software design permits adapation to a

  18. Open access in the patient-centered medical home: lessons from the Veterans Health Administration.

    PubMed

    True, Gala; Butler, Anneliese E; Lamparska, Bozena G; Lempa, Michele L; Shea, Judy A; Asch, David A; Werner, Rachel M

    2013-04-01

    The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has undertaken a 5-year initiative to transform to a patient-centered medical home model. An early focus of implementation was on creating open access, defined as continuity and capacity in primary care. We describe the impact of readiness for implementation on efforts of pilot teams to make changes to improve access and identify successful strategies used by early adopters to overcome barriers to change. A qualitative, formative evaluation of the first 18 months of implementation in one Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) spread across six states. Members of local implementation teams including administrators, primary care providers, and staff from primary care clinics located at 10 medical centers and 45 outpatient clinics. We conducted site visits during the first 6 months of implementation, observations at Learning Collaboratives, semi-structured interviews, and review of internal organizational documents. All data collection took place between April 2010 and December 2011. Early adopters employed various strategies to enhance access, with a focus on decreasing demand for face-to-face care, increasing supply of different types of primary care encounters, and improving clinic efficiencies. Our interviews with key contacts revealed three important areas where readiness for implementation (or lack thereof) had an impact on interventions to improve access: leadership engagement, staffing resources, and access to information and knowledge. Key factors related to readiness for implementation had an impact on which interventions pilot teams could put into place, as well as the viability and sustainability of access gains. Wide variations in interventions to improve access occurring across sites situated within one organization have important implications for efforts to measure the impact of enhanced access on patient outcomes, costs, and other systems-level indicators of the Medical Home.

  19. [From library to clinical decision support systems: access of general practitioner to quality information].

    PubMed

    Fauquert, B

    2012-09-01

    Since 2003, the following tools have been implemented in Belgium for improving the access of general practioners to the EBM literature: the Digital Library for Health and the evidence-linker of the CEBAM, the portal EBMPracticeNet.be and the multidimensional electronic clinical decision support EBMeDS. The aim of this article is to show the progress achieved in the information dissemination toward the belgian general practioners, particularly the access from the electronic health record. From the literature published these last years, the opportunities cited by the users are for using EBM and the strong willingness for using these literature access in the future; the limits are the medical data coding, the irrelevance of the search results, the alerts fatigue induced by EBMeDS. The achievements done and planned for the new EBMPracticeNet guidelines portal and the EBMeDS system are explained in the aim of informing belgian healthcare professionals. These projects are claiming for lauching a participatory process in the production and dissemination of EBM information. The discussion is focused on the belgian healthcare system advantages, the solutions for a reasonable implementation of these projects and for increasing the place of an evidence-based information in the healthcare decision process. Finally the input of these projects to the continuing medical education and to the healthcare quality are discussed, in a context of multifactorial interaction healthcare design (complexity design).

  20. Accessible medical equipment for patients with disabilities in primary care clinics: why is it lacking?

    PubMed

    Pharr, Jennifer

    2013-04-01

    Previous research has identified inaccessible medical equipment as a barrier to health care services encountered by people with disabilities. However, no research has been conducted to understand why medical practices lack accessible equipment. The purpose of this study was to examine practice administrators' knowledge of accessible medical equipment and cost of accessible medical equipment to understand why medical practices lack such equipment. Hypotheses were: 1) Practice administrators lacked knowledge about accessible medical equipment and 2) The cost of accessible medical equipment was too great compared to standard equipment for the clinic. This study was a mixed methods survey of primary care practice administrators. The sixty-three participates were members of a medical management organization. Data were collected between December 20, 2011 and January 17, 2012. Proportions, Guttman scalogram, and Spearman's Rho correlation analyses were utilized. For this sample, less than half of the administrators knew that accessible equipment existed and a fourth knew what accessible equipment existed. There was a significant (p < 0.01), positive correlation between knowledge of accessible equipment and pieces of accessible equipment in the clinics. Because less than half of the administrators had ever considered purchasing accessible equipment, it was inconclusive if cost of accessible equipment was too great. Practice administrators' lack of knowledge of accessible medical equipment emphasizes the need not only for more education about the availability of accessible equipment but also about the importance of accessible equipment for their patients with disabilities and for physicians who provide them care. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Medication coverage for lawmakers may worsen access for everyone else.

    PubMed

    Taglione, Michael S; Boozary, Andrew; Persaud, Nav

    2018-03-01

    Despite numerous recommendations for universal public coverage of prescription drugs in Canada based on evidence that millions of Canadians cannot afford medications, no province or territory has adopted first dollar coverage for all residents. However, one group unaffected by the lack of public coverage are lawmakers. Lawmakers receive excellent drug coverage plans for themselves and their immediate families. Evidence suggests that lawmakers' decisions are influenced by their personal circumstances; in this case, they are insulated from the effects of poor access to medications by their drug coverage plans. In contrast, a patchwork system of 46 programs across Canada provides some drug coverage to vulnerable populations. Reducing the disparity in prescription drug access between Canadian lawmakers and the public may promote progress towards better medication access for everyone. This could be achieved either by reducing lawmaker coverage or improving upon the public patchwork system. Since the goal should be to improve the overall access of medications for all Canadians, lawmakers included, the latter method is preferred. A universal drug plan with first dollar coverage could replace the current patchwork system and expand coverage to all Canadians. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Sociotechnical challenges to developing technologies for patient access to health information exchange data

    PubMed Central

    Ancker, Jessica S; Miller, Melissa C; Patel, Vaishali; Kaushal, Rainu

    2014-01-01

    Background Providing patients with access to their medical data is widely expected to help educate and empower them to manage their own health. Health information exchange (HIE) infrastructures could potentially help patients access records across multiple healthcare providers. We studied three HIE organizations as they developed portals to give consumers access to HIE data previously exchanged only among healthcare organizations. Objective To follow the development of new consumer portal technologies, and to identify barriers and facilitators to patient access to HIE data. Methods Semistructured interviews of 15 key informants over a 2-year period spanning the development and early implementation of three new projects, coded according to a sociotechnical framework. Results As the organizations tried to develop functionality that fully served the needs of both providers and patients, plans were altered by technical barriers (primarily related to data standardization) and cultural and legal issues surrounding data access. Organizational changes also played an important role in altering project plans. In all three cases, patient access to data was significantly scaled back from initial plans. Conclusions This prospective study revealed how sociotechnical factors previously identified as important in health information technology success and failure helped to shape the evolution of three novel consumer informatics projects. Barriers to providing patients with seamless access to their HIE data were multifactorial. Remedies will have to address technical, organizational, cultural, and other factors. PMID:24064443

  3. Accelerating global access to plant diversity information.

    PubMed

    Lughadha, Eimear Nic; Miller, Chuck

    2009-11-01

    Botanic gardens play key roles in the development and dissemination of plant information resources. Drivers for change have included progress in information technology, growing public expectations of electronic access and international conservation policy. Great advances have been made in the quantity, quality and accessibility of plant information in digital form and the extent to which information from multiple providers can be accessed through a single portal. However, significant challenges remain to be addressed in making botanic gardens resources maximally accessible and impactful, not least the overwhelming volume of material which still awaits digitisation. The year 2010 represents an opportunity for botanic gardens to showcase their collaborative achievements in delivery of electronic plant information and reinforce their relevance to pressing environmental issues.

  4. Access, attitudes and training in information technologies and evidence-based medicine among medical students at University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences.

    PubMed

    Parve, Swapnil; Ershadi, Ali; Karimov, Alexandr; Dougherty, Anne; Ndhlovu, Chiratidzo E; Chidzonga, Midion M; Sadigh, Majid

    2016-09-01

    The Medical Education Partnership Initiative, has helped to mitigate the digital divide in Africa. The aim of the study was to assess the level of access, attitude, and training concerning meaningful use of electronic resources and EBM among medical students at an African medical school. The study involved medical students at the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Harare. The needs assessment tool consisted of a 21-question, paper-based, voluntary and anonymous survey. A total of 61/67 (91%), responded to the survey. 60% of the medical students were 'third-year medical students'. Among medical students, 85% of responders had access to digital medical resources, but 54% still preferred printed medical textbooks. Although 25% of responders had received training in EBM, but only 7% found it adequate. 98% of the participants did not receive formal training in journal club presentation or analytical reading of medical literature, but 77 % of them showed interest in learning these skills. Lack of training in EBM, journal club presentation and analytical reading skills have limited the impact of upgraded technology in enhancing the level of knowledge. This impact can be boosted by developing a curriculum with skills necessary in using EBM.

  5. An evaluation of emergency medicine investigators' views on open access to medical literature.

    PubMed

    Rodriguez, R M; Wong, J; Hardy, J; Frankel, E

    2006-12-01

    Scientists and governmental agencies have called for free universal access to research publications via the internet--open access. To examine the current medical literature reading practices of emergency medicine investigators (EMIs) and their views towards open access. Surveys were mailed to the 212 corresponding authors of all original research articles published in years 2002 and 2003 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, Academic Emergency Medicine and The Journal of Emergency Medicine. The most commonly read forms of medical literature reported by the 129 (61%) EMI respondents were hard-copy medical journals and online literature review services. 59% of EMIs were in favour of open access; 58% stated they would read a wider variety of medical literature; 21% believed open access would improve the quality of publications and 39% thought it would decrease the quality. When asked how a US 1500 dollars fee for open access would affect their ability to publish research, 69% said it would greatly impede and 19% said it would slightly impede their research. Despite concerns that open access may impede their ability to publish research and decrease the quality of publications, most EMIs surveyed favoured open access. They believed open access would increase and broaden their medical literature reading.

  6. Pharmacy Accessibility and Cost-Related Underuse of Prescription Medications in Low-Income Black and Hispanic Urban Communities

    PubMed Central

    Qato, Dima Mazen; Wilder, Jocelyn; Zenk, Shannon; Davis, Andrew; Makelarski, Jennifer; Lindau, Stacy Tessler

    2016-01-01

    Background Policy efforts to reduce the cost of prescription medications in the U.S. have failed to reduce disparities in cost-related underuse. Little is known about the relationships between pharmacy accessibility, utilization and cost-related underuse of prescription medications among residents of low-income minority communities. Objectives To examine the association between pharmacy accessibility, utilization and cost-related underuse of prescription medications among residents of predominantly low-income, Black and Hispanic urban communities. Methods Data from a population-based probability sample of adults 35 years and older residing on the South Side of Chicago in 2012–13 were linked with geocoded information on the type and location of primary and nearest pharmacy. Multivariable regression models were used to examine associations between pharmacy accessibility, utilization of, and travel distance to, primary pharmacy and cost-related underuse overall and by pharmacy type. Results One-third of South Side residents primarily filled their prescriptions at the pharmacy nearest to their home. Among those who did not use mail order, median distance traveled from home to the primary pharmacy was 1.2 miles. Residents whose primary pharmacy was at a community health center or clinic where they usually received care traveled the furthest but were least likely to report cost-related underuse of their prescription medications. Conclusions Most residents of minority communities on Chicago’s South Side were not using pharmacies closest to their home to obtain their prescription medications. Efforts to improve access to prescription medications in these communities should focus on improving the accessibility of affordable pharmacies at site of care. PMID:28153704

  7. How Medical Tourism Enables Preferential Access to Care: Four Patterns from the Canadian Context.

    PubMed

    Snyder, Jeremy; Johnston, Rory; Crooks, Valorie A; Morgan, Jeff; Adams, Krystyna

    2017-06-01

    Medical tourism is the practice of traveling across international borders with the intention of accessing medical care, paid for out-of-pocket. This practice has implications for preferential access to medical care for Canadians both through inbound and outbound medical tourism. In this paper, we identify four patterns of medical tourism with implications for preferential access to care by Canadians: (1) Inbound medical tourism to Canada's public hospitals; (2) Inbound medical tourism to a First Nations reserve; (3) Canadian patients opting to go abroad for medical tourism; and (4) Canadian patients traveling abroad with a Canadian surgeon. These patterns of medical tourism affect preferential access to health care by Canadians by circumventing domestic regulation of care, creating jurisdictional tensions over the provision of health care, and undermining solidarity with the Canadian health system.

  8. Secure medical information sharing in cloud computing.

    PubMed

    Shao, Zhiyi; Yang, Bo; Zhang, Wenzheng; Zhao, Yi; Wu, Zhenqiang; Miao, Meixia

    2015-01-01

    Medical information sharing is one of the most attractive applications of cloud computing, where searchable encryption is a fascinating solution for securely and conveniently sharing medical data among different medical organizers. However, almost all previous works are designed in symmetric key encryption environment. The only works in public key encryption do not support keyword trapdoor security, have long ciphertext related to the number of receivers, do not support receiver revocation without re-encrypting, and do not preserve the membership of receivers. In this paper, we propose a searchable encryption supporting multiple receivers for medical information sharing based on bilinear maps in public key encryption environment. In the proposed protocol, data owner stores only one copy of his encrypted file and its corresponding encrypted keywords on cloud for multiple designated receivers. The keyword ciphertext is significantly shorter and its length is constant without relation to the number of designated receivers, i.e., for n receivers the ciphertext length is only twice the element length in the group. Only the owner knows that with whom his data is shared, and the access to his data is still under control after having been put on the cloud. We formally prove the security of keyword ciphertext based on the intractability of Bilinear Diffie-Hellman problem and the keyword trapdoor based on Decisional Diffie-Hellman problem.

  9. 77 FR 39656 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-07-05

    ...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY... Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The first meeting of the committee will be held at a... Equipment Accessibility Standards. See 77 FR 14706 (March 13, 2012). Section 510 of the Rehabilitation Act...

  10. Evaluation of information literacy status among medical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

    PubMed Central

    BAZRAFKAN, LEILA; HAYAT, ALI ASGHAR; ABBASI, KARIM; BAZRAFKAN, AGHDAS; ROHALAMINI, AZADEH; FARDID, MOZHGAN

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: The information literacy status and the use of information technology among students in the globalization age of course plans are very momentous. This study aimed to evaluate the information literacy status and use of information technology among medical students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study with cross-sectional method. The study population consisted of all medical students (physiopathology, externship and internship) studying at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The sample size (n=310) was selected by systematic random sampling. The tool of data gathering was LASSI questionnaire (assigned by America research association) with 48 closed items in five-point LIKERT scale. The questionnaire included two distinct parts of demographic questions and the information literacy skills based on the standards of information literacy capacities for academic education. The content validity was acquired by professors’ and experts’ comments. The reliability was also calculated by Cronbach’salpha (0.85). Data were analyzed in both descriptive (frequency- mean) and analytical level (t-test, analysis of variance) using SPSS 14 software. Results: 60.3% of the participants were females, and the remaining (29.7%) were males. The mean score of information literacy and its five subgroups among the students weren’t at a desirable level. The mean scores of information literacy for educational grades from the highest to lowest belonged to the internship, physiopathology and externship. The results showed that the highest average was related to the effective access ability to information among interns (9.27±3.57) and the lowest one was related to the ability of understanding legal and economical cases related with using information among externs (3.11±1.32).The results of ANOVA showed that there wasn’t a significant difference between educational grades and information literacy. Finally, the

  11. [Design and Implementation of a Mobile Operating Room Information Management System Based on Electronic Medical Record].

    PubMed

    Liu, Baozhen; Liu, Zhiguo; Wang, Xianwen

    2015-06-01

    A mobile operating room information management system with electronic medical record (EMR) is designed to improve work efficiency and to enhance the patient information sharing. In the operating room, this system acquires the information from various medical devices through the Client/Server (C/S) pattern, and automatically generates XML-based EMR. Outside the operating room, this system provides information access service by using the Browser/Server (B/S) pattern. Software test shows that this system can correctly collect medical information from equipment and clearly display the real-time waveform. By achieving surgery records with higher quality and sharing the information among mobile medical units, this system can effectively reduce doctors' workload and promote the information construction of the field hospital.

  12. Nip, Tuck and Click: Medical Tourism and the Emergence of Web-Based Health Information

    PubMed Central

    Lunt, Neil; Hardey, Mariann; Mannion, Russell

    2010-01-01

    An emerging trend is what has become commonly known as ‘Medical Tourism’ where patients travel to overseas destinations for specialised surgical treatments and other forms of medical care. With the rise of more affordable cross-border travel and rapid technological developments these movements are becoming more commonplace. A key driver is the platform provided by the internet for gaining access to healthcare information and advertising. There has been relatively little attention given to the role and impact of web-based information to inform Medical Tourism decisions. This article provides a brief overview of the most recent development in Medical Tourism and examines how this is linked to the emergence of specialized internet web sites. It produces a summary of the functionality of medical tourist sites, and situates Medical Tourism informatics within the broader literatures relating to information search, information quality and decision-making. This paper is both a call to strengthen the empirical evidence in this area, and also to advocate integrating Medical Tourism research within a broader conceptual framework. PMID:20517465

  13. Nip, tuck and click: medical tourism and the emergence of web-based health information.

    PubMed

    Lunt, Neil; Hardey, Mariann; Mannion, Russell

    2010-02-12

    An emerging trend is what has become commonly known as 'Medical Tourism' where patients travel to overseas destinations for specialised surgical treatments and other forms of medical care. With the rise of more affordable cross-border travel and rapid technological developments these movements are becoming more commonplace. A key driver is the platform provided by the internet for gaining access to healthcare information and advertising. There has been relatively little attention given to the role and impact of web-based information to inform Medical Tourism decisions.This article provides a brief overview of the most recent development in Medical Tourism and examines how this is linked to the emergence of specialized internet web sites. It produces a summary of the functionality of medical tourist sites, and situates Medical Tourism informatics within the broader literatures relating to information search, information quality and decision-making.This paper is both a call to strengthen the empirical evidence in this area, and also to advocate integrating Medical Tourism research within a broader conceptual framework.

  14. Accession Medical Standards Analysis and Research Activity (AMSARA)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-01-01

    young adults with psychiatric disorders 15. SUBJECT TERMS Accession, medical, standards, attrition, waiver, discharge, hospitalization, disability...86 Research to Develop a Screening Test for Detection of Psychiatric Disorders in Young Adults ...secondary to organic or functional mental disorders that interfere with work or school after age 12 or current use of medication to improve or maintain

  15. 7 CFR 1789.160 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 12 2014-01-01 2013-01-01 true Access to information. 1789.160 Section 1789.160... Consultant Services Funded by Borrowers-General § 1789.160 Access to information. The Borrower shall not have rights in nor right of access to the work product of the Consultant. All analyses, studies, opinions...

  16. Chief medical officer actions on information security in an Italian rehabilitation centre.

    PubMed

    Reni, Gianluigi; Molteni, Massimo; Arlotti, Stefano; Pinciroli, Francesco

    2004-03-31

    In a multi-speciality rehabilitation centre, where child neuropsychiatrists, neurologists, physical rehabilitators, psychologists, nurses, therapists and other health care professionals actively care for patients, the moment will arrive when information security takes high priority on the chief medical officer (CMO) agenda. This has happened at the La Nostra Famiglia Institution. Local push to high priority arose from several concurrent forces, like privacy both on the patient and on the doctor side, legal and ethical aspects. Recommendations on the protection of medical data require appropriate technical and organisational measures to be taken to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alterations or any other form of inappropriate processing. In the same time quick and easy access to patient information should be granted to authorised personnel to ensure proper and in time treatment of patients. A long lasting sequence of co-operative negotiation meetings between the CMO and the chief information officer (CIO) led to appropriate outline of policies. We developed a suitable and modular architecture for designing systems that can simultaneously manage an increasing number of healthcare actors, objects and related access levels taking into account temporal conditions. Actions for keeping the prototype in use on an everyday basis are directly taken by the CMO.

  17. Security of electronic medical information and patient privacy: what you need to know.

    PubMed

    Andriole, Katherine P

    2014-12-01

    The responsibility that physicians have to protect their patients from harm extends to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of patient health information including that contained within radiological images. The intent of HIPAA and subsequent HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules is to keep patients' private information confidential while allowing providers access to and maintaining the integrity of relevant information needed to provide care. Failure to comply with electronic protected health information (ePHI) regulations could result in financial or criminal penalties or both. Protected health information refers to anything that can reasonably be used to identify a patient (eg, name, age, date of birth, social security number, radiology examination accession number). The basic tools and techniques used to maintain medical information security and patient privacy described in this article include physical safeguards such as computer device isolation and data backup, technical safeguards such as firewalls and secure transmission modes, and administrative safeguards including documentation of security policies, training of staff, and audit tracking through system logs. Other important concepts related to privacy and security are explained, including user authentication, authorization, availability, confidentiality, data integrity, and nonrepudiation. Patient privacy and security of medical information are critical elements in today's electronic health care environment. Radiology has led the way in adopting digital systems to make possible the availability of medical information anywhere anytime, and in identifying and working to eliminate any risks to patients. Copyright © 2014 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Assessing evidence of inequalities in access to medication for diabetic populations in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

    PubMed Central

    Christiani, Yodi; Dhippayom, Teerapon; Chaiyakunapruk, Nathorn

    2016-01-01

    Background Inequalities in access to medications among people diagnosed with diabetes inlow- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a public health concern since untreated diabetes can lead to severe complications and premature death. Objective To assess evidence of inequalities in access to medication for diabetes in adult populations of people with diagnosed diabetes in LMICs. Design We conducted a systematic review of the literature using the PRISMA-Equity guidelines. A search of five databases – PubMed, Cochrane, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EMBASE – was conducted from inception to November 2015. Using deductive content analysis, information extracted from the selected articles was analysed according to the PRISMA-Equity guidelines, based on exposure variables (place of residence, race/ethnicity, occupation, gender, religion, education, socio-economic status, social capital, and others). Results Fifteen articles (seven quantitative and eight qualitative studies) are included in this review. There were inconsistent findings between studies conducted in different countries and regions although financial and geographic barriers generally contributed to inequalities in access to diabetes medications. The poor, those with relatively low education, and people living in remote areas had less access to diabetes medications. Furthermore, we found that the level of government political commitment through primary health care and in the provision of essential medicines was an important factor in promoting access to medications. Conclusions The review indicates that inequalities exist in accessing medication among diabetic populations, although this was not evident in all LMICs. Further research is needed to assess the social determinants of health and medication access for people with diabetes in LMICs. PMID:27938647

  19. Trends in Research on the Security of Medical Information in Korea: Focused on Information Privacy Security in Hospitals

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Yong-Woon; Cho, Namin

    2018-01-01

    Objectives Information technology involves a risk of privacy violation in providing easy access to confidential information,such as personal information and medical information through the Internet. In this study, we investigated medical information security to gain a better understanding of trends in research related to medical information security. Methods We researched papers published on ‘의료정보’ and ‘medical information’ in various Korean journals during a 10-year period from 2005 to 2015. We also analyzed these journal papers for each fiscal year; these papers were categorized into the areas of literature research and empirical research, and were further subdivided according to themes and subjects. Results It was confirmed that 48 papers were submitted to 35 academic journals. There were 33 (68.8%) literature review articles, and analysis of secondary data was not carried out at all. In terms of empirical research, 8 (16.7%) surveys and 7 (14.6%) program developments were studied. As a result of analyzing these papers according to the research theme by research method, 17 (35.4%) papers on laws, systems, and policies were the most numerous. It was found that among the literature research papers on medical personnel were the most common, and among the empirical research papers, research on experts in information protection and medical personnel were the most common. Conclusions We suggest that further research should be done in terms of social perception, human resource development, and technology development to improve risk management in medical information systems. PMID:29503754

  20. Access to and Experiences with e-Health Technology Among Glaucoma Patients and Their Relationship with Medication Adherence.

    PubMed

    Newman-Casey, Paula Anne; Killeen, Olivia J; Renner, Morgan; Robin, Alan L; Lee, Paul; Heisler, Michele

    2018-04-23

    As online health information becomes common, it is important to assess patients' access to and experiences with online resources. We examined whether glaucoma patients' technology usage differs by medication adherence and whether adherence is associated with online education experiences. We included 164 adults with glaucoma taking ≥1 glaucoma medication. Participants completed a survey including demographic and health information, the Morisky Adherence Scale, and questions about online glaucoma resource usage. Differences in technology access, adherence, and age were compared with chi-squared, Fisher exact, and two-sample t-tests. Mean age was 66 years. Twenty-six percent reported poor adherence. Eighty percent had good technology access. Seventy-three percent of subjects with greater technology access wanted online glaucoma information and yet only 14% of patients had been directed to online resources by physicians. There was no relationship between technological connectivity and adherence (p = 0.51). Nonadherent patients were younger (mean age 58 years vs. 66 years for adherent patients, p = 0.002). Nonadherence was associated with negative feelings about online searches (68% vs. 42%, p = 0.06). Younger, poorly adherent patients navigate online glaucoma resources without physician input. These online searches are often unsatisfying. Technology should be leveraged to create high quality, online glaucoma resources that physicians can recommend to provide guidance for disease self-management.

  1. Informal politics and inequity of access to health care in Lebanon

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Introduction Despite the importance of political institutions in shaping the social environment, the causal impact of politics on health care access and inequalities has been understudied. Even when considered, research tends to focus on the effects of formal macro-political institutions such as the welfare state. We investigate how micro-politics and informal institutions affect access to care. Methods This study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining findings from a household survey (n = 1789) and qualitative interviews (n = 310) in Lebanon. Multivariate logistic regression was employed in the analysis of the survey to examine the effect of political activism on access to health care while controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic status, religious commitment and piety. Results We note a significantly positive association between political activism and the probability of receiving health aid (p < .001), with an OR of 4.0 when comparing individuals with the highest political activity to those least active in our sample. Interviews with key informants also reveal that, although a form of “universal coverage” exists in Lebanon whereby any citizen is eligible for coverage of hospitalization fees and treatments, in practice, access to health services is used by political parties and politicians as a deliberate strategy to gain and reward political support from individuals and their families. Conclusions Individuals with higher political activism have better access to health services than others. Informal, micro-level political institutions can have an important impact on health care access and utilization, with potentially detrimental effects on the least politically connected. A truly universal health care system that provides access based on medical need rather than political affiliation is needed to help to alleviate growing health disparities in the Lebanese population. PMID:22571591

  2. Toward Proper Authentication Methods in Electronic Medical Record Access Compliant to HIPAA and C.I.A. Triangle.

    PubMed

    Tipton, Stephen J; Forkey, Sara; Choi, Young B

    2016-04-01

    This paper examines various methods encompassing the authentication of users in accessing Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). From a methodological perspective, multiple authentication methods have been researched from both a desktop and mobile accessibility perspective. Each method is investigated at a high level, along with comparative analyses, as well as real world examples. The projected outcome of this examination is a better understanding of the sophistication required in protecting the vital privacy constraints of an individual's Protected Health Information (PHI). In understanding the implications of protecting healthcare data in today's technological world, the scope of this paper is to grasp an overview of confidentiality as it pertains to information security. In addressing this topic, a high level overview of the three goals of information security are examined; in particular, the goal of confidentiality is the primary focus. Expanding upon the goal of confidentiality, healthcare accessibility legal aspects are considered, with a focus upon the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). With the primary focus of this examination being access to EMRs, the paper will consider two types of accessibility of concern: access from a physician, or group of physicians; and access from an individual patient.

  3. Lack of access to medical care during Hurricane Sandy and mental health symptoms.

    PubMed

    Ruskin, Julia; Rasul, Rehana; Schneider, Samantha; Bevilacqua, Kristin; Taioli, Emanuela; Schwartz, Rebecca M

    2018-06-01

    Destruction caused by natural disasters compromises medical providers' and hospitals' abilities to administer care. Hurricane Sandy was particularly devastating, resulting in massive disruptions of medical care in the region. This study aimed to determine whether a lack of access to medical care during Hurricane Sandy was associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and other mental health/substance abuse outcomes. A secondary aim was to examine whether having a chronic illness moderates those associations. Self-reported medical access and mental health symptomatology were obtained from New York City and Long Island residents (n = 1669) following Hurricane Sandy under the Leaders in Gathering Hope Together project (10/23/2013-2/25/2015) and Project Restoration (6/5/2014-8/9/2016). Multivariable logistic regressions were utilized to determine the relationship between lack of access to medical care and mental health outcomes. Of the 1669 participants, 994 (59.57%) were female, 866 (51.89%) were white, and the mean age was 46.22 (SD = 19.2) years old. Those without access to medical care had significantly higher odds of showing symptoms of PTSD (AOR = 2.71, CI = [1.77-4.16]), as well as depression (AOR = 1.94, CI = [1.29-2.92]) and anxiety (AOR = 1.61, CI = [1.08-2.39]) compared to those with access. Lack of access to care was associated with a 2.12 point increase in perceived stress scale score (SE = 0.63). The interaction between having a chronic illness and lack of access to medical care was not significantly associated with any outcomes. The findings emphasize the importance of making medical care more accessible to patients, both chronically and acutely ill, during natural disasters to benefit their physical as well as their mental health.

  4. Creating a mobile subject guide to improve access to point-of-care resources for medical students: a case study.

    PubMed

    Boruff, Jill T; Bilodeau, Edward

    2012-01-01

    Can a mobile optimized subject guide facilitate medical student access to mobile point-of-care tools? The guide was created at a library at a research-intensive university with six teaching hospital sites. The team created a guide facilitating medical student access to point-of-care tools directly on mobile devices to provide information allowing them to access and set up resources with little assistance. Two librarians designed a mobile optimized subject guide for medicine and conducted a survey to test its usefulness. Web analytics and survey results demonstrate that the guide is used and the students are satisfied. The library will continue to use the subject guide as its primary means of supporting mobile devices. It remains to be seen if the mobile guide facilitates access for those who do not need assistance and want direct access to the resources. Internet access in the hospitals remains an issue.

  5. The application of use case modeling in designing medical imaging information systems.

    PubMed

    Safdari, Reza; Farzi, Jebraeil; Ghazisaeidi, Marjan; Mirzaee, Mahboobeh; Goodini, Azadeh

    2013-01-01

    Introduction. The essay at hand is aimed at examining the application of use case modeling in analyzing and designing information systems to support Medical Imaging services. Methods. The application of use case modeling in analyzing and designing health information systems was examined using electronic databases (Pubmed, Google scholar) resources and the characteristics of the modeling system and its effect on the development and design of the health information systems were analyzed. Results. Analyzing the subject indicated that Provident modeling of health information systems should provide for quick access to many health data resources in a way that patients' data can be used in order to expand distant services and comprehensive Medical Imaging advices. Also these experiences show that progress in the infrastructure development stages through gradual and repeated evolution process of user requirements is stronger and this can lead to a decline in the cycle of requirements engineering process in the design of Medical Imaging information systems. Conclusion. Use case modeling approach can be effective in directing the problems of health and Medical Imaging information systems towards understanding, focusing on the start and analysis, better planning, repetition, and control.

  6. 24 CFR 401.503 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ...) Owner-prepared 1-year project rent analysis; and (3) As directed by HUD. (b) Information on expenses and... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Access to information. 401.503... (MARK-TO-MARKET) Restructuring Plan § 401.503 Access to information. (a) PAE responsibilities. The PAE...

  7. Robust anonymous authentication scheme for telecare medical information systems.

    PubMed

    Xie, Qi; Zhang, Jun; Dong, Na

    2013-04-01

    Patient can obtain sorts of health-care delivery services via Telecare Medical Information Systems (TMIS). Authentication, security, patient's privacy protection and data confidentiality are important for patient or doctor accessing to Electronic Medical Records (EMR). In 2012, Chen et al. showed that Khan et al.'s dynamic ID-based authentication scheme has some weaknesses and proposed an improved scheme, and they claimed that their scheme is more suitable for TMIS. However, we show that Chen et al.'s scheme also has some weaknesses. In particular, Chen et al.'s scheme does not provide user's privacy protection and perfect forward secrecy, is vulnerable to off-line password guessing attack and impersonation attack once user's smart card is compromised. Further, we propose a secure anonymity authentication scheme to overcome their weaknesses even an adversary can know all information stored in smart card.

  8. Accessing and managing open medical resources in Africa over the Internet

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hussein, Rada; Khalifa, Aly; Jimenez-Castellanos, Ana; de la Calle, Guillermo; Ramirez-Robles, Maximo; Crespo, Jose; Perez-Rey, David; Garcia-Remesal, Miguel; Anguita, Alberto; Alonso-Calvo, Raul; de la Iglesia, Diana; Barreiro, Jose M.; Maojo, Victor

    2014-10-01

    Recent commentaries have proposed the advantages of using open exchange of data and informatics resources for improving health-related policies and patient care in Africa. Yet, in many African regions, both private medical and public health information systems are still unaffordable. Open exchange over the social Web 2.0 could encourage more altruistic support of medical initiatives. We have carried out some experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of using this approach to disseminate open data and informatics resources in Africa. After the experiments we developed the AFRICA BUILD Portal, the first Social Network for African biomedical researchers. Through the AFRICA BUILD Portal users can access in a transparent way to several resources. Currently, over 600 researchers are using distributed and open resources through this platform committed to low connections.

  9. Prototyping an institutional IAIMS/UMLS information environment for an academic medical center.

    PubMed

    Miller, P L; Paton, J A; Clyman, J I; Powsner, S M

    1992-07-01

    The paper describes a prototype information environment designed to link network-based information resources in an integrated fashion and thus enhance the information capabilities of an academic medical center. The prototype was implemented on a single Macintosh computer to permit exploration of the overall "information architecture" and to demonstrate the various desired capabilities prior to full-scale network-based implementation. At the heart of the prototype are two components: a diverse set of information resources available over an institutional computer network and an information sources map designed to assist users in finding and accessing information resources relevant to their needs. The paper describes these and other components of the prototype and presents a scenario illustrating its use. The prototype illustrates the link between the goals of two National Library of Medicine initiatives, the Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) and the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS).

  10. What Clinical Information Is Valuable to Doctors Using Mobile Electronic Medical Records and When?

    PubMed

    Kim, Junetae; Lee, Yura; Lim, Sanghee; Kim, Jeong Hoon; Lee, Byungtae; Lee, Jae-Ho

    2017-10-18

    There has been a lack of understanding on what types of specific clinical information are most valuable for doctors to access through mobile-based electronic medical records (m-EMRs) and when they access such information. Furthermore, it has not been clearly discussed why the value of such information is high. The goal of this study was to investigate the types of clinical information that are most valuable to doctors to access through an m-EMR and when such information is accessed. Since 2010, an m-EMR has been used in a tertiary hospital in Seoul, South Korea. The usage logs of the m-EMR by doctors were gathered from March to December 2015. Descriptive analyses were conducted to explore the overall usage patterns of the m-EMR. To assess the value of the clinical information provided, the usage patterns of both the m-EMR and a hospital information system (HIS) were compared on an hourly basis. The peak usage times of the m-EMR were defined as continuous intervals having normalized usage values that are greater than 0.5. The usage logs were processed as an indicator representing specific clinical information using factor analysis. Random intercept logistic regression was used to explore the type of clinical information that is frequently accessed during the peak usage times. A total of 524,929 usage logs from 653 doctors (229 professors, 161 fellows, and 263 residents; mean age: 37.55 years; males: 415 [63.6%]) were analyzed. The highest average number of m-EMR usage logs (897) was by medical residents, whereas the lowest (292) was by surgical residents. The usage amount for three menus, namely inpatient list (47,096), lab results (38,508), and investigation list (25,336), accounted for 60.1% of the peak time usage. The HIS was used most frequently during regular hours (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM). The peak usage time of the m-EMR was early in the morning (6:00 AM to 10:00 AM), and the use of the m-EMR from early evening (5:00 PM) to midnight was higher than during regular

  11. A network collaboration implementing technology to improve medication dispensing and administration in critical access hospitals.

    PubMed

    Wakefield, Douglas S; Ward, Marcia M; Loes, Jean L; O'Brien, John

    2010-01-01

    We report how seven independent critical access hospitals collaborated with a rural referral hospital to standardize workflow policies and procedures while jointly implementing the same health information technologies (HITs) to enhance medication care processes. The study hospitals implemented the same electronic health record, computerized provider order entry, pharmacy information systems, automated dispensing cabinets (ADC), and barcode medication administration systems. We conducted interviews and examined project documents to explore factors underlying the successful implementation of ADC and barcode medication administration across the network hospitals. These included a shared culture of collaboration; strategic sequencing of HIT component implementation; interface among HIT components; strategic placement of ADCs; disciplined use and sharing of workflow analyses linked with HIT applications; planning for workflow efficiencies; acquisition of adequate supply of HIT-related devices; and establishing metrics to monitor HIT use and outcomes.

  12. Experience and Attitudes towards Information Technology among First-Year Medical Students in Denmark: Longitudinal Questionnaire Survey

    PubMed Central

    2004-01-01

    Background As more and more information technology (IT) resources become available both for support of campus- based medical education and for Web-based learning, it becomes increasingly interesting to map the information technology resources available to medical students and the attitudes students have towards their use. Objective To determine how extensively and effectively information handling skills are being taught in the medical curriculum, the study investigated Internet and computer availability and usage, and attitudes towards information technology among first-year medical students in Aarhus, Denmark, during a five-year period. Methods In the period from 1998 to 2002, students beginning the first semester of medical school were given courses on effective use of IT in their studies. As a part of the tutorials, the students were asked to complete a web-based questionnaire which included questions related to IT readiness and attitudes towards using IT in studies. Results A total of 1159 students (78%) responded. Overall, 71.7% of the respondents indicating they had access to a computer at home, a number that did not change significantly during the study period. Over time, the power of students' computers and the use of e-mail and Internet did increase significantly. By fall 2002, approximately 90% of students used e-mail regularly, 80% used the Internet regularly, and 60% had access to the Internet from home. Significantly more males than females had access to a computer at home, and males had a more positive attitude towards the use of computers in their medical studies. A fairly constant number of students (3-7%) stated that they would prefer not to have to use computers in their studies. Conclusions Taken together with our experience from classroom teaching, these results indicate optional teaching of basic information technology still needs to be integrated into medical studies, and that this need does not seem likely to disappear in the near future

  13. Creating a mobile subject guide to improve access to point-of-care resources for medical students: a case study

    PubMed Central

    Boruff, Jill T; Bilodeau, Edward

    2012-01-01

    Question: Can a mobile optimized subject guide facilitate medical student access to mobile point-of-care tools? Setting: The guide was created at a library at a research-intensive university with six teaching hospital sites. Objectives: The team created a guide facilitating medical student access to point-of-care tools directly on mobile devices to provide information allowing them to access and set up resources with little assistance. Methods: Two librarians designed a mobile optimized subject guide for medicine and conducted a survey to test its usefulness. Results: Web analytics and survey results demonstrate that the guide is used and the students are satisfied. Conclusion: The library will continue to use the subject guide as its primary means of supporting mobile devices. It remains to be seen if the mobile guide facilitates access for those who do not need assistance and want direct access to the resources. Internet access in the hospitals remains an issue. PMID:22272160

  14. Pharmacy accessibility and cost-related underuse of prescription medications in low-income Black and Hispanic urban communities.

    PubMed

    Qato, Dima Mazen; Wilder, Jocelyn; Zenk, Shannon; Davis, Andrew; Makelarski, Jennifer; Lindau, Stacy Tessler

    Policy efforts to reduce the cost of prescription medications in the US have failed to reduce disparities in cost-related underuse. Little is known about the relationships between pharmacy accessibility, utilization, and cost-related underuse of prescription medications among residents of low-income minority communities. The aim of this work was to examine the association between pharmacy accessibility, utilization, and cost-related underuse of prescription medications among residents of predominantly low-income Black and Hispanic urban communities. Data from a population-based probability sample of adults 35 years of age and older residing on the South Side of Chicago in 2012-2013 were linked with the use of geocoded information on the type and location of the primary and the nearest pharmacy. Multivariable regression models were used to examine associations between pharmacy accessibility, utilization of and travel distance to the primary pharmacy, and cost-related underuse overall and by pharmacy type. One-third of South Side residents primarily filled their prescriptions at the pharmacy nearest to their home. Among those who did not use mail order, median distance traveled from home to the primary pharmacy was 1.2 miles. Residents whose primary pharmacy was at a community health center or clinic where they usually received care traveled the farthest but were least likely to report cost-related underuse of their prescription medications. Most residents of minority communities on Chicago's South Side were not using the pharmacies closest to their home to obtain their prescription medications. Efforts to improve access to prescription medications in these communities should focus on improving the accessibility of affordable pharmacies at site of care. Copyright © 2017 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Promoting social responsibility amongst health care users: medical tourists' perspectives on an information sheet regarding ethical concerns in medical tourism.

    PubMed

    Adams, Krystyna; Snyder, Jeremy; Crooks, Valorie A; Johnston, Rory

    2013-12-06

    Medical tourists, persons that travel across international borders with the intention to access non-emergency medical care, may not be adequately informed of safety and ethical concerns related to the practice of medical tourism. Researchers indicate that the sources of information frequently used by medical tourists during their decision-making process may be biased and/or lack comprehensive information regarding individual safety and treatment outcomes, as well as potential impacts of the medical tourism industry on third parties. This paper explores the feedback from former Canadian medical tourists regarding the use of an information sheet to address this knowledge gap and raise awareness of the safety and ethical concerns related to medical tourism. According to feedback provided in interviews with former Canadian medical tourists, the majority of participants responded positively to the information sheet and indicated that this document prompted them to engage in further consideration of these issues. Participants indicated some frustration after reading the information sheet regarding a lack of know-how in terms of learning more about the concerns discussed in the document and changing their decision-making. This frustration was due to participants' desperation for medical care, a topic which participants frequently discussed regarding ethical concerns related to health care provision. The overall perceptions of former medical tourists indicate that an information sheet may promote further consideration of ethical concerns of medical tourism. However, given that these interviews were performed with former medical tourists, it remains unknown whether such a document might impact upon the decision-making of prospective medical tourists. Furthermore, participants indicated a need for an additional tool such as a website for continued discussion about these concerns. As such, along with dissemination of the information sheet, future research implications should

  16. Promoting social responsibility amongst health care users: medical tourists’ perspectives on an information sheet regarding ethical concerns in medical tourism

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Medical tourists, persons that travel across international borders with the intention to access non-emergency medical care, may not be adequately informed of safety and ethical concerns related to the practice of medical tourism. Researchers indicate that the sources of information frequently used by medical tourists during their decision-making process may be biased and/or lack comprehensive information regarding individual safety and treatment outcomes, as well as potential impacts of the medical tourism industry on third parties. This paper explores the feedback from former Canadian medical tourists regarding the use of an information sheet to address this knowledge gap and raise awareness of the safety and ethical concerns related to medical tourism. Results According to feedback provided in interviews with former Canadian medical tourists, the majority of participants responded positively to the information sheet and indicated that this document prompted them to engage in further consideration of these issues. Participants indicated some frustration after reading the information sheet regarding a lack of know-how in terms of learning more about the concerns discussed in the document and changing their decision-making. This frustration was due to participants’ desperation for medical care, a topic which participants frequently discussed regarding ethical concerns related to health care provision. Conclusions The overall perceptions of former medical tourists indicate that an information sheet may promote further consideration of ethical concerns of medical tourism. However, given that these interviews were performed with former medical tourists, it remains unknown whether such a document might impact upon the decision-making of prospective medical tourists. Furthermore, participants indicated a need for an additional tool such as a website for continued discussion about these concerns. As such, along with dissemination of the information sheet

  17. Medical education and information and communication technology.

    PubMed

    Houshyari, Asefeh Badiey; Bahadorani, Mahnaz; Tootoonchi, Mina; Gardiner, John Jacob Zucker; Peña, Roberto A; Adibi, Peyman

    2012-01-01

    Information and communication technology (ICT) has brought many changes in medical education and practice in the last couple of decades. Teaching and learning medicine particularly has gone under profound changes due to computer technologies, and medical schools around the world have invested heavily either in new computer technologies or in the process of adapting to this technological revolution. In order to catch up with the rest of the world, developing countries need to research their options in adapting to new computer technologies. This descriptive survey study was designed to assess medical students' computer and Internet skills and their attitude toward ICT. Research findings showed that the mean score of self-perceived computer knowledge for male students in general was greater than for female students. Also, students who had participated in various prior computer workshops, had access to computer, Internet, and e-mail, and frequently checked their e-mail had higher mean of self-perceived knowledge and skill score. Finally, students with positive attitude toward ICT scored their computer knowledge higher than those who had no opinion. The results have confirmed that the medical schools, particularly in developing countries, need to bring fundamental changes such as curriculum modification in order to integrate ICT into medical education, creating essential infrastructure for ICT use in medical education and practice, and structured computer training for faculty and students.

  18. [Medical Service Information Seeking Behaviors in Rural and Urban Patients in Sichuan Province].

    PubMed

    Zhang, Wen-Jie; Xue, Li; Chen, Rao; Duan, Zhan-Qi; Liu, Dan-Ping

    2018-03-01

    To understand how rural and urban patients seek medical service information in Sichuan province. A self-designed questionnaire was distributed randomly to patients who visited primary,secondary and tertiary health facilities in Chengdu,Yibin and Suining,collecting data in relation to their sources of medical service information,as well as the contents and credibility of the information. The major sources of medical service information came from friends,past experiences and television programs,which were consistent with the most desirable access channels. The urban patients were more likely to trust (5.3%) and use (10.6%) the Internet to obtain medical service information compared with their rural counterparts (3.4% and 5.5%,respectively, P <0.05). The most sought after information concerned about medical staff,reputation and price. The rural patients were more likely to be concerned about price (26.7%) than their urban counterparts (20.3%, P <0.05). The choices of patients were likely to be influenced by advices from family members,relatives and friends,and doctors and nurses. The patients had a higher level of trust in doctors and nurses than their relatives and friends,but lower than their family members. Patient choices are shaped by their medical service information seeking behaviors and advices from others. Targeted marketing strategies for urban and rural patients should be developed to channel patients to appropriate health facilities. Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Science Edition).

  19. Optimizing physician access to surgical intensive care unit laboratory information through mobile computing.

    PubMed

    Strain, J J; Felciano, R M; Seiver, A; Acuff, R; Fagan, L

    1996-01-01

    Approximately 30 minutes of computer access time are required by surgical residents at Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC) to examine the lab values of all patients on a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) service, a task that must be performed several times a day. To reduce the time accessing this information and simultaneously increase the readability and currency of the data, we have created a mobile, pen-based user interface and software system that delivers lab results to surgeons in the ICU. The ScroungeMaster system, loaded on a portable tablet computer, retrieves lab results for a subset of patients from the central laboratory computer and stores them in a local database cache. The cache can be updated on command; this update takes approximately 2.7 minutes for all ICU patients being followed by the surgeon, and can be performed as a background task while the user continues to access selected lab results. The user interface presents lab results according to physiologic system. Which labs are displayed first is governed by a layout selection algorithm based on previous accesses to the patient's lab information, physician preferences, and the nature of the patient's medical condition. Initial evaluation of the system has shown that physicians prefer the ScroungeMaster interface to that of existing systems at SUMC and are satisfied with the system's performance. We discuss the evolution of ScroungeMaster and make observations on changes to physician work flow with the presence of mobile, pen-based computing in the ICU.

  20. 77 FR 20743 - Protective Force Personnel Medical, Physical Readiness, Training, and Access Authorization Standards

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-06

    ...-HQ-2012-0002] RIN 1992-AA40 Protective Force Personnel Medical, Physical Readiness, Training, and... the proposed rule to amend the standards for medical, physical performance, training, and access... proposed rule to revise the standards for medical, physical performance, training, and access...

  1. 78 FR 31769 - Accessible Emergency Information; Apparatus Requirements for Emergency Information and Video...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-24

    ... Accessible Emergency Information; Apparatus Requirements for Emergency Information and Video Description...] Accessible Emergency Information; Apparatus Requirements for Emergency Information and Video Description... manufacturers of devices that display video programming to ensure that certain apparatus are able to make...

  2. Capturing Accurate and Useful Information on Medication-Related Telenursing Triage Calls.

    PubMed

    Lake, R; Li, L; Baysari, M; Byrne, M; Robinson, M; Westbrook, J I

    2016-01-01

    Registered nurses providing telenursing triage and advice services record information on the medication related calls they handle. However the quality and consistency of these data were rarely examined. Our aim was to examine medication related calls made to the healthdirect advice service in November 2014, to assess their basic characteristics and how the data entry format influenced information collected and data consistency. Registered nurses selected the patient question type from a range of categories, and entered the medications involved in a free text field. Medication names were manually extracted from the free text fields. We also compared the selected patient question type with the free text description of the call, in order to gauge data consistency. Results showed that nurses provided patients with advice on medication-related queries in a timely matter (the median call duration of 9 minutes). From 1835 calls, we were able to identify and classify 2156 medications into 384 generic names. However, in 204 cases (11.2% of calls) no medication name was entered. A further 308 (15.0%) of the medication names entered were not identifiable. When we compared the selected patient question with the free text description of calls, we found that these were consistent in 63.27% of cases. Telenursing and triage advice services provide a valuable resource to the public with quick and easily accessible advice. To support nurses provide quality services and record accurate information about the queries, appropriate data entry format and design would be beneficial.

  3. Complementarity of quantum discord and classically accessible information

    DOE PAGES

    Zwolak, Michael P.; Zurek, Wojciech H.

    2013-05-20

    The sum of the Holevo quantity (that bounds the capacity of quantum channels to transmit classical information about an observable) and the quantum discord (a measure of the quantumness of correlations of that observable) yields an observable-independent total given by the quantum mutual information. This split naturally delineates information about quantum systems accessible to observers – information that is redundantly transmitted by the environment – while showing that it is maximized for the quasi-classical pointer observable. Other observables are accessible only via correlations with the pointer observable. In addition, we prove an anti-symmetry property relating accessible information and discord. Itmore » shows that information becomes objective – accessible to many observers – only as quantum information is relegated to correlations with the global environment, and, therefore, locally inaccessible. Lastly, the resulting complementarity explains why, in a quantum Universe, we perceive objective classical reality while flagrantly quantum superpositions are out of reach.« less

  4. Online medical books: their availability and an assessment of how health sciences libraries provide access on their public Websites

    PubMed Central

    MacCall, Steven L.

    2006-01-01

    medical book chapters or chapter sections. Conclusions: This study shows that the number and topical range of online medical books is reaching a point where collection-level consideration is warranted to facilitate efficient use and to prevent the problem of split files. However, the results also show that few efforts are underway on the publicly available Websites of the surveyed health sciences libraries to provide the analytical access necessary to meet the structural needs of clinical information seekers. PMID:16404473

  5. Online medical books: their availability and an assessment of how health sciences libraries provide access on their public Websites.

    PubMed

    MacCall, Steven L

    2006-01-01

    sections. This study shows that the number and topical range of online medical books is reaching a point where collection-level consideration is warranted to facilitate efficient use and to prevent the problem of split files. However, the results also show that few efforts are underway on the publicly available Websites of the surveyed health sciences libraries to provide the analytical access necessary to meet the structural needs of clinical information seekers.

  6. Promotion of health information access via Grateful Med and Loansome Doc: why isn't it working?

    PubMed Central

    Burnham, J F; Perry, M

    1996-01-01

    Information gathered from Grateful Med and Loansome Doc outreach projects, including one involving seven health centers in rural southwest Alabama, raises questions about the effectiveness of such programs. This paper presents a review of the literature on Grateful Med as well as of information access and usage behaviors of physicians, an overview of the Alabama project, and data from other projects. Analysis of the responses and observations of the researchers reveal some strategies for enhancing the outcomes of such projects and improving access to medical care literature by health care professionals at rural sites. PMID:8913552

  7. Expanding rural primary care training by employing information technologies: the need for participation by medical reference librarians.

    PubMed

    Coggan, J M; Crandall, L A

    1995-01-01

    The use of rural sites to train badly needed primary care providers requires access to sophisticated medical information not traditionally available outside of academic health centers. Medical reference librarians can play a key role in the development of primary care training sites in rural settings. Electronic information technologies, with proactive support from medical reference librarians, can provide current and detailed information without concern for distance from the health science center library. This paper discusses recent developments in technology, describes current challenges to the application of this technology in rural settings, and provides policy recommendations for medical reference librarians to enhance rural primary care training.

  8. Breast reconstruction post mastectomy- Let's Google it. Accessibility, readability and quality of online information.

    PubMed

    Lynch, Noel P; Lang, Bronagh; Angelov, Sophia; McGarrigle, Sarah A; Boyle, Terence J; Al-Azawi, Dhafir; Connolly, Elizabeth M

    2017-04-01

    This study evaluated the readability, accessibility and quality of information pertaining to breast reconstruction post mastectomy on the Internet in the English language. Using the Google © search engine the keywords "Breast reconstruction post mastectomy" were searched for. We analyzed the top 75 sites. The Flesch Reading Ease Score and Gunning Fog Index were calculated to assess readability. Web site quality was assessed objectively using the University of Michigan Consumer Health Web site Evaluation Checklist. Accessibility was determined using an automated accessibility tool. In addition, the country of origin, type of organisation producing the site and presence of Health on the Net (HoN) Certification status was recorded. The Web sites were difficult to read and comprehend. The mean Flesch Reading Ease scores were 55.5. The mean Gunning Fog Index scores was 8.6. The mean Michigan score was 34.8 indicating weak quality of websites. Websites with HoN certification ranked higher in the search results (p = 0.007). Website quality was influenced by organisation type (p < 0.0001) with academic/healthcare, not for profit and government sites having higher Michigan scores. 20% of sites met the minimum accessibility criteria. Internet information on breast reconstruction post mastectomy and procedures is poorly written and we suggest that Webpages providing information must be made more readable and accessible. We suggest that health professionals should recommend Web sites that are easy to read and contain high-quality surgical information. Medical information on the Internet should be readable, accessible, reliable and of a consistent quality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Modeling travel impedance to medical care for children with birth defects using Geographic Information Systems.

    PubMed

    Delmelle, Eric M; Cassell, Cynthia H; Dony, Coline; Radcliff, Elizabeth; Tanner, Jean Paul; Siffel, Csaba; Kirby, Russell S

    2013-10-01

    Children with birth defects may face significant geographic barriers accessing medical care and specialized services. Using a Geographic Information Systems-based approach, one-way travel time and distance to access medical care for children born with spina bifida was estimated. Using 2007 road information from the Florida Department of Transportation, we built a topological network of Florida roads. Live-born Florida infants with spina bifida during 1998 to 2007 were identified by the Florida Birth Defects Registry and linked to hospital discharge records. Maternal residence at delivery and hospitalization locations were identified during the first year of life. Of 668 infants with spina bifida, 8.1% (n = 54) could not be linked to inpatient data, resulting in 614 infants. Of those 614 infants, 99.7% (n = 612) of the maternal residential addresses at delivery were successfully geocoded. Infants with spina bifida living in rural areas in Florida experienced travel times almost twice as high compared with those living in urban areas. When aggregated at county levels, one-way network travel times exhibited statistically significant spatial autocorrelation, indicating that families living in some clusters of counties experienced substantially greater travel times compared with families living in other areas of Florida. This analysis demonstrates the usefulness of linking birth defects registry and hospital discharge data to examine geographic differences in access to medical care. Geographic Information Systems methods are important in evaluating accessibility and geographic barriers to care and could be used among children with special health care needs, including children with birth defects. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. The new medicare drug benefit: formularies and their potential effects on access to medications.

    PubMed

    Huskamp, Haiden A; Keating, Nancy L

    2005-07-01

    During congressional debate over the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, much attention was focused on nominal benefit design. Relatively little attention was paid to details about how plans would operate, such as the design of drug formularies. Yet, formularies will be important tools for controlling costs, and may be as important as nominal benefit design in determining enrollees' access to medications and out-of-pocket costs. We describe Part D plan incentives and how they may influence formulary design, and then provide recommendations for Part D formulary implementation. We encourage the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop standardized tools to provide physicians and patients with up-to-date and easily accessible information about covered drugs on each plan's formulary (perhaps via a central website) and a national set of easy-to-follow procedures for reconsideration and appeals. Such efforts should reduce administrative burden and better allow physicians to help patients obtain needed medications.

  11. Securing the communication of medical information using local biometric authentication and commercial wireless links.

    PubMed

    Ivanov, Vladimir I; Yu, Paul L; Baras, John S

    2010-09-01

    Medical information is extremely sensitive in nature - a compromise, such as eavesdropping or tampering by a malicious third party, may result in identity theft, incorrect diagnosis and treatment, and even death. Therefore, it is important to secure the transfer of medical information from the patient to the recording system. We consider a portable, wireless device transferring medical information to a remote server. We decompose this problem into two sub-problems and propose security solutions to each of them: (1) to secure the link between the patient and the portable device, and (2) to secure the link between the portable device and the network. Thus we push the limits of the network security to the edge by authenticating the user using their biometric information; authenticating the device to the network at the physical layer; and strengthening the security of the wireless link with a key exchange mechanism. The proposed authentication methods can be used for recording the readings of medical data in a central database and for accessing medical records in various settings.

  12. 1 CFR 456.4 - Public access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 1 General Provisions 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Public access to information. 456.4 Section 456.4 General Provisions MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES NATIONAL CAPITAL PLANNING COMMISSION (FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REGULATIONS) § 456.4 Public access to information. (a) General policy. It is the Commission's...

  13. Enhancing access to health information in Africa: a librarian's perspective.

    PubMed

    Gathoni, Nasra

    2012-01-01

    In recent years, tremendous progress has been made toward providing health information in Africa, in part because of technological advancements. Nevertheless, ensuring that information is accessible, comprehensible, and usable remains problematic, and there remain needs in many settings to address issues such as computer skills, literacy, and the infrastructure to access information. To determine how librarians might play a more strategic role in meeting information needs of health professionals in Africa, the author reviewed key components of information systems pertinent to knowledge management for the health sector, including access to global online resources, capacity to use computer technology for information retrieval, information literacy, and the potential for professional networks to play a role in improving access to and use of information. The author concluded that, in regions that lack adequate information systems, librarians could apply their knowledge and skills to facilitate access and use by information seekers. Ensuring access to and use of health information can also be achieved by engaging organizations and associations working to enhance access to health information, such as the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa. These groups can provide assistance through training, dissemination, information repackaging, and other approaches known to improve information literacy.

  14. Accession medical waivers and deployment duration in the U.S. Army.

    PubMed

    Gubata, Marlene E; Oetting, Alexis A; Niebuhr, David W; Cowan, David N

    2013-06-01

    To examine the performance of active duty U.S. Army personnel with accession medical waivers during combat deployments, the deployment duration and likelihood of early return from theater for medically waived (n = 18,093) and medically qualified (n = 250,209) personnel deploying between September 2001 and March 2011 were determined. The mean and median deployment duration for waived men (309.4 ± 107.5 and 346) and for waived women (291.8 ± 115.3 and 341) was not shorter than for medically qualified men (304.6 ± 112.1 and 346) and women (289.5 ± 116.3 and 337). When adjusted for other accession factors in a multivariate linear regression model, neither waived men (p = 1.00) nor women (p = 0.7713) had significantly shorter deployments. In a case-control analysis, 24,369 men and 3,094 women were defined as having a short deployment. Multivariate logistic regression found that medically waived men (odds ratio [OR] = 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.82-0.92) and women (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.87-1.19) were not more likely to have shorter deployments compared to medically qualified individuals. These findings show that those with an accession medical waiver were not more likely to have shorter deployments or more likely to return early from deployment than those without waivers. Reprint & Copyright © 2013 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

  15. Influence of Internet Accessibility and Demographic factors on utilization of Web-based Health Information Resources by Resident Doctors in Nigeria

    PubMed Central

    Ajuwon, GA; Popoola, SO

    2015-01-01

    Background The internet is a huge library with avalanche of information resources including healthcare information. There are numerous studies on use of electronic resources by healthcare providers including medical practitioners however, there is a dearth of information on the patterns of use of web-based health information resource by resident doctors in Nigeria. This study therefore investigates the influence of internet accessibility and demographic factors on utilization of web-based health information resources by resident doctors in tertiary healthcare institutions in Nigeria. Methods Descriptive survey design was adopted for this study. The population of study consisted of medical doctors undergoing residency training in 13 tertiary healthcare institutions in South-West Nigeria. The tertiary healthcare institutions were Federal Medical Centres, University Teaching Hospitals and Specialist Hospitals (Neuropsychiatric and Orthopaedic). A pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results The mean age of the respondents was 34 years and males were in the majority (69.0%). A total of 96.1% respondents had access to the Internet. E-mail (X̄=5.40, SD=0.91), Google (X̄=5.26, SD=1.38), Yahoo (X̄=5.15, SD=4.44) were used weekly by the respondents. Preparation for Seminar/Grand Round presentation (X̄=8.4, SD=1.92), research (X̄=7.8, SD=2.70) and communication (X̄=7.6, SD=2.60) were ranked high as purposes for use of web-based information resources. There is a strong, positive and significant relationship between internet accessibility and utilization of web-based health information resources (r=0.628, p<0.05). Internet accessibility (B=0.911) and demographic factors: gender (B=−2.027), designation (B=−0.343) educational

  16. Influence of Internet Accessibility and Demographic factors on utilization of Web-based Health Information Resources by Resident Doctors in Nigeria.

    PubMed

    Ajuwon, G A; Popoola, S O

    2014-09-01

    The internet is a huge library with avalanche of information resources including healthcare information. There are numerous studies on use of electronic resources by healthcare providers including medical practitioners however, there is a dearth of information on the patterns of use of web-based health information resource by resident doctors in Nigeria. This study therefore investigates the influence of internet accessibility and demographic factors on utilization of web-based health information resources by resident doctors in tertiary healthcare institutions in Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted for this study. The population of study consisted of medical doctors undergoing residency training in 13 tertiary healthcare institutions in South-West Nigeria. The tertiary healthcare institutions were Federal Medical Centres, University Teaching Hospitals and Specialist Hospitals (Neuropsychiatric and Orthopaedic). A pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment correlation and multiple regression analysis. The mean age of the respondents was 34 years and males were in the majority (69.0%). A total of 96.1% respondents had access to the Internet. E-mail (X̄=5.40, SD=0.91), Google (X̄=5.26, SD=1.38), Yahoo (X̄=5.15, SD=4.44) were used weekly by the respondents. Preparation for Seminar/Grand Round presentation (X̄=8.4, SD=1.92), research (X̄=7.8, SD=2.70) and communication (X̄=7.6, SD=2.60) were ranked high as purposes for use of web-based information resources. There is a strong, positive and significant relationship between internet accessibility and utilization of web-based health information resources (r=0.628, p<0.05). Internet accessibility (B=0.911) and demographic factors: gender (B=-2.027), designation (B=-0.343) educational qualification (B=2.411) significantly

  17. The Language of Information Technology: Accessibility in the Information Society.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Warmkessel, Marjorie M.

    The language of information technology is discussed, with a focus on accessibility in the information society. The metaphors of information technology as an "information superhighway" or "infobahn" are analyzed; limitations of the "road system" and developments of Internet systems are considered. The concept of…

  18. The Prevalence of Internet and Social Media Based Medication Information Seeking Behavior in Saudi Arabia.

    PubMed

    Bahkali, Salwa; Alfurih, Suha; Aldremly, Maha; Alzayyat, Ma'an; Alsurimi, Khaled; Househ, Mowafa

    2016-01-01

    The internet has become an important resource to help people search for online medication information. This study aims to report the prevalence and profile of Saudi online medication seeking behavior. Conducted via a web-based survey with Twitter participants between January-February, 2015, the primary outcome measures were the self-reported rates of using the internet to search for medication related information. A valid sample of 4847 participants was collected over the period of the study. Out of the total participants, 68.3% (n=3311) were found to seek online medication related information frequently. Most of the social media users were female 83.5% (n=2766). The majority of respondents 63.6% (n= 3081) used Google, followed by Twitter 28.7% (n= 1392), Snapchat 21%, (n=1019), WhatsApp 13.8% (n= 670), Instagram 11.4%, (n= 553), and Facebook 5.5 % (n= 267), with few searching YouTube 1.3% (n=65) to access online medication information. Findings indicate that the Saudi population actively uses the internet and social media to obtain medication information. Further studies are needed to explore the influence of the internet and social media on user perception, attitude, and behavior with the use of online medication information.

  19. Evaluation of web accessibility of consumer health information websites.

    PubMed

    Zeng, Xiaoming; Parmanto, Bambang

    2003-01-01

    The objectives of the study are to construct a comprehensive framework for web accessibility evaluation, to evaluate the current status of web accessibility of consumer health information websites and to investigate the relationship between web accessibility and property of the websites. We selected 108 consumer health information websites from the directory service of a Web search engine. We used Web accessibility specifications to construct a framework for the measurement of Web Accessibility Barriers (WAB) of website. We found that none of the websites is completely accessible to people with disabilities, but governmental and educational health information websites exhibit better performance on web accessibility than other categories of websites. We also found that the correlation between the WAB score and the popularity of a website is statistically significant.

  20. Health Sciences Information Tools 2000: a cooperative health sciences library/public school information literacy program for medical assistant students.

    PubMed Central

    Spang, L; Marks, E; Adams, N

    1998-01-01

    Educating diverse groups in how to access, use, and evaluate information available through information technologies is emerging as an essential responsibility for health sciences librarians in today's complex health care system. One group requiring immediate attention is medical assistants. Projections indicate that medical assistant careers will be among the fastest growing occupations in the twenty-first century. The expanding use and importance of information in all health care settings requires that this workforce be well versed in information literacy skills. But, for public school vocational education staff charged with educating entry level workers to meet this specialized demand, the expense of hiring qualified professionals and acquiring the sophisticated technology necessary to teach such skills poses a dilemma. Health Sciences Information Tools 2000, a cooperative work-study information literacy program jointly formulated by the Wayne State University's Shiffman Medical Library and the Detroit Public Schools' Crockett Career and Technical Center, demonstrates that cooperation between the health sciences library and the public school is a mutually beneficial and constructive solution. This article describes the background, goals, curriculum, personnel, costs, and evaluation methods of Tools 2000. The Shiffman-Crockett information literacy program, adaptable to a variety of library settings, is an innovative means of preparing well-trained high school vocational education students for beginning level medical assistant positions as well as further education in the health care field. PMID:9803297

  1. Medical Information Exchange: Pattern of Global Mobile Messenger Usage among Otolaryngologists.

    PubMed

    Siegal, Gil; Dagan, Elad; Wolf, Michael; Duvdevani, Shay; Alon, Eran E

    2016-11-01

    Information technology has revolutionized health care. However, the development of dedicated mobile health software has been lagging, leading to the use of general mobile applications to fill in the void. The use of such applications has several legal, ethical, and regulatory implications. We examined the experience and practices governing the usage of a global mobile messenger application (WhatsApp) for mobile health purposes in a national cohort of practicing otolaryngologists in Israel, a known early adaptor information technology society. Cross-sectional data were collected from practicing otolaryngologists and otolaryngology residents via self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of a demographic section, a section surveying the practices of mobile application use, mobile health application use, and knowledge regarding institutional policies governing the transmission of medical data. The sample included 22 otolaryngology residents and 47 practicing otolaryngologists. Of the physicians, 83% worked in academic centers, and 88% and 40% of the physicians who worked in a hospital setting or a community clinic used WhatsApp for medical use, respectively. Working with residents increased the medical usage of WhatsApp from 50% to 91% (P = .006). Finally, 72% were unfamiliar with any institutional policy regarding the transfer of medical information by personal smartphones. Mobile health is becoming an integral part of modern medical systems, improving accessibility, efficiency, and possibly quality of medical care. The need to incorporate personal mobile devices in the overall information technology standards, guidelines, and regulation is becoming more acute. Nonetheless, practices must be properly instituted to prevent unwanted consequences. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.

  2. [Accessible health information: a question of age?].

    PubMed

    Loos, E F

    2012-04-01

    Aging and digitalisation are important trends which have their impact on information accessibility. Accessible information about products and services is of crucial importance to ensure that all citizens can participate fully as active members of society. Senior citizens who have difficulties using new media run the risk of exclusion in today's information society. Not all senior citizens, however, encounter problems with new media. Not by a long shot. There is much to be said for 'aged heterogeneity', the concept that individual differences increase as people age. In two explorative qualitative case studies related to accessible health information--an important issue for senior citizens--that were conducted in the Netherlands, variables such as gender, education level and frequency of internet use were therefore included in the research design. In this paper, the most important results of these case studies will be discussed. Attention will be also paid to complementary theories (socialisation, life stages) which could explain differences in information search behaviour when using old or new media.

  3. 29 CFR 1635.12 - Medical information that is not genetic information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 4 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Medical information that is not genetic information. 1635... COMMISSION GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2008 § 1635.12 Medical information that is not genetic information. (a) Medical information about a manifested disease, disorder, or pathological...

  4. 29 CFR 1635.12 - Medical information that is not genetic information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 4 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Medical information that is not genetic information. 1635... COMMISSION GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2008 § 1635.12 Medical information that is not genetic information. (a) Medical information about a manifested disease, disorder, or pathological...

  5. 29 CFR 1635.12 - Medical information that is not genetic information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 4 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Medical information that is not genetic information. 1635... COMMISSION GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2008 § 1635.12 Medical information that is not genetic information. (a) Medical information about a manifested disease, disorder, or pathological...

  6. 29 CFR 1635.12 - Medical information that is not genetic information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 4 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Medical information that is not genetic information. 1635... COMMISSION GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2008 § 1635.12 Medical information that is not genetic information. (a) Medical information about a manifested disease, disorder, or pathological...

  7. Using the Internet to access information inflates future use of the Internet to access other information.

    PubMed

    Storm, Benjamin C; Stone, Sean M; Benjamin, Aaron S

    2017-07-01

    The ways in which people learn, remember, and solve problems have all been impacted by the Internet. The present research explored how people become primed to use the Internet as a form of cognitive offloading. In three experiments, we show that using the Internet to retrieve information alters a person's propensity to use the Internet to retrieve other information. Specifically, participants who used Google to answer an initial set of difficult trivia questions were more likely to decide to use Google when answering a new set of relatively easy trivia questions than were participants who answered the initial questions from memory. These results suggest that relying on the Internet to access information makes one more likely to rely on the Internet to access other information.

  8. A study comparing public and medical librarians' perceptions of the role and duties of health information-providing librarians.

    PubMed

    Noh, Younghee

    2015-12-01

    This study proposed to define the role and duties of librarians who provide health information service in public and medical libraries. Appropriate education, career experience and starting salary for this position are also presented. This study analysed previous research and job advertisements to understand the current needs for this position. Almost all job advertisements studied were eventually retrieved from Salary.com (US job posting site). Public libraries seeking to fill health informationist positions were even more difficult to find in any of the above locations. Therefore, the researcher attempted to find cases using various search engines, including Google, and noticed that public libraries usually post job advertisements on their website. Finally, 32 job postings were selected as suitable. Fifty-four public and medical librarians were surveyed to validate the results in Korea. Public librarians chose 'health information librarian' as the most appropriate title for this position, while medical librarians answered 'medical librarian'. Therefore, librarians providing health information service in public libraries should be called 'health information librarians', while the position in medical libraries should be called 'medical librarian'. Accordingly, job postings and academic articles will be easily accessible. Both groups marked that the position should require a bachelor's degree in both LIS and a health science field, 2 years library experience and health-related user training. Other requirements included knowledge of health resources and medical terminology, search capabilities and a focus on user-centric service. For required duties, public librarians chose accessing information resources, while medical librarians selected collection management. Health information librarians will play a vital role in the future and must therefore be educated accordingly. © 2015 Health Libraries Group.

  9. Mobile devices in medicine: a survey of how medical students, residents, and faculty use smartphones and other mobile devices to find information.

    PubMed

    Boruff, Jill T; Storie, Dale

    2014-01-01

    The research investigated the extent to which students, residents, and faculty members in Canadian medical faculties use mobile devices, such as smartphones (e.g., iPhone, Android, Blackberry) and tablet computers (e.g., iPad), to answer clinical questions and find medical information. The results of this study will inform how health libraries can effectively support mobile technology and collections. An electronic survey was distributed by medical librarians at four Canadian universities to medical students, residents, and faculty members via departmental email discussion lists, personal contacts, and relevant websites. It investigated the types of information sought, facilitators to mobile device use in medical information seeking, barriers to access, support needs, familiarity with institutionally licensed resources, and most frequently used resources. The survey of 1,210 respondents indicated widespread use of smartphones and tablets in clinical settings in 4 Canadian universities. Third- and fourth-year undergraduate students (i.e., those in their clinical clerkships) and medical residents, compared to other graduate students and faculty, used their mobile devices more often, used them for a broader range of activities, and purchased more resources for their devices. Technological and intellectual barriers do not seem to prevent medical trainees and faculty from regularly using mobile devices for their medical information searches; however, barriers to access and lack of awareness might keep them from using reliable, library-licensed resources. Libraries should focus on providing access to a smaller number of highly used mobile resources instead of a huge collection until library-licensed mobile resources have streamlined authentication processes.

  10. Mobile devices in medicine: a survey of how medical students, residents, and faculty use smartphones and other mobile devices to find information*

    PubMed Central

    Boruff, Jill T.; Storie, Dale

    2014-01-01

    Objectives: The research investigated the extent to which students, residents, and faculty members in Canadian medical faculties use mobile devices, such as smartphones (e.g., iPhone, Android, Blackberry) and tablet computers (e.g., iPad), to answer clinical questions and find medical information. The results of this study will inform how health libraries can effectively support mobile technology and collections. Methods: An electronic survey was distributed by medical librarians at four Canadian universities to medical students, residents, and faculty members via departmental email discussion lists, personal contacts, and relevant websites. It investigated the types of information sought, facilitators to mobile device use in medical information seeking, barriers to access, support needs, familiarity with institutionally licensed resources, and most frequently used resources. Results: The survey of 1,210 respondents indicated widespread use of smartphones and tablets in clinical settings in 4 Canadian universities. Third- and fourth-year undergraduate students (i.e., those in their clinical clerkships) and medical residents, compared to other graduate students and faculty, used their mobile devices more often, used them for a broader range of activities, and purchased more resources for their devices. Conclusions: Technological and intellectual barriers do not seem to prevent medical trainees and faculty from regularly using mobile devices for their medical information searches; however, barriers to access and lack of awareness might keep them from using reliable, library-licensed resources. Implications: Libraries should focus on providing access to a smaller number of highly used mobile resources instead of a huge collection until library-licensed mobile resources have streamlined authentication processes. PMID:24415916

  11. Battlefield Medical Information System-Tactical (BMIST): the application of mobile computing technologies to support health surveillance in the Department of Defense.

    PubMed

    Morris, Tommy J; Pajak, John; Havlik, Frank; Kenyon, Jessica; Calcagni, Dean

    2006-08-01

    This paper discusses the innovation process of the Battlefield Medical Information System- Tactical (BMIST), a point-of-care mobile computing solution for reducing medical errors and improving the quality of care provided to our military personnel in the field. In such remote environments, medical providers have traditionally had limited access to medical information, a situation quite analogous to that in remote areas of underdeveloped or developing countries. BMIST provides an all-in-one suite of mobile applications that empowers providers via access to critical medical information and powerful clinical decision support tools to accurately create an electronic health record (EHR). This record is synchronized with Department of Defense (DOD) joint health surveillance and medical information systems from the earliest echelons of care through chronic care provided by the Veterans Administration. Specific goals met in the initial phase were: integration of the PDA and wireless interface; development of the local application and user interface; development of a communications infrastructure and development of a data storage and retrieval system. The system had been used extensively in the field to create an EHR far forward that supports a longitudinal medical record across time and across all elements of the Military Healthcare System.

  12. Confidence and Information Access in Clinical Decision-Making: An Examination of the Cognitive Processes that affect the Information-seeking Behavior of Physicians.

    PubMed

    Uy, Raymonde Charles; Sarmiento, Raymond Francis; Gavino, Alex; Fontelo, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Clinical decision-making involves the interplay between cognitive processes and physicians' perceptions of confidence in the context of their information-seeking behavior. The objectives of the study are: to examine how these concepts interact, to determine whether physician confidence, defined in relation to information need, affects clinical decision-making, and if information access improves decision accuracy. We analyzed previously collected data about resident physicians' perceptions of information need from a study comparing abstracts and full-text articles in clinical decision accuracy. We found that there is a significant relation between confidence and accuracy (φ=0.164, p<0.01). We also found various differences in the alignment of confidence and accuracy, demonstrating the concepts of underconfidence and overconfidence across years of clinical experience. Access to online literature also has a significant effect on accuracy (p<0.001). These results highlight possible CDSS strategies to reduce medical errors.

  13. Evaluation of Web Accessibility of Consumer Health Information Websites

    PubMed Central

    Zeng, Xiaoming; Parmanto, Bambang

    2003-01-01

    The objectives of the study are to construct a comprehensive framework for web accessibility evaluation, to evaluate the current status of web accessibility of consumer health information websites and to investigate the relationship between web accessibility and property of the websites. We selected 108 consumer health information websites from the directory service of a Web search engine. We used Web accessibility specifications to construct a framework for the measurement of Web Accessibility Barriers (WAB) of website. We found that none of the websites is completely accessible to people with disabilities, but governmental and educational health information websites exhibit better performance on web accessibility than other categories of websites. We also found that the correlation between the WAB score and the popularity of a website is statistically significant. PMID:14728272

  14. Access to medication in the Public Health System and equity: populational health surveys in São Paulo, Brazil.

    PubMed

    Monteiro, Camila Nascimento; Gianini, Reinaldo José; Barros, Marilisa Berti de Azevedo; Cesar, Chester Luiz Galvão; Goldbaum, Moisés

    2016-03-01

    Since 2003, the access to medication has been increasing in Brazil and particularly in São Paulo. The present study aimed to analyze the access to medication obtained in the public sector and the socioeconomic differences in this access in 2003 and 2008. Also, we explored the difference in access to medication from 2003 to 2008. Data were obtained from two cross-sectional population-based household surveys from São Paulo, Brazil (ISA-Capital 2003 and ISA-Capital 2008). Concentration curve and concentration index were calculated to analyze the associations between socioeconomic factors and access to medication in the public sector. Additionally, the differences between 2003 and 2008 regarding socioeconomic characteristics and access to medication were studied. Access to medication was 89.55% in 2003 and 92.99% in 2008, and the proportion of access to medication did not change in the period. Access in the public sector increased from 26.40% in 2003 to 48.55% in 2008 and there was a decrease in the concentration index between 2003 and 2008 in access to medication in the public sector. The findings indicate an expansion of Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde ) users, with the inclusion of people of higher socioeconomic position in the public sector. As the SUS gives more support to people of lower socioeconomic position in terms of medication provision, the SUS tends to equity. Nevertheless, universal coverage for medication and equity in access to medication in the public sector are still challenges for the Brazilian public health system.

  15. Are dispensaries indispensable? Patient experiences of access to cannabis from medical cannabis dispensaries in Canada.

    PubMed

    Capler, Rielle; Walsh, Zach; Crosby, Kim; Belle-Isle, Lynne; Holtzman, Susan; Lucas, Philippe; Callaway, Robert

    2017-09-01

    In 2001, Canada established a federal program for cannabis for therapeutic purposes (CTP). Medical cannabis dispensaries (dispensaries) are widely accessed as a source of CTP despite storefront sales of cannabis being illegal. The discrepancy between legal status and social practice has fuelled active debate regarding the role of dispensaries. The present study aims to inform this debate by analysing CTP user experiences with different CTP sources, and comparing dispensary users to those accessing CTP from other sources. We compared sociodemographic characteristics, health related factors and patterns of cannabis use of 445 respondents, 215 who accessed CTP from dispensaries with 230 who accessed other sources. We compared patients' ratings of CTP sources (dispensaries, Health Canada's supplier, self-production, other producer, friend or acquaintance, street dealer) for quality and availability of product, safety and efficiency of access, cost, and feeling respected while accessing. Patients using dispensaries were older, more likely to have arthritis and HIV/AIDS, and less likely to have mental health conditions than those not using dispensaries. Those accessing dispensaries used larger quantities of cannabis, placed greater value on access to specific strains, and were more likely to have legal authorization for CTP. Dispensaries were rated equally to or more favourably than other sources of CTP for quality, safety, availability, efficiency and feeling respected, and less favourably than self-production and other producer for cost. Given the high endorsement of dispensaries by patients, future regulations should consider including dispensaries as a source of CTP and address known barriers to access such as cost and health care provider support. Further research should assess the impact of the addition of licensed producers on the role and perceived value of dispensaries within the Canadian medical cannabis system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights

  16. 5 CFR 297.205 - Access to medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Access to medical records. 297.205 Section 297.205 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PRIVACY... identity, the records will be made available to the physician, who will have full authority to disclose...

  17. Quality of anaesthesia-related information accessed via Internet searches.

    PubMed

    Caron, S; Berton, J; Beydon, L

    2007-08-01

    We conducted a study to examine the quality and stability of information available from the Internet on four anaesthesia-related topics. In January 2006, we searched using four key words (porphyria, scleroderma, transfusion risk, and epidural analgesia risk) with five search engines (Google, HotBot, AltaVista, Excite, and Yahoo). We used a published scoring system (NetScoring) to evaluate the first 15 sites identified by each of these 20 searches. We also used a simple four-point scale to assess the first 100 sites in the Google search on one of our four topics ('epidural analgesia risk'). In November 2006, we conducted a second evaluation, using three search engines (Google, AltaVista, and Yahoo) with 14 synonyms for 'epidural analgesia risk'. The five search engines performed similarly. NetScoring scores were lower for transfusion risk (P < 0.001). One or more high-quality sites was identified consistently among the first 15 sites in each search. Quality scored using the simple scale correlated closely with medical content and design by NetScoring and with the number of references (P < 0.05). Synonyms of 'epidural analgesia risk' yielded similar results. The quality of accessed information improved somewhat over the 11 month period with Yahoo and AltaVista, but declined with Google. The Internet is a valuable tool for obtaining medical information, but the quality of websites varies between different topics. A simple rating scale may facilitate the quality scoring on individual websites. Differences in precise search terms used for a given topic did not appear to affect the quality of the information obtained.

  18. What Clinical Information Is Valuable to Doctors Using Mobile Electronic Medical Records and When?

    PubMed Central

    Lim, Sanghee; Kim, Jeong Hoon; Lee, Byungtae

    2017-01-01

    Background There has been a lack of understanding on what types of specific clinical information are most valuable for doctors to access through mobile-based electronic medical records (m-EMRs) and when they access such information. Furthermore, it has not been clearly discussed why the value of such information is high. Objective The goal of this study was to investigate the types of clinical information that are most valuable to doctors to access through an m-EMR and when such information is accessed. Methods Since 2010, an m-EMR has been used in a tertiary hospital in Seoul, South Korea. The usage logs of the m-EMR by doctors were gathered from March to December 2015. Descriptive analyses were conducted to explore the overall usage patterns of the m-EMR. To assess the value of the clinical information provided, the usage patterns of both the m-EMR and a hospital information system (HIS) were compared on an hourly basis. The peak usage times of the m-EMR were defined as continuous intervals having normalized usage values that are greater than 0.5. The usage logs were processed as an indicator representing specific clinical information using factor analysis. Random intercept logistic regression was used to explore the type of clinical information that is frequently accessed during the peak usage times. Results A total of 524,929 usage logs from 653 doctors (229 professors, 161 fellows, and 263 residents; mean age: 37.55 years; males: 415 [63.6%]) were analyzed. The highest average number of m-EMR usage logs (897) was by medical residents, whereas the lowest (292) was by surgical residents. The usage amount for three menus, namely inpatient list (47,096), lab results (38,508), and investigation list (25,336), accounted for 60.1% of the peak time usage. The HIS was used most frequently during regular hours (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM). The peak usage time of the m-EMR was early in the morning (6:00 AM to 10:00 AM), and the use of the m-EMR from early evening (5:00 PM) to

  19. Resourcing the clinical complementary medicine information needs of Australian medical students: Results of a grounded theory study.

    PubMed

    Templeman, Kate; Robinson, Anske; McKenna, Lisa

    2016-09-01

    The aim of this study was to identify Australian medical students' complementary medicine information needs. Thirty medical students from 10 medical education faculties across Australian universities were recruited. Data were generated using in-depth semi-structured interviews and constructivist grounded theory method was used to analyze and construct data. Students sought complementary medicine information from a range of inadequate sources, such as pharmacological texts, Internet searches, peer-reviewed medical journals, and drug databases. The students identified that many complementary medicine resources may not be regarded as objective, reliable, differentiated, or comprehensive, leaving much that medical education needs to address. Most students sought succinct, easily accessible, evidence-based information to inform safe and appropriate clinical decisions about complementary medicines. A number of preferred resources were identified that can be recommended and actively promoted to medical students. Therefore, specific, evidence-based complementary medicine databases and secondary resources should be subscribed and recommended to medical schools and students, to assist meeting professional responsibilities regarding complementary medicines. These findings may help inform the development of appropriate medical information resources regarding complementary medicines. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  20. Information extraction from Italian medical reports: An ontology-driven approach.

    PubMed

    Viani, Natalia; Larizza, Cristiana; Tibollo, Valentina; Napolitano, Carlo; Priori, Silvia G; Bellazzi, Riccardo; Sacchi, Lucia

    2018-03-01

    In this work, we propose an ontology-driven approach to identify events and their attributes from episodes of care included in medical reports written in Italian. For this language, shared resources for clinical information extraction are not easily accessible. The corpus considered in this work includes 5432 non-annotated medical reports belonging to patients with rare arrhythmias. To guide the information extraction process, we built a domain-specific ontology that includes the events and the attributes to be extracted, with related regular expressions. The ontology and the annotation system were constructed on a development set, while the performance was evaluated on an independent test set. As a gold standard, we considered a manually curated hospital database named TRIAD, which stores most of the information written in reports. The proposed approach performs well on the considered Italian medical corpus, with a percentage of correct annotations above 90% for most considered clinical events. We also assessed the possibility to adapt the system to the analysis of another language (i.e., English), with promising results. Our annotation system relies on a domain ontology to extract and link information in clinical text. We developed an ontology that can be easily enriched and translated, and the system performs well on the considered task. In the future, it could be successfully used to automatically populate the TRIAD database. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Telemedicine Enables Broader Access to Movement Disorders Curricula for Medical Students.

    PubMed

    Cubo, Esther; Doumbe, Jacques; López, Emiliano; Lopez, Guadalupe A; Gatto, Emilia; Persi, Gabriel; Guttman, Mark

    2017-01-01

    The impact of tele-education for movement disorders on medical students is unknown. The present study had three objectives. First, to create a tele-education program for medical students in regions with limited access to movement disorders curricula. Second, to analyze the feasibility, satisfaction, and improvement of medical knowledge. Third, to assess the main reasons of medical students for attending this course. In 2016, a program was piloted in a low-middle income (Cameroon) and a middle-high income (Argentina) country. Medical students were offered a free movement disorder tele-education program (four medical schools in Argentina, and 1 medical school in Cameroon). Six real-time videoconferences covering hyperkinetic and hypokinetic movement disorders were included. Evaluations included attendance, pre- and post-medical knowledge, and satisfaction questionnaires. The study included 151 undergraduate medical students (79.4% from Argentina, 20.6% from Cameroon). Feasibility was acceptable with 100% and 85.7% of the videoconferences completed in Argentina and Cameroon, respectively. Attendance was higher in Argentina compared to Cameroon (75% vs. 33.1%). According to student reports, the topics and innovative educational environment were the main reasons for attendance. Both groups ranked satisfaction as moderate to high, and medical knowledge improved similarly in both countries. Tele-education can improve movement disorders knowledge in medical schools in high-middle and low-middle income countries lacking access to other educational opportunities.

  2. Secure Dynamic access control scheme of PHR in cloud computing.

    PubMed

    Chen, Tzer-Shyong; Liu, Chia-Hui; Chen, Tzer-Long; Chen, Chin-Sheng; Bau, Jian-Guo; Lin, Tzu-Ching

    2012-12-01

    With the development of information technology and medical technology, medical information has been developed from traditional paper records into electronic medical records, which have now been widely applied. The new-style medical information exchange system "personal health records (PHR)" is gradually developed. PHR is a kind of health records maintained and recorded by individuals. An ideal personal health record could integrate personal medical information from different sources and provide complete and correct personal health and medical summary through the Internet or portable media under the requirements of security and privacy. A lot of personal health records are being utilized. The patient-centered PHR information exchange system allows the public autonomously maintain and manage personal health records. Such management is convenient for storing, accessing, and sharing personal medical records. With the emergence of Cloud computing, PHR service has been transferred to storing data into Cloud servers that the resources could be flexibly utilized and the operation cost can be reduced. Nevertheless, patients would face privacy problem when storing PHR data into Cloud. Besides, it requires a secure protection scheme to encrypt the medical records of each patient for storing PHR into Cloud server. In the encryption process, it would be a challenge to achieve accurately accessing to medical records and corresponding to flexibility and efficiency. A new PHR access control scheme under Cloud computing environments is proposed in this study. With Lagrange interpolation polynomial to establish a secure and effective PHR information access scheme, it allows to accurately access to PHR with security and is suitable for enormous multi-users. Moreover, this scheme also dynamically supports multi-users in Cloud computing environments with personal privacy and offers legal authorities to access to PHR. From security and effectiveness analyses, the proposed PHR access

  3. Effectiveness of YouTube as a Source of Medical Information on Heart Transplantation.

    PubMed

    Chen, He-Ming; Hu, Zhong-Kai; Zheng, Xiao-Lin; Yuan, Zhao-Shun; Xu, Zhao-Bin; Yuan, Ling-Qing; Perez, Vinicio A De Jesus; Yuan, Ke; Orcholski, Mark; Liao, Xiao-Bo

    2013-11-21

    In this digital era, there is a growing tendency to use the popular Internet site YouTube as a new electronic-learning (e-learning) means for continuing medical education. Heart transplantation (HTx) remains the most viable option for patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. There are plenty of freely accessible YouTube videos providing medical information about HTx. The aim of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of YouTube as an e-learning source on HTx. In order to carry out this study, YouTube was searched for videos uploaded containing surgical-related information using the four keywords: (1) "heart transplantation", (2) "cardiac transplantation", (3) "heart transplantation operation", and (4) "cardiac transplantation operation". Only videos in English (with comments or subtitles in English language) were included. Two experienced cardiac surgeons watched each video (N=1800) and classified them as useful, misleading, or recipients videos based on the HTx-relevant information. The kappa statistic was used to measure interobserver variability. Data was analyzed according to six types of YouTube characteristics including "total viewership", "duration", "source", "days since upload", "scores" given by the viewers, and specialized information contents of the videos. A total of 342/1800 (19.00%) videos had relevant information about HTx. Of these 342 videos, 215 (62.8%) videos had useful information about specialized knowledge, 7/342 (2.0%) were found to be misleading, and 120/342 (35.1%) only concerned recipients' individual issues. Useful videos had 56.09% of total viewership share (2,175,845/3,878,890), whereas misleading had 35.47% (1,375,673/3,878,890). Independent user channel videos accounted for a smaller proportion (19% in total numbers) but might have a wider impact on Web viewers, with the highest mean views/day (mean 39, SD 107) among four kinds of channels to distribute HTx-related information. You

  4. Effectiveness of YouTube as a Source of Medical Information on Heart Transplantation

    PubMed Central

    Zheng, Xiao-Lin; Yuan, Zhao-Shun; Xu, Zhao-Bin; Yuan, Ling-Qing; Perez, Vinicio A De Jesus; Yuan, Ke; Orcholski, Mark

    2013-01-01

    Background In this digital era, there is a growing tendency to use the popular Internet site YouTube as a new electronic-learning (e-learning) means for continuing medical education. Heart transplantation (HTx) remains the most viable option for patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. There are plenty of freely accessible YouTube videos providing medical information about HTx. Objective The aim of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of YouTube as an e-learning source on HTx. Methods In order to carry out this study, YouTube was searched for videos uploaded containing surgical-related information using the four keywords: (1) “heart transplantation”, (2) “cardiac transplantation”, (3) “heart transplantation operation”, and (4) “cardiac transplantation operation”. Only videos in English (with comments or subtitles in English language) were included. Two experienced cardiac surgeons watched each video (N=1800) and classified them as useful, misleading, or recipients videos based on the HTx-relevant information. The kappa statistic was used to measure interobserver variability. Data was analyzed according to six types of YouTube characteristics including “total viewership”, “duration”, “source”, “days since upload”, “scores” given by the viewers, and specialized information contents of the videos. Results A total of 342/1800 (19.00%) videos had relevant information about HTx. Of these 342 videos, 215 (62.8%) videos had useful information about specialized knowledge, 7/342 (2.0%) were found to be misleading, and 120/342 (35.1%) only concerned recipients’ individual issues. Useful videos had 56.09% of total viewership share (2,175,845/3,878,890), whereas misleading had 35.47% (1,375,673/3,878,890). Independent user channel videos accounted for a smaller proportion (19% in total numbers) but might have a wider impact on Web viewers, with the highest mean views/day (mean 39, SD 107) among

  5. A network system of medical and welfare information service for the patients, their families, hospitals, local governments, and commercial companies in a medical service area.

    PubMed

    Matsumura, Kouji; Antoku, Yasuaki; Inoue, Reika; Kobayashi, Mariko; Hanada, Eisuke; Iwasaki, Yasutaka; Kumagai, Yasushi; Iwamoto, Haruya; Tsuchihashi, Saburo; Iwaki, Miho; Kira, Jun-ichi; Nose, Yoshiaki

    2002-06-01

    A service information system using the Internet, which connected the various people who are related to medical treatment and nursing welfare, was constructed. An intractable neurological disease patient who lives in the Onga district, Fukuoka, Japan, and the people who are related to the service were chosen as test users in an experimental model. The communicated service information was divided into open-use data (electronic bulletin board, welfare service, medical care service, and link to private company service home page) and closed-use data (the individual patient's hysterics). The open data server was installed in an Internet service provider The open data could be accessed not only by the patient, but also by the family, information center, companies, hospitals, and nursing commodity store related to patient's nursing and medical treatment. Closed data server was installed in an information center (public health center). Only patient and information center staff can access the closed data. Patients should search and collect the service information of various medical and welfare services by themselves. Therefore, services prepared for the patient are difficult to know, and they cannot be sufficiently utilized. With the use of this information system, all usable service information became accessible, and patients could easily use it. The electronic bulletin board system (BBS) was used by patients for knowing each other or each others' family, and was used as a device for exchange of wisdom. Also, the questions for the specialist, such as doctor, dentist, teacher, physical therapist, care manager, welfare office staff member, and public health nurse, and the answers were shown on the BBS. By arranging data file, a reference of various patients in question and answer, which appeared in this BBS, was made as "advisory hints" and was added to the open data. The advisory hints became the new service information for the patients and their family. This BBS discovered

  6. Accessible Electronic and Information Technology

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This Policy establishes EPA's responsibilities and procedures for making its Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) products accessible to all people, including people with disabilities, in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

  7. Obstruction of critical information on over-the-counter medication packages by external tags.

    PubMed

    Sansgiry, Sujit S; Pawaskar, Manjiri D

    2005-02-01

    Over-the-counter (OTC) medication packages are important sources of information for consumers during product selection and use. Consumers may not be able to access information from OTC packages if external tags, namely price or anti-theft tags, are improperly placed. To determine the amount and type of information concealed by anti-theft tags and price tags affixed on OTC drug packages. A field study was performed by evaluating packages containing acetaminophen and combinations of acetaminophen in stores located in Houston. Five packages for 4 products selected from each store after an initial survey for presence of an external tag were examined. A data collection sheet was prepared that extracted the type and amount of information concealed by these tags. Data were analyzed by performing descriptive analyses to provide an understanding of the information obscured. A total of 24 stores were considered in the study, and 67 products and 285 packages were evaluated. External tags, both anti-theft and price tags, obscured significant amounts of information on the principal display panel (53.4%) and the Drug Facts panel (47.7%) of OTC packages. These tags concealed crucial information on various aspects of labels such as brand names (42.3%), product description (36.3%), warnings (51.5%), uses (10.4%), and purposes (7.2%). Results suggest that improper use of external tags clearly obscured important information on OTC medication packages necessary for consumers to make informed decisions regarding product selection and use. Tagging practices should be altered to allow consumers full access to drug information on the product.

  8. 15 CFR 905.3 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS OF INFORMATION COLLECTED BY VOLUNTARY FISHERY DATA COLLECTORS § 905.3 Access to information. Information collected by a voluntary fishery data collector: (a) Is subject to disclosure to both...

  9. Medical-Information-Management System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Alterescu, Sidney; Friedman, Carl A.; Frankowski, James W.

    1989-01-01

    Medical Information Management System (MIMS) computer program interactive, general-purpose software system for storage and retrieval of information. Offers immediate assistance where manipulation of large data bases required. User quickly and efficiently extracts, displays, and analyzes data. Used in management of medical data and handling all aspects of data related to care of patients. Other applications include management of data on occupational safety in public and private sectors, handling judicial information, systemizing purchasing and procurement systems, and analyses of cost structures of organizations. Written in Microsoft FORTRAN 77.

  10. Freedom of Information in a Parliamentary Government: Canada's New Access to Information Legislation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Einsiedel, Edna F.

    Despite a tradition of government secrecy, Canada recently adopted freedom of information legislation. Reflecting greater public and media interest in the issue of public access to information and government secrecy, Bill C-34, the Access to Information Act, received royal assent in 1982, as did a privacy act, enacted to protect the complementary…

  11. 18 CFR 388.113 - Accessing critical energy infrastructure information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... energy infrastructure information. 388.113 Section 388.113 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROCEDURAL RULES INFORMATION AND REQUESTS § 388.113 Accessing critical energy infrastructure information. (a) Scope. This section governs access to...

  12. 18 CFR 388.113 - Accessing critical energy infrastructure information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... energy infrastructure information. 388.113 Section 388.113 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROCEDURAL RULES INFORMATION AND REQUESTS § 388.113 Accessing critical energy infrastructure information. (a) Scope. This section governs access to...

  13. 18 CFR 388.113 - Accessing critical energy infrastructure information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... energy infrastructure information. 388.113 Section 388.113 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROCEDURAL RULES INFORMATION AND REQUESTS § 388.113 Accessing critical energy infrastructure information. (a) Scope. This section governs access to...

  14. 18 CFR 388.113 - Accessing critical energy infrastructure information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... energy infrastructure information. 388.113 Section 388.113 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROCEDURAL RULES INFORMATION AND REQUESTS § 388.113 Accessing critical energy infrastructure information. (a) Scope. This section governs access to...

  15. 18 CFR 388.113 - Accessing critical energy infrastructure information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... energy infrastructure information. 388.113 Section 388.113 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROCEDURAL RULES INFORMATION AND REQUESTS § 388.113 Accessing critical energy infrastructure information. (a) Scope. This section governs access to...

  16. Subdividing the Digital Divide: Differences in Internet Access and Use among Rural Residents with Medical Limitations

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Access to health care is often contingent upon an individual’s ability to travel for services. Certain groups, such as those with physical limitations and rural residents, have more travel barriers than other groups, reducing their access to services. The use of the Internet may be a way for these groups to seek care or information to support their health care needs. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine Internet use among those whose are, for medical reasons, limited in their ability to travel. We also examined disparities in Internet use by race/ethnicity and rural residence, particularly among persons with medical conditions. Methods We used data from the 2001 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), a nationally representative sample of US households, to examine Internet use among individuals with medical conditions, rural residents, and minority populations. Internet use was defined as any use within the past 6 months; among users, frequency of use and location of use were explored. Control variables included sociodemographics, family life cycle, employment status, region, and job density in the community. All analyses were weighted to reflect the complex NHTS sampling frame. Results Individuals with medical conditions were far less likely to report Internet use than those without medical conditions (32.6% vs 70.3%, P < .001). Similarly, rural residents were less likely to report Internet access and use than urban residents (59.7% vs 69.4%, P < .001). Nationally, 72.8% of white respondents, versus 65.7% of persons of “other” race, 51.5% of African Americans, and 38.0% of Hispanics reported accessing the Internet (P < .001). In adjusted analyses, persons with medical conditions and minority populations were less likely to report Internet use. Rural-urban differences were no longer significant with demographic and ecological characteristics held constant. Conclusions This analysis confirmed previous findings of a digital divide

  17. Guidelines for medical and health information sites on the internet: principles governing AMA web sites. American Medical Association.

    PubMed

    Winker, M A; Flanagin, A; Chi-Lum, B; White, J; Andrews, K; Kennett, R L; DeAngelis, C D; Musacchio, R A

    Access to medical information via the Internet has the potential to speed the transformation of the patient-physician relationship from that of physician authority ministering advice and treatment to that of shared decision making between patient and physician. However, barriers impeding this transformation include wide variations in quality of content on the Web, potential for commercial interests to influence online content, and uncertain preservation of personal privacy. To address these issues, the American Medical Association (AMA) has developed principles to guide development and posting of Web site content, govern acquisition and posting of online advertising and sponsorship, ensure site visitors' and patients' rights to privacy and confidentiality, and provide effective and secure means of e-commerce. While these guidelines were developed for the AMA Web sites and visitors to these sites, they also may be useful to other providers and users of medical information on the Web. These principles have been developed with the understanding that they will require frequent revision to keep pace with evolving technology and practices on the Internet. The AMA encourages review and feedback from readers, Web site visitors, policymakers, and all others interested in providing reliable quality information via the Web.

  18. On the security of a dynamic ID-based authentication scheme for telecare medical information systems.

    PubMed

    Lin, Han-Yu

    2013-04-01

    Telecare medical information systems (TMISs) are increasingly popular technologies for healthcare applications. Using TMISs, physicians and caregivers can monitor the vital signs of patients remotely. Since the database of TMISs stores patients' electronic medical records (EMRs), only authorized users should be granted the access to this information for the privacy concern. To keep the user anonymity, recently, Chen et al. proposed a dynamic ID-based authentication scheme for telecare medical information system. They claimed that their scheme is more secure and robust for use in a TMIS. However, we will demonstrate that their scheme fails to satisfy the user anonymity due to the dictionary attacks. It is also possible to derive a user password in case of smart card loss attacks. Additionally, an improved scheme eliminating these weaknesses is also presented.

  19. 7 CFR 2903.18 - Access to review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Access to review information. 2903.18 Section 2903.18 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 2903.18 Access to...

  20. 7 CFR 2903.18 - Access to review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Access to review information. 2903.18 Section 2903.18 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 2903.18 Access to...

  1. 7 CFR 2903.18 - Access to review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Access to review information. 2903.18 Section 2903.18 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 2903.18 Access to...

  2. 7 CFR 2903.18 - Access to review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Access to review information. 2903.18 Section 2903.18 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 2903.18 Access to...

  3. 7 CFR 2903.18 - Access to review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Access to review information. 2903.18 Section 2903.18 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 2903.18 Access to...

  4. Disparities in access to medical care for individuals with vision impairment.

    PubMed

    Spencer, Christine; Frick, Kevin; Gower, Emily W; Kempen, John H; Wolff, Jennifer L

    2009-01-01

    We investigated the relationship between blindness and vision impairment and access to medical care. Pooled data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) years 2002-2004 were used to identify non-institutionalized individuals over the age of 40 with either self-reported blindness, vision impairment, or no vision impairment (n = 40,643). Differences in access to care measures by vision status were assessed, after adjusting for the complex sampling design of the MEPS, using either two-sided z-tests or two-sided t-tests. Individuals with blindness and vision impairment report having more access problems related to cost of care, availability of insurance coverage, transportation issues, and refusal of services by providers, although they do not report lower rates of having a usual source of care compared to those without vision impairment. The results suggest that access to care for individuals with blindness and vision impairment is problematic, for reasons that are amenable to policy interventions.

  5. Identifying strategies to improve access to credible and relevant information for public health professionals: a qualitative study

    PubMed Central

    LaPelle, Nancy R; Luckmann, Roger; Simpson, E Hatheway; Martin, Elaine R

    2006-01-01

    Background Movement towards evidence-based practices in many fields suggests that public health (PH) challenges may be better addressed if credible information about health risks and effective PH practices is readily available. However, research has shown that many PH information needs are unmet. In addition to reviewing relevant literature, this study performed a comprehensive review of existing information resources and collected data from two representative PH groups, focusing on identifying current practices, expressed information needs, and ideal systems for information access. Methods Nineteen individual interviews were conducted among employees of two domains in a state health department – communicable disease control and community health promotion. Subsequent focus groups gathered additional data on preferences for methods of information access and delivery as well as information format and content. Qualitative methods were used to identify themes in the interview and focus group transcripts. Results Informants expressed similar needs for improved information access including single portal access with a good search engine; automatic notification regarding newly available information; access to best practice information in many areas of interest that extend beyond biomedical subject matter; improved access to grey literature as well as to more systematic reviews, summaries, and full-text articles; better methods for indexing, filtering, and searching for information; and effective ways to archive information accessed. Informants expressed a preference for improving systems with which they were already familiar such as PubMed and listservs rather than introducing new systems of information organization and delivery. A hypothetical ideal model for information organization and delivery was developed based on informants' stated information needs and preferred means of delivery. Features of the model were endorsed by the subjects who reviewed it. Conclusion

  6. Internet use by patients with psychiatric disorders in search for general and medical informations.

    PubMed

    Khazaal, Yasser; Chatton, Anne; Cochand, Sophie; Hoch, Aliosca; Khankarli, Mona B; Khan, Riaz; Zullino, Daniele Fabio

    2008-12-01

    Internet is commonly used by the general population, notably for health information-seeking. There has been little research into its use by patients treated for a psychiatric disorder. To evaluate the use of internet by patients with psychiatric disorders in searching for general and medical information. In 2007, 319 patients followed in a university hospital psychiatric out-patient clinic, completed a 28-items self-administered questionnaire. Two hundred patients surveyed were internet users. Most of them (68.5%) used internet in order to find health-related information. Only a small part of the patients knew and used criteria reflecting the quality of contents of the websites consulted. Knowledge of English and private Internet access were the factors significantly associated with the search of information on health on Internet. Internet is currently used by patients treated for psychiatric disorders, especially for medical seeking information.

  7. Patients' perspectives of accessibility and digital delivery of factual content provided by official medical and surgical specialty society websites: a qualitative assessment.

    PubMed

    Ow, Darren; Wetherell, David; Papa, Nathan; Bolton, Damien; Lawrentschuk, Nathan

    2015-03-27

    Health care websites provide a valuable resource of health information to online consumers, especially patients. Official surgical and medical society websites should be a reliable first point of contact. The primary aim of this study was to quantitatively assess medical and surgical society websites for content and highlight the essential features required for a high-quality, user-friendly society website. Twenty specialty association websites from each of the regions, Australia, UK, Canada, Europe, and the USA were selected for a total of 100 websites. Medical and surgical specialities were consistent across each region. Each website was systematically and critically analysed for content and usability. The average points scored per website was 3.2 out of 10. Of the total (N=100) websites, 12 scored at least 7 out of 10 points and 2 scored 9 out of 10. As well, 35% (35.0/100) of the websites had an information tab for patients on their respective homepages while 38% (38.0/100) had download access to patient information. A minority of the websites included different forms of multimedia such as pictures and diagrams (24.0/100, 24%) and videos (18.0/100, 18%). We found that most society websites did not meet an adequate standard for delivery of information. Half of the websites were not patient accessible, with the primary focus being for health professionals. As well, most required logins for information access. Specialty health care societies should create patient-friendly websites that would be beneficial to all online consumers.

  8. The Medical Devices Special Access Program in Canada: A Scoping Study

    PubMed Central

    Menon, Devidas; Stafinski, Tania

    2018-01-01

    New health technologies enter Canadian healthcare organizations in various ways, and understanding them is essential to the development of a pan-Canadian Health Technology Management (HTM) Strategy, now a priority of governments across Canada. One way is through Health Canada's Medical Devices Special Access Program (MDSAP), which permits unlicensed devices to be obtained by healthcare professionals. However, the circumstances around and implications of the current use of this program are not clear. A scoping literature review was conducted to clarify these and identify important roles and issues related to the MDSAP. Limited information was found on the MDSAP. Nevertheless, three themes demonstrating the roles of the MDSAP in HTM emerged: arbiter in technology selection, a route to technology procurement and facilitator of health technology innovation. No information suggesting that MDSAP is used to circumvent licensing was found. Rather, it enables desired patient outcomes and product commercialization. PMID:29595436

  9. 28 CFR 115.282 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Mental Care § 115.282 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Resident victims of... intervention services, the nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on...

  10. 28 CFR 115.82 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... § 115.82 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Inmate victims of sexual abuse..., the nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on duty at...

  11. 28 CFR 115.82 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... § 115.82 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Inmate victims of sexual abuse..., the nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on duty at...

  12. 28 CFR 115.82 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... § 115.82 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Inmate victims of sexual abuse..., the nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on duty at...

  13. 28 CFR 115.282 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Mental Care § 115.282 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Resident victims of... intervention services, the nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on...

  14. 28 CFR 115.282 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Mental Care § 115.282 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Resident victims of... intervention services, the nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on...

  15. An approach to medical knowledge sharing in a hospital information system using MCLink.

    PubMed

    Shibuya, Akiko; Inoue, Ryusuke; Nakayama, Masaharu; Kasahara, Shin; Maeda, Yukihiro; Umesato, Yoshimasa; Kondo, Yoshiaki

    2013-08-01

    Clinicians often need access to electronic information resources that answer questions that occur in daily clinical practice. This information generally comes from publicly available resources. However, clinicians also need knowledge on institution-specific information (e.g., institution-specific guidelines, choice of drug, choice of laboratory test, information on adverse events, and advice from professional colleagues). This information needs to be available in real time. This study characterizes these needs in order to build a prototype hospital information system (HIS) that can help clinicians get timely answers to questions. We previously designed medical knowledge units called Medical Cells (MCs). We developed a portal server of MCs that can create and store medical information such as institution-specific information. We then developed a prototype HIS that embeds MCs as links (MCLink); these links are based on specific terms (e.g., drug, laboratory test, and disease). This prototype HIS presents clinicians with institution-specific information. The HIS clients (e.g., clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory technicians) can also create an MCLink in the HIS using the portal server in the hospital. The prototype HIS allowed efficient sharing and use of institution-specific information to clinicians at the point of care. This study included institution-specific information resources and advice from professional colleagues, both of which might have an important role in supporting good clinical decision making.

  16. 28 CFR 115.382 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ....382 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Resident victims of sexual abuse shall... nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on duty at the time a...

  17. 28 CFR 115.382 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ....382 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Resident victims of sexual abuse shall... nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on duty at the time a...

  18. 28 CFR 115.382 - Access to emergency medical and mental health services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ....382 Access to emergency medical and mental health services. (a) Resident victims of sexual abuse shall... nature and scope of which are determined by medical and mental health practitioners according to their professional judgment. (b) If no qualified medical or mental health practitioners are on duty at the time a...

  19. TH-A-12A-01: Medical Physicist's Role in Digital Information Security: Threats, Vulnerabilities and Best Practices

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    McDonald, K; Curran, B

    I. Information Security Background (Speaker = Kevin McDonald) Evolution of Medical Devices Living and Working in a Hostile Environment Attack Motivations Attack Vectors Simple Safety Strategies Medical Device Security in the News Medical Devices and Vendors Summary II. Keeping Radiation Oncology IT Systems Secure (Speaker = Bruce Curran) Hardware Security Double-lock Requirements “Foreign” computer systems Portable Device Encryption Patient Data Storage System Requirements Network Configuration Isolating Critical Devices Isolating Clinical Networks Remote Access Considerations Software Applications / Configuration Passwords / Screen Savers Restricted Services / access Software Configuration Restriction Use of DNS to restrict accesse. Patches / Upgrades Awareness Intrusionmore » Prevention Intrusion Detection Threat Risk Analysis Conclusion Learning Objectives: Understanding how Hospital IT Requirements affect Radiation Oncology IT Systems. Illustrating sample practices for hardware, network, and software security. Discussing implementation of good IT security practices in radiation oncology. Understand overall risk and threats scenario in a networked environment.« less

  20. IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT ORD PROJECTS

    EPA Science Inventory

    ORD project information is maintained in, and retrieved from, multiple systems and home pages. Not all sources of project information are Intranet accessible. Descriptive information may be abbreviated and not useful in conveying a comprehensive understanding of a project. The m...

  1. [Problematic issues and prospects of development of information and telecommunication technologies in the medical service of the Armed Forces].

    PubMed

    Kalachev, O V; Pershin, I V; Borisov, D N; Korneenkov, A A

    2014-12-01

    Medical information systems composed of many specialized modules help in synchronous solving of diagnostic, therapeutic, administrative, financial, statistical, and other tasks. According to the authors, the creation of a single information space of the medical service, integrating it into a single information space of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Fedaration, development and widespread use of telemedicine technology will significantly accelerate the integration in the daily activities of military hospitals of the latest achievements in medical science and practices consistent with the objectives of improving the military health care and improvement of the quality and accessibility of health care.

  2. Evidence of global demand for medication abortion information An analysis of www.medicationabortion.com

    PubMed Central

    Foster, Angel M.; Wynn, L. L.; Trussell, James

    2013-01-01

    Introduction The worldwide expansion of the Internet offers an important modality of disseminating medically accurate information about medication abortion. We chronicle the story of www.medicationabortion.com, an English-, Spanish-, Arabic-, and French-language website dedicated to three early abortion regimens. Methods We evaluated the website use patterns from 2005 through 2009. We also conducted a content and thematic analysis of 1,910 emails submitted during this period. Results The website experienced steady growth in use. In 2009, it received 35,000 visits each month from more than 20,000 unique visitors and was accessed by users in 208 countries and territories. More than half of all users accessed the website from a country in which abortion is legally restricted. Users from more than 40 countries sent emails with individual questions. Women often wrote in extraordinary detail about the circumstances of their pregnancies and attempts to obtain an abortion. These emails also reflect considerable demand for information about the use of misoprostol for self-induction. Conclusion The use patterns of www.medicationabortion.com indicate that there is significant demand for online information about abortion, and the findings suggest future priorities for research, collaboration, and educational outreach. PMID:24360644

  3. Patients' intentions to seek medication information from pharmacists.

    PubMed

    Huston, Sally A

    2013-01-01

    To determine whether perceived medication use knowledge held and/or needed influenced intention to seek information from pharmacists, whether an information-intention relationship held after accounting for other variables, and whether asking medication use knowledge questions increased pharmacist information-seeking intention. Cross-sectional study. SETTING United States during July 2012. Qualtrics national panel members 21 years or older obtaining a new chronic medication within previous 30 days. Internet-administered survey. Medication information-seeking intention, medication knowledge held and needed, and pharmacist medication information-seeking intention. Although knowledge held and needed were initially significant, they became nonsignificant after adding affective and evaluative attitudes, perceived control, and risk. The final best-fitting model explained 21% of variance in pharmacist information-seeking intention. Patient intentions to seek information from pharmacists increased significantly after being asked medication use knowledge questions. Perceptions of medication risk, attitudes, and information-seeking control predict pharmacist information-seeking intention and offer pharmacists an opportunity to market information services.

  4. Context-sensitive medical information retrieval.

    PubMed

    Auerbuch, Mordechai; Karson, Tom H; Ben-Ami, Benjamin; Maimon, Oded; Rokach, Lior

    2004-01-01

    Substantial medical data such as pathology reports, operative reports, discharge summaries, and radiology reports are stored in textual form. Databases containing free-text medical narratives often need to be searched to find relevant information for clinical and research purposes. Terms that appear in these documents tend to appear in different contexts. The con-text of negation, a negative finding, is of special importance, since many of the most frequently described findings are those denied by the patient or subsequently "ruled out." Hence, when searching free-text narratives for patients with a certain medical condition, if negation is not taken into account, many of the retrieved documents will be irrelevant. The purpose of this work is to develop a methodology for automated learning of negative context patterns in medical narratives and test the effect of context identification on the performance of medical information retrieval. The algorithm presented significantly improves the performance of information retrieval done on medical narratives. The precision im-proves from about 60%, when using context-insensitive retrieval, to nearly 100%. The impact on recall is only minor. In addition, context-sensitive queries enable the user to search for terms in ways not otherwise available

  5. Frequency and Risk of Marijuana Use among Substance-Using Health Care Patients in Colorado with and without Access to State Legalized Medical Marijuana.

    PubMed

    Richmond, Melissa K; Pampel, Fred C; Rivera, Laura S; Broderick, Kerryann B; Reimann, Brie; Fischer, Leigh

    2015-01-01

    With increasing use of state legalized medical marijuana across the country, health care providers need accurate information on patterns of marijuana and other substance use for patients with access to medical marijuana. This study compared frequency and severity of marijuana use, and use of other substances, for patients with and without state legal access to medical marijuana. Data were collected from 2,030 patients who screened positive for marijuana use when seeking health care services in a large, urban safety-net medical center. Patients were screened as part of a federally funded screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) initiative. Patients were asked at screening whether they had a state-issued medical marijuana card and about risky use of tobacco, alcohol, and other illicit substances. A total of 17.4% of marijuana users had a medical marijuana card. Patients with cards had higher frequency of marijuana use and were more likely to screen at moderate than low or high risk from marijuana use. Patients with cards also had lower use of other substances than patients without cards. Findings can inform health care providers of both the specific risks of frequent, long-term use and the more limited risks of other substance use faced by legal medical marijuana users.

  6. Evaluation of internet access and utilization by medical students in Lahore, Pakistan.

    PubMed

    Jadoon, Nauman A; Zahid, Muhammad F; Mansoorulhaq, Hafiz; Ullah, Sami; Jadoon, Bilal A; Raza, Ali; Hussain, Mansoor; Yaqoob, Rehan; Shahzad, Mohammad A

    2011-05-30

    The internet is increasingly being used worldwide in imparting medical education and improving its delivery. It has become an important tool for healthcare professionals training but the data on its use by medical students in developing countries is lacking with no study on the subject from Pakistan. This study was, therefore, carried out with an aim to evaluate the pattern of internet access and utilization by medical students in Pakistan. A structured pre-tested questionnaire was administered to a group of 750 medical students in clinical years studying at various public and private medical colleges in Lahore. The questions were related to patterns of internet access, purpose of use and self reported confidence in performing various internet related tasks, use of health related websites to supplement learning and the problems faced by students in using internet at the institution. A total of 532 medical students (70.9%) returned the questionnaire. The mean age of study participants was 21.04 years (SD 1.96 years). Majority of the respondents (84.0%) reported experience with internet use. About half of the students (42.1%) were using internet occasionally with 23.1%, 20.9% and 13.9% doing so frequently, regularly and rarely respectively. About two third of the students (61.0%) stated that they use internet for both academic and professional activities. Most of the participants preferred to use internet at home (70.5%). Self reported ability to search for required article from PubMed and PakMedinet was reported by only 34.0% of the entire sample. Students were moderately confident in performing various internet related tasks including downloading medical books from internet, searching internet for classification of diseases and downloading full text article. Health related websites were being accessed by 55.1% students to supplement their learning process. Lack of time, inadequate number of available computers and lack of support from staff were cited as the most

  7. Evaluation of internet access and utilization by medical students in Lahore, Pakistan

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background The internet is increasingly being used worldwide in imparting medical education and improving its delivery. It has become an important tool for healthcare professionals training but the data on its use by medical students in developing countries is lacking with no study on the subject from Pakistan. This study was, therefore, carried out with an aim to evaluate the pattern of internet access and utilization by medical students in Pakistan. Methods A structured pre-tested questionnaire was administered to a group of 750 medical students in clinical years studying at various public and private medical colleges in Lahore. The questions were related to patterns of internet access, purpose of use and self reported confidence in performing various internet related tasks, use of health related websites to supplement learning and the problems faced by students in using internet at the institution. Results A total of 532 medical students (70.9%) returned the questionnaire. The mean age of study participants was 21.04 years (SD 1.96 years). Majority of the respondents (84.0%) reported experience with internet use. About half of the students (42.1%) were using internet occasionally with 23.1%, 20.9% and 13.9% doing so frequently, regularly and rarely respectively. About two third of the students (61.0%) stated that they use internet for both academic and professional activities. Most of the participants preferred to use internet at home (70.5%). Self reported ability to search for required article from PubMed and PakMedinet was reported by only 34.0% of the entire sample. Students were moderately confident in performing various internet related tasks including downloading medical books from internet, searching internet for classification of diseases and downloading full text article. Health related websites were being accessed by 55.1% students to supplement their learning process. Lack of time, inadequate number of available computers and lack of support from

  8. Patients, privacy and trust: patients' willingness to allow researchers to access their medical records.

    PubMed

    Damschroder, Laura J; Pritts, Joy L; Neblo, Michael A; Kalarickal, Rosemarie J; Creswell, John W; Hayward, Rodney A

    2007-01-01

    The federal Privacy Rule, implemented in the United States in 2003, as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), created new restrictions on the release of medical information for research. Many believe that its restrictions have fallen disproportionately on researchers prompting some to call for changes to the Rule. Here we ask what patients think about researchers' access to medical records, and what influences these opinions. A sample of 217 patients from 4 Veteran Affairs (VA) facilities deliberated in small groups at each location with the opportunity to question experts and inform themselves about privacy issues related to medical records research. After extensive deliberation, these patients were united in their inclination to share their medical records for research. Yet they were also united in their recommendations to institute procedures that would give them more control over whether and how their medical records are used for research. We integrated qualitative and quantitative results to derive a better understanding of this apparent paradox. Our findings can best be presented as answers to questions related to five dimensions of trust: Patients' trust in VA researchers was the most powerful determinant of the kind of control they want over their medical records. More specifically, those who had lower trust in VA researchers were more likely to recommend a more stringent process for obtaining individual consent. Insights on the critical role of trust suggest actions that researchers and others can take to more fully engage patients in research.

  9. Preferred information sources for clinical decision making: critical care nurses' perceptions of information accessibility and usefulness.

    PubMed

    Marshall, Andrea P; West, Sandra H; Aitken, Leanne M

    2011-12-01

    Variability in clinical practice may result from the use of diverse information sources to guide clinical decisions. In routine clinical practice, nurses privilege information from colleagues over more formal information sources. It is not clear whether similar information-seeking behaviour is exhibited when critical care nurses make decisions about a specific clinical practice, where extensive practice variability exists alongside a developing research base. This study explored the preferred sources of information intensive care nurses used and their perceptions of the accessibility and usefulness of this information for making decisions in clinically uncertain situations specific to enteral feeding practice. An instrumental case study design, incorporating concurrent verbal protocols, Q methodology and focus groups, was used to determine intensive care nurses' perspectives of information use in the resolution of clinical uncertainty. A preference for information from colleagues to support clinical decisions was observed. People as information sources were considered most useful and most accessible in the clinical setting. Text and electronic information sources were seen as less accessible, mainly because of the time required to access the information within the documents. When faced with clinical uncertainty, obtaining information from colleagues allows information to be quickly accessed and applied within the context of a specific clinical presentation. Seeking information from others also provides opportunities for shared decision-making and potential validation of clinical judgment, although differing views may exacerbate clinical uncertainty. The social exchange of clinical information may meet the needs of nurses working in a complex, time-pressured environment but the extent of the evidence base for information passed through verbal communication is unclear. The perceived usefulness and accessibility of information is premised on the ease of use and access

  10. The usability axiom of medical information systems.

    PubMed

    Pantazi, Stefan V; Kushniruk, Andre; Moehr, Jochen R

    2006-12-01

    In this article we begin by connecting the concept of simplicity of user interfaces of information systems with that of usability, and the concept of complexity of the problem-solving in information systems with the concept of usefulness. We continue by stating "the usability axiom" of medical information technology: information systems must be, at the same time, usable and useful. We then try to show why, given existing technology, the axiom is a paradox and we continue with analysing and reformulating it several times, from more fundamental information processing perspectives. We underline the importance of the concept of representation and demonstrate the need for context-dependent representations. By means of thought experiments and examples, we advocate the need for context-dependent information processing and argue for the relevance of algorithmic information theory and case-based reasoning in this context. Further, we introduce the notion of concept spaces and offer a pragmatic perspective on context-dependent representations. We conclude that the efficient management of concept spaces may help with the solution to the medical information technology paradox. Finally, we propose a view of informatics centred on the concepts of context-dependent information processing and management of concept spaces that aligns well with existing knowledge centric definitions of informatics in general and medical informatics in particular. In effect, our view extends M. Musen's proposal and proposes a definition of Medical Informatics as context-dependent medical information processing. The axiom that medical information systems must be, at the same time, useful and usable, is a paradox and its investigation by means of examples and thought experiments leads to the recognition of the crucial importance of context-dependent information processing. On the premise that context-dependent information processing equates to knowledge processing, this view defines Medical Informatics

  11. Web Content Accessibility of Consumer Health Information Web Sites for People with Disabilities: A Cross Sectional Evaluation

    PubMed Central

    Parmanto, Bambang

    2004-01-01

    Background The World Wide Web (WWW) has become an increasingly essential resource for health information consumers. The ability to obtain accurate medical information online quickly, conveniently and privately provides health consumers with the opportunity to make informed decisions and participate actively in their personal care. Little is known, however, about whether the content of this online health information is equally accessible to people with disabilities who must rely on special devices or technologies to process online information due to their visual, hearing, mobility, or cognitive limitations. Objective To construct a framework for an automated Web accessibility evaluation; to evaluate the state of accessibility of consumer health information Web sites; and to investigate the possible relationships between accessibility and other features of the Web sites, including function, popularity and importance. Methods We carried out a cross-sectional study of the state of accessibility of health information Web sites to people with disabilities. We selected 108 consumer health information Web sites from the directory service of a Web search engine. A measurement framework was constructed to automatically measure the level of Web Accessibility Barriers (WAB) of Web sites following Web accessibility specifications. We investigated whether there was a difference between WAB scores across various functional categories of the Web sites, and also evaluated the correlation between the WAB and Alexa traffic rank and Google Page Rank of the Web sites. Results We found that none of the Web sites we looked at are completely accessible to people with disabilities, i.e., there were no sites that had no violation of Web accessibility rules. However, governmental and educational health information Web sites do exhibit better Web accessibility than the other categories of Web sites (P < 0.001). We also found that the correlation between the WAB score and the popularity of a

  12. Information constraints in medical encounters.

    PubMed

    Hollander, R D

    1984-01-01

    This article describes three kinds of information constraints in medical encounters that have not been discussed at length in the medical ethics literature: constraints from the concept of a disease, from the diffusion of medical innovation, and from withholding information. It describes how these limit the reliance rational people can justifiably put in their doctors, and even the reliance doctors can have on their own advice. It notes the implications of these constraints for the value of informed consent, identifies several procedural steps that could increase the value of the latter and improve diffusion of innovation, and argues that recognition of these constraints should lead us to devise protections which intrude on but can improve these encounters.

  13. 39 CFR 255.4 - Accessibility to electronic and information technology.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY § 255.4 Accessibility to electronic and information technology. (a) In... burden, that the electronic and information technology the agency procures allows— (1) Individuals with... 39 Postal Service 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Accessibility to electronic and information...

  14. 39 CFR 255.4 - Accessibility to electronic and information technology.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY § 255.4 Accessibility to electronic and information technology. (a) In... burden, that the electronic and information technology the agency procures allows— (1) Individuals with... 39 Postal Service 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Accessibility to electronic and information...

  15. 39 CFR 255.4 - Accessibility to electronic and information technology.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY § 255.4 Accessibility to electronic and information technology. (a) In... burden, that the electronic and information technology the agency procures allows— (1) Individuals with... 39 Postal Service 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Accessibility to electronic and information...

  16. 39 CFR 255.4 - Accessibility to electronic and information technology.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY § 255.4 Accessibility to electronic and information technology. (a) In... burden, that the electronic and information technology the agency procures allows— (1) Individuals with... 39 Postal Service 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Accessibility to electronic and information...

  17. NASA Access Mechanism - Graphical user interface information retrieval system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunter, Judy F.; Generous, Curtis; Duncan, Denise

    1993-01-01

    Access to online information sources of aerospace, scientific, and engineering data, a mission focus for NASA's Scientific and Technical Information Program, has always been limited by factors such as telecommunications, query language syntax, lack of standardization in the information, and the lack of adequate tools to assist in searching. Today, the NASA STI Program's NASA Access Mechanism (NAM) prototype offers a solution to these problems by providing the user with a set of tools that provide a graphical interface to remote, heterogeneous, and distributed information in a manner adaptable to both casual and expert users. Additionally, the NAM provides access to many Internet-based services such as Electronic Mail, the Wide Area Information Servers system, Peer Locating tools, and electronic bulletin boards.

  18. NASA access mechanism: Graphical user interface information retrieval system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunter, Judy; Generous, Curtis; Duncan, Denise

    1993-01-01

    Access to online information sources of aerospace, scientific, and engineering data, a mission focus for NASA's Scientific and Technical Information Program, has always been limited to factors such as telecommunications, query language syntax, lack of standardization in the information, and the lack of adequate tools to assist in searching. Today, the NASA STI Program's NASA Access Mechanism (NAM) prototype offers a solution to these problems by providing the user with a set of tools that provide a graphical interface to remote, heterogeneous, and distributed information in a manner adaptable to both casual and expert users. Additionally, the NAM provides access to many Internet-based services such as Electronic Mail, the Wide Area Information Servers system, Peer Locating tools, and electronic bulletin boards.

  19. 76 FR 77738 - Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines; Electronic and Information Technology...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-14

    ... Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines and its Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards... electronic and information technology covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. 76.... 2011-07] RIN 3014-AA37 Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines; Electronic and Information...

  20. Free internet access, the digital divide, and health information.

    PubMed

    Wagner, Todd H; Bundorf, M Kate; Singer, Sara J; Baker, Laurence C

    2005-04-01

    The Internet has emerged as a valuable tool for health information. Half of the U.S. population lacked Internet access in 2001, creating concerns about those without access. Starting in 1999, a survey firm randomly invited individuals to join their research panel in return for free Internet access. This provides a unique setting to study the ways that people who had not previously obtained Internet access use the Internet when it becomes available to them. In 2001-2002, we surveyed 12,878 individuals 21 years of age and older on the research panel regarding use of the Internet for health; 8935 (69%) responded. We analyzed respondents who had no prior Internet access, and then compared this group to those who had prior Internet access. Among those newly provided free Internet access, 24% had used the Internet for health information in the past year, and users reported notable benefits, such as improved knowledge and self-care abilities. Not surprisingly, the no-prior-Internet group reported lower rates of using the Internet (24%) than the group that had obtained Internet access prior to joining the research panel (40%), but the 2 groups reported similar perceptions of the Internet and self-reported effects. Those who obtained Internet access for the first time by joining the panel used the Internet for health and appeared to benefit from it. Access helps explain the digital divide, although most people given free access do not use the Internet for health information.

  1. Reassessing insurers' access to genetic information: genetic privacy, ignorance, and injustice.

    PubMed

    Feiring, Eli

    2009-06-01

    Many countries have imposed strict regulations on the genetic information to which insurers have access. Commentators have warned against the emerging body of legislation for different reasons. This paper demonstrates that, when confronted with the argument that genetic information should be available to insurers for health insurance underwriting purposes, one should avoid appeals to rights of genetic privacy and genetic ignorance. The principle of equality of opportunity may nevertheless warrant restrictions. A choice-based account of this principle implies that it is unfair to hold people responsible for the consequences of the genetic lottery, since we have no choice in selecting our genotype or the expression of it. However appealing, this view does not take us all the way to an adequate justification of inaccessibility of genetic information. A contractarian account, suggesting that health is a condition of opportunity and that healthcare is an essential good, seems more promising. I conclude that if or when predictive medical tests (such as genetic tests) are developed with significant actuarial value, individuals have less reason to accept as fair institutions that limit access to healthcare on the grounds of risk status. Given the assumption that a division of risk pools in accordance with a rough estimate of people's level of (genetic) risk will occur, fairness and justice favour universal health insurance based on solidarity.

  2. Rural Veteran Access to Healthcare Services: Investigating the Role of Information and Communication Technologies in Overcoming Spatial Barriers

    PubMed Central

    Schooley, Benjamin L; Horan, Thomas A; Lee, Pamela W; West, Priscilla A

    2010-01-01

    This multimethod pilot study examined patient and practitioner perspectives on the influence of spatial barriers to healthcare access and the role of health information technology in overcoming these barriers. The study included a survey administered to patients attending a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health visit, and a focus group with VA care providers. Descriptive results and focus group findings are presented. Spatial distance is a significant factor for many rural veterans when seeking healthcare. For this sample of rural veterans, a range of telephone, computer, and Internet technologies may become more important for accessing care as Internet access becomes more ubiquitous and as younger veterans begin using the VA health system. The focus group highlighted the negative impact of distance, economic considerations, geographic barriers, and specific medical conditions on access to care. Lack of adequate technology infrastructure was seen as an obstacle to utilization. This study discusses the need to consider distance, travel modes, age, and information technology infrastructure and adoption when designing health information technology to care for rural patients. PMID:20697468

  3. Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Office of Postsecondary Education, US Department of Education, 2012

    2012-01-01

    The Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access (TICFIA) Program supports projects focused on developing innovative technologies for accessing, collecting, organizing, preserving, and disseminating information from foreign sources to address the U.S.' teaching and research needs in international education and foreign…

  4. Variation in Results Release and Patient Portal Access to Diagnostic Test Results at an Academic Medical Center

    PubMed Central

    Krasowski, Matthew D.; Grieme, Caleb V.; Cassady, Brian; Dreyer, Nicholas R.; Wanat, Karolyn A.; Hightower, Maia; Nepple, Kenneth G.

    2017-01-01

    Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) are commonplace in industrialized countries. Many hospitals are granting their patients access to their medical information through online patient portals. In this report, we describe a retrospective analysis of patient access to diagnostic test results released through the patient portal (MyChart; Epic, Inc.) at a state academic medical center. Methods: We analyzed 6 months of data for anatomic pathology, clinical laboratory, and radiology test results to evaluate variations in results release (automated vs. manual) and subsequent patient access to the institutional patient portal. During this period, diagnostic test results were released for all patient encounters including inpatient units, outpatient clinics, and the emergency department. Results: Manual results release by providers before automated release time occurred most commonly in the outpatient setting. The highest rates of access of diagnostic test results occurred for outpatients (about 30% overall view rate), females (two times or more compared to males in nearly every age bracket), and 20–45-year-old. Access rates of diagnostic tests in the emergency department or inpatient units were <10% across all populations. Access of diagnostic test results was very low for 12–17-year-old, likely influenced by institutional policies limiting parental proxy access within this pediatric age range. Approximately 20% of outpatient laboratory results were viewed by patients within 8 h of release from the EHR to the patient portal and 10% within 2 h of release. Conclusions: Patient accessing of diagnostic test results were generally higher for females, outpatients, and 20–45-year-old. Approximately, 20% of outpatient results were viewed quickly by patients after release to the EHR. PMID:29226008

  5. Variation in Results Release and Patient Portal Access to Diagnostic Test Results at an Academic Medical Center.

    PubMed

    Krasowski, Matthew D; Grieme, Caleb V; Cassady, Brian; Dreyer, Nicholas R; Wanat, Karolyn A; Hightower, Maia; Nepple, Kenneth G

    2017-01-01

    Electronic health records (EHRs) are commonplace in industrialized countries. Many hospitals are granting their patients access to their medical information through online patient portals. In this report, we describe a retrospective analysis of patient access to diagnostic test results released through the patient portal (MyChart; Epic, Inc.) at a state academic medical center. We analyzed 6 months of data for anatomic pathology, clinical laboratory, and radiology test results to evaluate variations in results release (automated vs. manual) and subsequent patient access to the institutional patient portal. During this period, diagnostic test results were released for all patient encounters including inpatient units, outpatient clinics, and the emergency department. Manual results release by providers before automated release time occurred most commonly in the outpatient setting. The highest rates of access of diagnostic test results occurred for outpatients (about 30% overall view rate), females (two times or more compared to males in nearly every age bracket), and 20-45-year-old. Access rates of diagnostic tests in the emergency department or inpatient units were <10% across all populations. Access of diagnostic test results was very low for 12-17-year-old, likely influenced by institutional policies limiting parental proxy access within this pediatric age range. Approximately 20% of outpatient laboratory results were viewed by patients within 8 h of release from the EHR to the patient portal and 10% within 2 h of release. Patient accessing of diagnostic test results were generally higher for females, outpatients, and 20-45-year-old. Approximately, 20% of outpatient results were viewed quickly by patients after release to the EHR.

  6. Assessment of YouTube videos as a source of information on medication use in pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Hansen, Craig; Interrante, Julia D; Ailes, Elizabeth C; Frey, Meghan T; Broussard, Cheryl S; Godoshian, Valerie J; Lewis, Courtney; Polen, Kara N D; Garcia, Amanda P; Gilboa, Suzanne M

    2016-01-01

    When making decisions about medication use in pregnancy, women consult many information sources, including the Internet. The aim of this study was to assess the content of publicly accessible YouTube videos that discuss medication use in pregnancy. Using 2023 distinct combinations of search terms related to medications and pregnancy, we extracted metadata from YouTube videos using a YouTube video Application Programming Interface. Relevant videos were defined as those with a medication search term and a pregnancy-related search term in either the video title or description. We viewed relevant videos and abstracted content from each video into a database. We documented whether videos implied each medication to be "safe" or "unsafe" in pregnancy and compared that assessment with the medication's Teratogen Information System (TERIS) rating. After viewing 651 videos, 314 videos with information about medication use in pregnancy were available for the final analyses. The majority of videos were from law firms (67%), television segments (10%), or physicians (8%). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most common medication class named (225 videos, 72%), and 88% of videos about SSRIs indicated that they were unsafe for use in pregnancy. However, the TERIS ratings for medication products in this class range from "unlikely" to "minimal" teratogenic risk. For the majority of medications, current YouTube video content does not adequately reflect what is known about the safety of their use in pregnancy and should be interpreted cautiously. However, YouTube could serve as a platform for communicating evidence-based medication safety information. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. ASSESSMENT OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION ON MEDICATION USE IN PREGNANCY

    PubMed Central

    Hansen, Craig; Interrante, Julia D; Ailes, Elizabeth C; Frey, Meghan T; Broussard, Cheryl S; Godoshian, Valerie J; Lewis, Courtney; Polen, Kara ND; Garcia, Amanda P; Gilboa, Suzanne M

    2015-01-01

    Background When making decisions about medication use in pregnancy, women consult many information sources, including the Internet. The aim of this study was to assess the content of publicly-accessible YouTube videos that discuss medication use in pregnancy. Methods Using 2,023 distinct combinations of search terms related to medications and pregnancy, we extracted metadata from YouTube videos using a YouTube video Application Programming Interface. Relevant videos were defined as those with a medication search term and a pregnancy-related search term in either the video title or description. We viewed relevant videos and abstracted content from each video into a database. We documented whether videos implied each medication to be ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe’ in pregnancy and compared that assessment with the medication’s Teratogen Information System (TERIS) rating. Results After viewing 651 videos, 314 videos with information about medication use in pregnancy were available for the final analyses. The majority of videos were from law firms (67%), television segments (10%), or physicians (8%). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most common medication class named (225 videos, 72%), and 88% percent of videos about SSRIs indicated they were ‘unsafe’ for use in pregnancy. However, the TERIS ratings for medication products in this class range from ‘unlikely’ to ‘minimal’ teratogenic risk. Conclusion For the majority of medications, current YouTube video content does not adequately reflect what is known about the safety of their use in pregnancy and should be interpreted cautiously. However, YouTube could serve as a valuable platform for communicating evidence-based medication safety information. PMID:26541372

  8. Sources of information on medical geography.

    PubMed

    Mullins, L S

    1966-07-01

    Adequate research in the peripheral field of medical geography requires familiarity with the literature of medicine, geography, and other environmentally oriented fields. The pertinent literature of the two primary disciplines, as well as that of anthropology, nutrition, and human bioclimatology, is surveyed from a bibliographical point of view. A brief review of historical sources is presented, followed by a discussion of the contemporary organizations, both international and national, active in the field. Emphasis is placed on the publishing programs and projects, maps, atlases, symposia, reports, and other literature sponsored or stimulated by these organizations. Regional bibliographical surveys for East Africa, India, and the Soviet Union are also noted. Pertinent aspects of bibliographies, indexes, abstracts, library card catalogs and accession lists, and other resources are listed, with emphasis on the various subject headings and other approaches to them. Throughout, the sources of information are approached from a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary viewpoint.

  9. A low power medium access control protocol for wireless medical sensor networks.

    PubMed

    Lamprinos, I; Prentza, A; Sakka, E; Koutsouris, D

    2004-01-01

    The concept of a wireless integrated network of sensors, already applied in several sectors of our everyday life, such as security, transportation and environment monitoring, can as well provide an advanced monitor and control resource for healthcare services. By networking medical sensors wirelessly, attaching them in patient's body, we create the appropriate infrastructure for continuous and real-time monitoring of patient without discomforting him. This infrastructure can improve healthcare by providing the means for flexible acquisition of vital signs, while at the same time it provides more convenience to the patient. Given the type of wireless network, traditional medium access control (MAC) protocols cannot take advantage of the application specific requirements and information characteristics occurring in medical sensor networks, such as the demand for low power consumption and the rather limited and asymmetric data traffic. In this paper, we present the architecture of a low power MAC protocol, designated to support wireless networks of medical sensors. This protocol aims to improve energy efficiency by exploiting the inherent application features and requirements. It is oriented towards the avoidance of main energy wastage sources, such as idle listening, collision and power outspending.

  10. Highly Developed Information-oriented Society and Humanity ; Medical Information Services and Library

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wakimoto, Atsuko

    Change in social circumstances caused by arrival of highly developed information-oriented society has altered what information services in medical libraries should be dramatically. Keeping with complication and diversification of needs by users such as medical doctors, researchers, medical technicians and so on medical librarians have been playing important role in the information activities, and are required to master more specialized knowledge. This paper outlines changes in circumstances surrounding medical libraries, discusses role of medical librarians in online information retrieval services, and introduces various curriculum for library education. The author proposes that humanity of librarian him or herself is still a key factor for library services regardless of advancement of computerization.

  11. 7 CFR 3405.16 - Access to peer review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Access to peer review information. 3405.16 Section 3405.16 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE HIGHER EDUCATION CHALLENGE GRANTS PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 3405.16 Access...

  12. 7 CFR 3405.16 - Access to peer review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Access to peer review information. 3405.16 Section 3405.16 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE HIGHER EDUCATION CHALLENGE GRANTS PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 3405.16 Access...

  13. 7 CFR 3405.16 - Access to peer review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Access to peer review information. 3405.16 Section 3405.16 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE HIGHER EDUCATION CHALLENGE GRANTS PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 3405.16 Access...

  14. 7 CFR 3405.16 - Access to peer review information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Access to peer review information. 3405.16 Section 3405.16 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE HIGHER EDUCATION CHALLENGE GRANTS PROGRAM Supplementary Information § 3405.16 Access...

  15. 48 CFR 1509.505-4 - Obtaining access to proprietary information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... PROTECTION AGENCY ACQUISITION PLANNING CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS Organizational Conflicts of Interests 1509.505-4 Obtaining access to proprietary information. Contractors gaining access to confidential business... business information. ...

  16. Information, intelligence, and interface: the pillars of a successful medical information system.

    PubMed

    Hadzikadic, M; Harrington, A L; Bohren, B F

    1995-01-01

    This paper addresses three key issues facing developers of clinical and/or research medical information systems. 1. INFORMATION. The basic function of every database is to store information about the phenomenon under investigation. There are many ways to organize information in a computer; however only a few will prove optimal for any real life situation. Computer Science theory has developed several approaches to database structure, with relational theory leading in popularity among end users [8]. Strict conformance to the rules of relational database design rewards the user with consistent data and flexible access to that data. A properly defined database structure minimizes redundancy i.e.,multiple storage of the same information. Redundancy introduces problems when updating a database, since the repeated value has to be updated in all locations--missing even a single value corrupts the whole database, and incorrect reports are produced [8]. To avoid such problems, relational theory offers a formal mechanism for determining the number and content of data files. These files not only preserve the conceptual schema of the application domain, but allow a virtually unlimited number of reports to be efficiently generated. 2. INTELLIGENCE. Flexible access enables the user to harvest additional value from collected data. This value is usually gained via reports defined at the time of database design. Although these reports are indispensable, with proper tools more information can be extracted from the database. For example, machine learning, a sub-discipline of artificial intelligence, has been successfully used to extract knowledge from databases of varying size by uncovering a correlation among fields and records[1-6, 9]. This knowledge, represented in the form of decision trees, production rules, and probabilistic networks, clearly adds a flavor of intelligence to the data collection and manipulation system. 3. INTERFACE. Despite the obvious importance of collecting

  17. 77 FR 75404 - Accessible Emergency Information, and Apparatus Requirements for Emergency Information and Video...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-20

    ... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 47 CFR Part 79 [MB Docket No. 12-107; DA 12-1985] Accessible Emergency Information, and Apparatus Requirements for Emergency Information and Video Description: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 AGENCY: Federal...

  18. Requirements for Access to Pesticide Labeling Information

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Employers of pesticide handlers must make sure that the handlers are given information from the pesticide labeling and have access to the labeling itself, before they do any handling task. Learn about the information employers must provide.

  19. Specialized medical search-engines are no better than general search-engines in sourcing consumer information about androgen deficiency.

    PubMed

    Ilic, D; Bessell, T L; Silagy, C A; Green, S

    2003-03-01

    The Internet provides consumers with access to online health information; however, identifying relevant and valid information can be problematic. Our objectives were firstly to investigate the efficiency of search-engines, and then to assess the quality of online information pertaining to androgen deficiency in the ageing male (ADAM). Keyword searches were performed on nine search-engines (four general and five medical) to identify website information regarding ADAM. Search-engine efficiency was compared by percentage of relevant websites obtained via each search-engine. The quality of information published on each website was assessed using the DISCERN rating tool. Of 4927 websites searched, 47 (1.44%) and 10 (0.60%) relevant websites were identified by general and medical search-engines respectively. The overall quality of online information on ADAM was poor. The quality of websites retrieved using medical search-engines did not differ significantly from those retrieved by general search-engines. Despite the poor quality of online information relating to ADAM, it is evident that medical search-engines are no better than general search-engines in sourcing consumer information relevant to ADAM.

  20. Cancer patients' attitudes and experiences of online access to their electronic medical records: A qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Rexhepi, Hanife; Åhlfeldt, Rose-Mharie; Cajander, Åsa; Huvila, Isto

    2018-06-01

    Patients' access to their online medical records serves as one of the cornerstones in the efforts to increase patient engagement and improve healthcare outcomes. The aim of this article is to provide in-depth understanding of cancer patients' attitudes and experiences of online medical records, as well as an increased understanding of the complexities of developing and launching e-Health services. The study result confirms that online access can help patients prepare for doctor visits and to understand their medical issues. In contrast to the fears of many physicians, the study shows that online access to medical records did not generate substantial anxiety, concerns or increased phone calls to the hospital.

  1. 45 CFR 164.524 - Access of individuals to protected health information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... Health Information § 164.524 Access of individuals to protected health information. (a) Standard: Access to protected health information—(1) Right of access. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (a)(2... protected health information about the individual in a designated record set, for as long as the protected...

  2. 45 CFR 164.524 - Access of individuals to protected health information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... Health Information § 164.524 Access of individuals to protected health information. (a) Standard: Access to protected health information—(1) Right of access. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (a)(2... protected health information about the individual in a designated record set, for as long as the protected...

  3. 5 CFR 293.504 - Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Employee Medical File System. 293.504 Section 293.504 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PERSONNEL RECORDS Employee Medical File System Records § 293.504 Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System. (a) All employee occupational medical records...

  4. 5 CFR 293.504 - Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Employee Medical File System. 293.504 Section 293.504 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PERSONNEL RECORDS Employee Medical File System Records § 293.504 Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System. (a) All employee occupational medical records...

  5. 5 CFR 293.504 - Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... Employee Medical File System. 293.504 Section 293.504 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PERSONNEL RECORDS Employee Medical File System Records § 293.504 Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System. (a) All employee occupational medical records...

  6. 5 CFR 293.504 - Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Employee Medical File System. 293.504 Section 293.504 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PERSONNEL RECORDS Employee Medical File System Records § 293.504 Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System. (a) All employee occupational medical records...

  7. 5 CFR 293.504 - Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... Employee Medical File System. 293.504 Section 293.504 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PERSONNEL RECORDS Employee Medical File System Records § 293.504 Composition of, and access to, the Employee Medical File System. (a) All employee occupational medical records...

  8. 48 CFR 1852.237-72 - Access to Sensitive Information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Access to Sensitive Information. 1852.237-72 Section 1852.237-72 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND... and Clauses 1852.237-72 Access to Sensitive Information. As prescribed in 1837.203-72(a), insert the...

  9. The Dissemination and Accessibility of Canadian Government Information.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morton, Bruce; Zink, Steven D.

    1992-01-01

    Discusses information agencies and issues that affect the dissemination and accessibility of Canadian government information, including the Canada Communication Group, depository libraries, the National Library, bibliographic control of government information, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, Statistics Canada,…

  10. Cost effective Internet access and video conferencing for a community cancer network.

    PubMed Central

    London, J. W.; Morton, D. E.; Marinucci, D.; Catalano, R.; Comis, R. L.

    1995-01-01

    Utilizing the ubiquitous personal computer as a platform, and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) communications, cost effective medical information access and consultation can be provided for physicians at geographically remote sites. Two modes of access are provided: information retrieval via the Internet, and medical consultation video conferencing. Internet access provides general medical information such as current treatment options, literature citations, and active clinical trials. During video consultations, radiographic and pathology images, and medical text reports (e.g., history and physical, pathology, radiology, clinical laboratory reports), may be viewed and simultaneously annotated by either video conference participant. Both information access modes have been employed by physicians at community hospitals which are members of the Jefferson Cancer Network, and oncologists at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. This project has demonstrated the potential cost effectiveness and benefits of this technology. Images Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 PMID:8563397

  11. Negotiating Access to Health Information to Promote Students' Health

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Radis, Molly E.; Updegrove, Stephen C.; Somsel, Anne; Crowley, Angela A.

    2016-01-01

    Access to student health information, such as immunizations, screenings, and care plans for chronic conditions, is essential for school nurses to fulfill their role in promoting students' health. School nurses typically encounter barriers to accessing health records and spend many hours attempting to retrieve health information. As a result,…

  12. High School Student Information Access and Engineering Design Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mentzer, Nathan

    2014-01-01

    Developing solutions to engineering design problems requires access to information. Research has shown that appropriately accessing and using information in the design process improves solution quality. This quasi-experimental study provides two groups of high school students with a design problem in a three hour design experience. One group has…

  13. The role of auxiliary nurse-midwives and community health volunteers in expanding access to medical abortion in rural Nepal.

    PubMed

    Puri, Mahesh; Tamang, Anand; Shrestha, Prabhakar; Joshi, Deepak

    2015-02-01

    Medical abortion was introduced in Nepal in 2009, but rural women's access to medical abortion services remained limited. We conducted a district-level operations research study to assess the effectiveness of training 13 auxiliary nurse-midwives as medical abortion providers, and 120 female community health volunteers as communicators and referral agents for expanding access to medical abortion for rural women. Interviews with service providers and women who received medical abortion were undertaken and service statistics were analysed. Compared to a neighbouring district with no intervention, there was a significant increase in the intervention area in community health volunteers' knowledge of the legal conditions for abortion, the advantages and disadvantages of medical abortion, safe places for an abortion, medical abortion drugs, correct gestational age for home use of medical abortion, and carrying out a urine pregnancy test. In a one-year period in 2011-12, the community health volunteers did pregnancy tests for 584 women and referred 114 women to the auxiliary nurse-midwives for abortion; 307 women in the intervention area received medical abortion services from auxiliary nurse-midwives. There were no complications that required referral to a higher-level facility except for one incomplete abortion. Almost all women who opted for medical abortion were happy with the services provided. The study demonstrated that auxiliary nurse-midwives can independently and confidently provide medical abortion safely and effectively at the sub-health post level, and community health volunteers are effective change agents in informing women about medical abortion. Copyright © 2015 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Informed Consent: Does Anyone Really Understand What Is Contained In The Medical Record?

    PubMed

    Fenton, S H; Manion, F; Hsieh, K; Harris, M

    2015-01-01

    Despite efforts to provide standard definitions of terms such as "medical record", "computer-based patient record", "electronic medical record" and "electronic health record", the terms are still used interchangeably. Initiatives like data and information governance, research biorepositories, and learning health systems require availability and reuse of data, as well as common understandings of the scope for specific purposes. Lacking widely shared definitions, utilization of the afore-mentioned terms in research informed consent documents calls to question whether all participants in the research process - patients, information technology and regulatory staff, and the investigative team - fully understand what data and information they are asking to obtain and agreeing to share. This descriptive study explored the terminology used in research informed consent documents when describing patient data and information, asking the question "Does the use of the term "medical record" in the context of a research informed consent document accurately represent the scope of the data involved?" Informed consent document templates found on 17 Institutional Review Board (IRB) websites with Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) were searched for terms that appeared to be describing the data resources to be accessed. The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Terminology Services was searched for definitions provided by key standards groups that deposit terminologies with the NLM. The results suggest research consent documents are using outdated terms to describe patient information, health care terminology systems need to consider the context of research for use cases, and that there is significant work to be done to assure the HIPAA Omnibus Rule is applied to contemporary activities such as biorepositories and learning health systems. "Medical record", a term used extensively in research informed consent documents, is ambiguous and does not serve us well in the context

  15. Access to Corporate Information Systems: Datafiles, Classified Documents, and Information Resources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baumgartner, Kurt O.; And Others

    1988-01-01

    Three articles discuss aspects of corporate information systems: (1) "Packet Switching Networks: Worldwide Access to Corporate Datafiles" (Kurt O. Baumgartner); "Classified Documents in the Corporate Library" (Patricia M. Shores); and "From Library to Information Center: Case Studies in the Evolution of Corporate…

  16. Finland's strategy and implementation of citizens' access to health information.

    PubMed

    Ruotsalainen, Pekka; Iivari, Anna-Kaisa; Doupi, Persephone

    2008-01-01

    The strategy for utilizing information technology in the field of social welfare and health care in Finland was published in 1996. It was redefined in the year 2006. This updated strategy defined basic principles how digitized EHRs should be stored, accessed, disclosed and archived. The strategy together with new legislation opened the right to patients and citizens to access their own EHRs, ePrescriptions and audit-logs via the Internet. A national WEB-service platform forms the base for both public and private eHealth applications. National identification and PKI-services cover health professionals, patients and entities. Citizen's consent management is provided at national level. The access to personal health information is managed using rules derived from legislation. The roll-out of the national health information infrastructure with citizen access to personal health information should by law be finalized before the end of 2011. The implementation of the NHII is demanding, but the real challenge is to clearly understand what the impacts of citizen access to personal health information are and to what direction this kind of services should be developed. At the present state, the Finnish EHR-archive contains only information created by a health professional. Citizens' eHealth services can not be limited to the use of regulated EHR data and ePrescriptions. For health promotion, proactive prevention and health prediction more comprehensive information is needed. Therefore the next step is to develop legislation and to build a trusted environment for the use and access of heterogeneous health and welfare information.

  17. Transparency of Biobank Access in Canada: An Assessment of Industry Access and the Availability of Information on Access Policies and Resulting Research.

    PubMed

    Gibson, Shannon G; Axler, Renata E; Lemmens, Trudo

    2017-12-01

    A key issue impacting public trust in biobanks is how these resources are utilized, including who is given access to biobank data and samples. To assess the conditions under which researchers are given access to Canadian biobanks, we reviewed websites and contacted Canadian biobanks to determine the availability of information on access policies and procedures; research resulting from access biobank data and samples; and conditions on private industry access to biobanks. We also conducted expert interviews with key Canadian stakeholders ( n = 11) to obtain their perspectives on biobank transparency and access policies. Among 21 Canadian biobanks, there was wide variation in the access information made publicly available, and the majority of these allowed access by industry applicants. Biobanks should be governed by the principles of transparency, accountability, and accessibility, and attention must be given to the conditions around the commercialization of biobank-based research.

  18. Accessibility and Integrity of Networked Information Collections. Background Paper.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lynch, Clifford A.

    This paper considers questions related to the integrity and accessibility of new electronic information resources. It begins with a review of recent developments in networked information resources and the tools to identify, navigate, and use such resources. An overview is then given of the issues involved in access and integrity questions. Links…

  19. Stewardship of health information.

    PubMed

    Lefebvre, Fleur-Ange

    2014-01-01

    Today's communications technology has greatly facilitated patient access to health information in general. In some instances, and with a growing expectation and tendency, patients also have access to their own health information. This brief commentary focuses on the role of physicians and the medical profession from the perspective of the medical regulatory authority.

  20. Sources of Information on Medical Geography

    PubMed Central

    Mullins, Lynn S.

    1966-01-01

    Adequate research in the peripheral field of medical geography requires familiarity with the literature of medicine, geography, and other environmentally oriented fields. The pertinent literature of the two primary disciplines, as well as that of anthropology, nutrition, and human bioclimatology, is surveyed from a bibliographical point of view. A brief review of historical sources is presented, followed by a discussion of the contemporary organizations, both international and national, active in the field. Emphasis is placed on the publishing programs and projects, maps, atlases, symposia, reports, and other literature sponsored or stimulated by these organizations. Regional bibliographical surveys for East Africa, India, and the Soviet Union are also noted. Pertinent aspects of bibliographies, indexes, abstracts, library card catalogs and accession lists, and other resources are listed, with emphasis on the various subject headings and other approaches to them. Throughout, the sources of information are approached from a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary viewpoint. PMID:5329543

  1. Toward Privacy-preserving Content Access Control for Information Centric Networking

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-03-01

    REPORT Toward Privacy-preserving Content Access Control for Information Centric Networking 14. ABSTRACT 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: Information...regardless the security mechanisms provided by different content hosting servers. However, using ABE has a drawback that the enforced content access...Encryption (ABE) is a flexible approach to enforce the content access policies regardless the security mechanisms provided by different content hosting

  2. Mixed signals: trends in Americans' access to medical care, 2007-2010.

    PubMed

    Boukus, Ellyn R; Cunningham, Peter J

    2011-08-01

    Likely reflecting the severe economic downturn and subsequent decline in demand for health care, the number and proportion of Americans reporting going without or delaying needed medical care declined modestly between 2007 and 2010, according to findings from the Center for Studying Health System Change's (HSC) nationally representative 2010 Health Tracking Household Survey. Despite increases in the number of uninsured, slightly more than one in six Americans--52 million people--reported not getting or delaying needed medical care in 2010, down from one in five--58.6 million people--in 2007. The decline was driven primarily by fewer access problems for insured people, likely reflecting recession-related decreases in the demand for medical care. Nevertheless, the access gap between insured and uninsured people widened in 2010 compared to 2007, especially for lower-income people and those with health problems. Among people reporting problems getting medical care, the cost of care was an even bigger concern than in previous years. Fewer people encountered health system-related barriers, such as getting timely appointments with doctors, possibly reflecting freed-up health system capacity because of lower demand.

  3. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 15.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service covering published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  4. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 7.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service covering published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  5. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 16.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service covering published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  6. Federal Medication Terminologies

    Cancer.gov

    Federal Medication (FedMed) collaboration of 8 partner agencies agreed on a set of standard, comprehensive, freely and easily accessible FMT terminologies to improve the exchange and public availability of medication information.

  7. Communication training for advanced medical students improves information recall of medical laypersons in simulated informed consent talks--a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Werner, Anne; Holderried, Friederike; Schäffeler, Norbert; Weyrich, Peter; Riessen, Reimer; Zipfel, Stephan; Celebi, Nora

    2013-02-01

    Informed consent talks are mandatory before invasive interventions. However, the patients' information recall has been shown to be rather poor. We investigated, whether medical laypersons recalled more information items from a simulated informed consent talk after advanced medical students participated in a communication training aiming to reduce a layperson's cognitive load. Using a randomized, controlled, prospective cross-over-design, 30 5th and 6th year medical students were randomized into two groups. One group received communication training, followed by a comparison intervention (early intervention group, EI); the other group first received the comparison intervention and then communication training (late intervention group, LI). Before and after the interventions, the 30 medical students performed simulated informed consent talks with 30 blinded medical laypersons using a standardized set of information. We then recorded the number of information items the medical laypersons recalled. After the communication training both groups of medical laypersons recalled significantly more information items (EI: 41 ± 9% vs. 23 ± 9%, p < .0001, LI 49 ± 10% vs. 35 ± 6%, p < .0001). After the comparison intervention the improvement was modest and significant only in the LI (EI: 42 ± 9% vs. 40 ± 9%, p = .41, LI 35 ± 6% vs. 29 ± 9%, p = .016). Short communication training for advanced medical students improves information recall of medical laypersons in simulated informed consent talks.

  8. 78 FR 78952 - Access by EPA Contractors to Information Claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-27

    ...EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) plans to authorize various contractors to access information which will be submitted to EPA under Title II of the Clean Air Act that may be claimed as, or may be determined to be, confidential business information (CBI). Access to this information will begin on January 6, 2014.

  9. Web client and ODBC access to legacy database information: a low cost approach.

    PubMed Central

    Sanders, N. W.; Mann, N. H.; Spengler, D. M.

    1997-01-01

    A new method has been developed for the Department of Orthopaedics of Vanderbilt University Medical Center to access departmental clinical data. Previously this data was stored only in the medical center's mainframe DB2 database, it is now additionally stored in a departmental SQL database. Access to this data is available via any ODBC compliant front-end or a web client. With a small budget and no full time staff, we were able to give our department on-line access to many years worth of patient data that was previously inaccessible. PMID:9357735

  10. Multimodal medical information retrieval with unsupervised rank fusion.

    PubMed

    Mourão, André; Martins, Flávio; Magalhães, João

    2015-01-01

    Modern medical information retrieval systems are paramount to manage the insurmountable quantities of clinical data. These systems empower health care experts in the diagnosis of patients and play an important role in the clinical decision process. However, the ever-growing heterogeneous information generated in medical environments poses several challenges for retrieval systems. We propose a medical information retrieval system with support for multimodal medical case-based retrieval. The system supports medical information discovery by providing multimodal search, through a novel data fusion algorithm, and term suggestions from a medical thesaurus. Our search system compared favorably to other systems in 2013 ImageCLEFMedical. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 8.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    "Access" is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  12. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 3.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  13. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 21 .

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  14. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 2.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  15. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 17.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  16. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 8.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  17. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  18. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 4.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  19. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 12.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    ACCESS is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  20. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  1. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 5.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  2. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 7.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  3. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 19.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    ACCESS is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  4. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 9.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    "Access" is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  5. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 4.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  6. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 17.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    ACCESS is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  7. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  8. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 22.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  9. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 10.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  10. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 19.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  11. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 18.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  12. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 5.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  13. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 20.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    ACCESS is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  14. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 11.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    "Access" is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  15. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 9.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  16. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 21.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    ACCESS is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  17. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 3.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  18. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 2.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1,000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  19. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  20. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 18.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    ACCESS is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  1. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 1 Number 20.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    Access is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  2. Environment Information ACCESS, Volume 2 Number 10.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Environment Information Center, New York, NY.

    ACCESS is an indexing, abstracting, and information retrieval service that covers published and non-print information on environmental pollution, conservation, and related fields. It provides an overview of the environmental reporting of more than 1000 scholarly, scientific, industrial, technical, and general periodicals and major newspapers;…

  3. Access to Medication Abortion Among California's Public University Students.

    PubMed

    Upadhyay, Ushma D; Cartwright, Alice F; Johns, Nicole E

    2018-06-09

    A proposed California law will require student health centers at public universities to provide medication abortion. To understand its potential impact, we sought to describe current travel time, costs, and wait times to access care at the nearest abortion facilities. We projected total medication abortion use based on campus enrollment figures and age- and state-adjusted abortion rates. We calculated distance and public transit time from campuses to the nearest abortion facility. We contacted existing abortion-providing facilities to determine costs, insurance acceptance, and wait times. We estimate 322 to 519 California public university students seek medication abortions each month. As many as 62% of students at these universities were more than 30 minutes from the closest abortion facility via public transportation. Average cost of medication abortion was $604, and average wait time to the first available appointment was one week. College students face cost, scheduling, and travel barriers to abortion care. Offering medication abortion on campus could reduce these barriers. Copyright © 2018 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. The reported preparedness and disposition by students in a Nigerian university towards the use of information technology for medical education.

    PubMed

    Fadeyi, A; Desalu, O O; Ameen, A; Adeboye, A N Muhammed

    2010-01-01

    The computer and information technology (IT) revolution have transformed modern health care systems in the areas of communication, storage, retrieval of medical information and teaching, but little is known about IT skill and use in most developing nations. The aim of this study has been to evaluate the reported preparedness and disposition by medical students in a Nigerian university toward the use of IT for medical education. A self-administered structured questionnaire containing 24 items was used to obtain information from medical students in the University of Ilorin, Nigeria on their level of computer usage, knowledge of computer software and hardware, availability and access to computer, possession of personal computer and e-mail address, preferred method of medical education and the use of computer as a supplement to medical education. Out of 479 medical students, 179 (37.4%) had basic computer skills, 209 (43.6%) had intermediate skills and 58(12.1%) had advanced computer skills. Three hundred and thirty (68.9%) have access to computer and 451(94.2%) have e-mail addresses. For medical teaching, majority (83.09%), preferred live lecture, 56.78% lecture videos, 35.1% lecture handout on web site and 410 (85.6%) wants computer as a supplement to live lectures. Less than half (39.5%) wants laptop acquisition to be mandatory. Students with advanced computer skills were well prepared and disposed to IT than those with basic computer skill. The findings revealed that the medical students with advanced computer skills were well prepared and disposed to IT based medical education. Therefore, high level of computer skill is required for them to be prepared and favorably disposed to IT based medical education.

  5. 36 CFR 1256.70 - What controls access to national security-classified information?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... national security-classified information? 1256.70 Section 1256.70 Parks, Forests, and Public Property... HISTORICAL MATERIALS Access to Materials Containing National Security-Classified Information § 1256.70 What controls access to national security-classified information? (a) The declassification of and public access...

  6. Emergency intraosseous access in a helicopter emergency medical service: a retrospective study.

    PubMed

    Sunde, Geir A; Heradstveit, Bård E; Vikenes, Bjarne H; Heltne, Jon K

    2010-10-07

    Intraosseous access (IO) is a method for providing vascular access in out-of-hospital resuscitation of critically ill and injured patients when traditional intravenous access is difficult or impossible. Different intraosseous techniques have been used by our Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) since 2003. Few articles document IO use by HEMS physicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of intraosseous access in pre-hospital emergency situations handled by our HEMS. We reviewed all medical records from the period May 2003 to April 2010, and compared three different techniques: Bone Injection Gun (B.I.G® - Waismed), manual bone marrow aspiration needle (Inter V - Medical Device Technologies) and EZ-IO® (Vidacare), used on both adults and paediatric patients. During this seven-year period, 78 insertion attempts were made on 70 patients. Overall success rates were 50% using the manual needle, 55% using the Bone Injection Gun, and 96% using the EZ-IO®. Rates of success on first attempt were significantly higher using the EZ-IO® compared to the manual needle/Bone Injection Gun (p < 0.01/p < 0.001). Fifteen failures were due to insertion-related problems (19.2%), with four technical problems (5.1%) and three extravasations (3.8%) being the most frequent causes. Intraosseous access was primarily used in connection with 53 patients in cardiac arrest (75.7%), including traumatic arrest, drowning and SIDS. Other diagnoses were seven patients with multi-trauma (10.0%), five with seizures/epilepsy (7.1%), three with respiratory failure (4.3%) and two others (2.9%). Nearly one third of all insertions (n = 22) were made in patients younger than two years. No cases of osteomyelitis or other serious complications were documented on the follow-up. Newer intraosseous techniques may enable faster and more reliable vascular access, and this can lower the threshold for intraosseous access on both adult and paediatric patients in critical situations. We believe

  7. Emergency intraosseous access in a helicopter emergency medical service: a retrospective study

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background Intraosseous access (IO) is a method for providing vascular access in out-of-hospital resuscitation of critically ill and injured patients when traditional intravenous access is difficult or impossible. Different intraosseous techniques have been used by our Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) since 2003. Few articles document IO use by HEMS physicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of intraosseous access in pre-hospital emergency situations handled by our HEMS. Methods We reviewed all medical records from the period May 2003 to April 2010, and compared three different techniques: Bone Injection Gun (B.I.G® - Waismed), manual bone marrow aspiration needle (Inter V - Medical Device Technologies) and EZ-IO® (Vidacare), used on both adults and paediatric patients. Results During this seven-year period, 78 insertion attempts were made on 70 patients. Overall success rates were 50% using the manual needle, 55% using the Bone Injection Gun, and 96% using the EZ-IO®. Rates of success on first attempt were significantly higher using the EZ-IO® compared to the manual needle/Bone Injection Gun (p < 0.01/p < 0.001). Fifteen failures were due to insertion-related problems (19.2%), with four technical problems (5.1%) and three extravasations (3.8%) being the most frequent causes. Intraosseous access was primarily used in connection with 53 patients in cardiac arrest (75.7%), including traumatic arrest, drowning and SIDS. Other diagnoses were seven patients with multi-trauma (10.0%), five with seizures/epilepsy (7.1%), three with respiratory failure (4.3%) and two others (2.9%). Nearly one third of all insertions (n = 22) were made in patients younger than two years. No cases of osteomyelitis or other serious complications were documented on the follow-up. Conclusions Newer intraosseous techniques may enable faster and more reliable vascular access, and this can lower the threshold for intraosseous access on both adult and paediatric

  8. An assessment of pregnant women's knowledge and use of the Internet for medication safety information and purchase.

    PubMed

    Sinclair, Marlene; Lagan, B M; Dolk, Helen; McCullough, Julie E M

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to assess pregnant women's Internet searching activity about medication safety, knowledge and perceptions of medication risk and willingness to take prescribed and non-prescribed medication or make online medication purchases. Online medication advice for pregnant women is complex. The quality and veracity of this data is increasingly important as more midwives report women are bringing retrieved online information to clinical appointments. Pregnant women's use of the Internet for seeking medication advice and purchasing medications has not yet been fully investigated. Online survey conducted from January - March 2013. Of the 284 respondents, 39% were taking a medication when they became pregnant and 76% had searched the Internet for medication safety information. Analgesics were the most commonly searched category (41%). Health service sites were the most common online source and regarded as the most helpful and trusted. Regardless of age and education level, 90% of women agreed that if trying to become pregnant they would reconsider taking any medications because of the potential risk to their unborn baby. Forty-six percent of women with higher levels of education consider buying medication online as safe, a greater proportion than those of lower education. Five percent of women reported buying medication online. The lack of specific recommendations for medication use during pregnancy is challenging for healthcare staff and pregnant women who need robust evidence to make informed treatment decisions. The Internet is a recognized, commonly accessed, source of medication information for pregnant women. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. An Intelligent Information Access System Assisting a Case Based Learning Methodology Evaluated in Higher Education with Medical Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aparicio, Fernando; De Buenaga, Manuel; Rubio, Margarita; Hernando, Asuncion

    2012-01-01

    In recent years there has been a shift in educational methodologies toward a student-centered approach, one which increasingly emphasizes the integration of computer tools and intelligent systems adopting different roles. In this paper we describe in detail the development of an Intelligent Information Access system used as the basis for producing…

  10. The codification of spiritual intelligence measurement model in librarianship and medical information science students of medical universities in Iran

    PubMed Central

    Zarrinabadi, Zarrin; Isfandyari-Moghaddam, Alireza; Erfani, Nasrolah; Tahour Soltani, Mohsen Ahmadi

    2018-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: According to the research mission of the librarianship and information sciences field, it is necessary to have the ability to communicate constructively between the user of the information and information in these students, and it appears more important in medical librarianship and information sciences because of the need for quick access to information for clinicians. Considering the role of spiritual intelligence in capability to establish effective and balanced communication makes it important to study this variable in librarianship and information students. One of the main factors that can affect the results of any research is conceptual model of measure variables. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was codification of spiritual intelligence measurement model. METHODS: This correlational study was conducted through structural equation model, and 270 students were opted from library and medical information students of nationwide medical universities by simple random sampling and responded to the King spiritual intelligence questionnaire (2008). Initially, based on the data, the model parameters were estimated using maximum likelihood method; then, spiritual intelligence measurement model was tested by fit indices. Data analysis was performed by Smart-Partial Least Squares software. RESULTS: Preliminary results showed that due to the positive indicators of predictive association and t-test results for spiritual intelligence parameters, the King measurement model has the acceptable fit and internal correlation of the questionnaire items was significant. Composite reliability and Cronbach's alpha of parameters indicated high reliability of spiritual intelligence model. CONCLUSIONS: The spiritual intelligence measurement model was evaluated, and results showed that the model has a good fit, so it is recommended that domestic researchers use this questionnaire to assess spiritual intelligence. PMID:29922688

  11. The codification of spiritual intelligence measurement model in librarianship and medical information science students of medical universities in Iran.

    PubMed

    Zarrinabadi, Zarrin; Isfandyari-Moghaddam, Alireza; Erfani, Nasrolah; Tahour Soltani, Mohsen Ahmadi

    2018-01-01

    According to the research mission of the librarianship and information sciences field, it is necessary to have the ability to communicate constructively between the user of the information and information in these students, and it appears more important in medical librarianship and information sciences because of the need for quick access to information for clinicians. Considering the role of spiritual intelligence in capability to establish effective and balanced communication makes it important to study this variable in librarianship and information students. One of the main factors that can affect the results of any research is conceptual model of measure variables. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was codification of spiritual intelligence measurement model. This correlational study was conducted through structural equation model, and 270 students were opted from library and medical information students of nationwide medical universities by simple random sampling and responded to the King spiritual intelligence questionnaire (2008). Initially, based on the data, the model parameters were estimated using maximum likelihood method; then, spiritual intelligence measurement model was tested by fit indices. Data analysis was performed by Smart-Partial Least Squares software. Preliminary results showed that due to the positive indicators of predictive association and t -test results for spiritual intelligence parameters, the King measurement model has the acceptable fit and internal correlation of the questionnaire items was significant. Composite reliability and Cronbach's alpha of parameters indicated high reliability of spiritual intelligence model. The spiritual intelligence measurement model was evaluated, and results showed that the model has a good fit, so it is recommended that domestic researchers use this questionnaire to assess spiritual intelligence.

  12. 78 FR 12051 - Access by EPA Contractors to Information Claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-21

    ...EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) plans to authorize various contractors to access information which was submitted to EPA under Title II of the Clean Air Act that may be claimed as, or may be determined to be, confidential business information (CBI). Access to this information, which is related to the Nonroad Diesel Engine Program will begin on February 22, 2013.

  13. Facilitating medical information search using Google Glass connected to a content-based medical image retrieval system.

    PubMed

    Widmer, Antoine; Schaer, Roger; Markonis, Dimitrios; Muller, Henning

    2014-01-01

    Wearable computing devices are starting to change the way users interact with computers and the Internet. Among them, Google Glass includes a small screen located in front of the right eye, a camera filming in front of the user and a small computing unit. Google Glass has the advantage to provide online services while allowing the user to perform tasks with his/her hands. These augmented glasses uncover many useful applications, also in the medical domain. For example, Google Glass can easily provide video conference between medical doctors to discuss a live case. Using these glasses can also facilitate medical information search by allowing the access of a large amount of annotated medical cases during a consultation in a non-disruptive fashion for medical staff. In this paper, we developed a Google Glass application able to take a photo and send it to a medical image retrieval system along with keywords in order to retrieve similar cases. As a preliminary assessment of the usability of the application, we tested the application under three conditions (images of the skin; printed CT scans and MRI images; and CT and MRI images acquired directly from an LCD screen) to explore whether using Google Glass affects the accuracy of the results returned by the medical image retrieval system. The preliminary results show that despite minor problems due to the relative stability of the Google Glass, images can be sent to and processed by the medical image retrieval system and similar images are returned to the user, potentially helping in the decision making process.

  14. Web-Based Medical Service: Technology Attractiveness, Medical Creditability, Information Source, and Behavior Intention

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    Background Web-based medical service (WBMS), a cooperative relationship between medical service and Internet technology, has been called one of the most innovative services of the 21st century. However, its business promotion and implementation in the medical industry have neither been expected nor executed. Few studies have explored this phenomenon from the viewpoint of inexperienced patients. Objective The primary goal of this study was to explore whether technology attractiveness, medical creditability, and diversified medical information sources could increase users’ behavior intention. Methods This study explored the effectiveness of web-based medical service by using three situations to manipulate sources of medical information. A total of 150 questionnaires were collected from people who had never used WBMS before. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the mediation and moderated-mediation effects. Results Perceived ease of use (P=.002) and perceived usefulness (P=.001) significantly enhance behavior intentions. Medical credibility is a mediator (P=.03), but the relationship does not significantly differ under diverse manipulative information channels (P=.39). Conclusions Medical credibility could explain the extra variation between technology attractiveness and behavior intention, but not significant under different moderating effect of medical information sources. PMID:28768608

  15. [Project Shared Medical Record in Catalonia, Spain: legal framework and enforcement of rights of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition (ARCO)].

    PubMed

    Borrás-Pascual, Maria Josep; Busquets-Font, Josep Maria; García-Martínez, Anna; Manent-González, Martí

    2010-02-01

    The Constitution and especially the Constitutional Court's jurisprudence have recognized the so-called right of habeas data, providing legal protection at the highest level of personal data. Health information, falls within the scope of protection, but we see that there are peculiarities in the health and development legislation that compels us to treat such information with special characteristics. This article will review the citizen's rights to access to health information, taking into account both the protection of personal data such as regulating access to specific health information and tools that have been developed for the exercise of these rights under the "Shared Medical Record" project developed by the Department of Health of the Generalitat of Catalonia. In particular the rights that are discussed are: the right of access to information, the right of correction, the right of cancellation. The right of access to information enables anyone to know if their personal data are processed, the purpose of treatment and the available information on the origin of personal data. In addition the law also allows to know whether the data have been disclosed to a third party. The right of rectification gives -concerned in this case the patient- the right to correct any data that contain errors. The cancellation right is restricted to situations where it really is exercising a right of correction against information. Finally, the right to object is for patients to be able to oppose their health data is consulted by various health care facilities to generate them. 2010 Elsevier España S.L. All rights reserved.

  16. Accessible Information for Equally-Distant Partially-Entangled Alphabet State Resource

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hao, San-Ru; Hou, Bo-Yu; Xi, Xiao-Qiang; Yue, Rui-Hong

    2002-02-01

    We have proposed a quantum system with equally-distant partially-entangled alphabet states which has the minimal mutual overlap and the highly distinguishability, these quantum states are used as the "signal states" of the quantum communication. We have also constructed the positive operator-valued measure for these "signal states" and discussed their entanglement properties and measurement of entanglement. We calculate the accessible information for these alphabet states and show that the accessible information is closely related to the entanglement of the "signal states": the higher the entanglement of the "signal states", the better the accessible information of the quantum system, and the accessible information reaches its maximal value when the alphabet states have their maximal entanglement. The project supported in part by Foundation of the Science and Technology Committee of China, and Foundation of the Science and Technology Committee of Hunan Province of China under the contract FSTCH-21000205

  17. Health Information Technology: Meaningful Use and Next Steps to Improving Electronic Facilitation of Medication Adherence.

    PubMed

    Bosworth, Hayden B; Zullig, Leah L; Mendys, Phil; Ho, Michael; Trygstad, Troy; Granger, Christopher; Oakes, Megan M; Granger, Bradi B

    2016-03-15

    The use of health information technology (HIT) may improve medication adherence, but challenges for implementation remain. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of HIT as it relates to medication adherence programs, acknowledge the potential barriers in light of current legislation, and provide recommendations to improve ongoing medication adherence strategies through the use of HIT. We describe four potential HIT barriers that may impact interoperability and subsequent medication adherence. Legislation in the United States has incentivized the use of HIT to facilitate and enhance medication adherence. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) was recently adopted and establishes federal standards for the so-called "meaningful use" of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology that can directly impact medication adherence. The four persistent HIT barriers to medication adherence include (1) underdevelopment of data reciprocity across clinical, community, and home settings, limiting the capture of data necessary for clinical care; (2) inconsistent data definitions and lack of harmonization of patient-focused data standards, making existing data difficult to use for patient-centered outcomes research; (3) inability to effectively use the national drug code information from the various electronic health record and claims datasets for adherence purposes; and (4) lack of data capture for medication management interventions, such as medication management therapy (MTM) in the EHR. Potential recommendations to address these issues are discussed. To make meaningful, high quality data accessible, and subsequently improve medication adherence, these challenges will need to be addressed to fully reach the potential of HIT in impacting one of our largest public health issues.

  18. Changing geographies of access to medical education in London.

    PubMed

    Brown, Gavin; Garlick, Pamela

    2007-06-01

    This paper highlights the need for health geographers to consider the social and cultural geographies of who gets to train as a doctor. The paper presents a case study of a scheme intended to widen access to medical education for working class students from inner London. This work examines the role of local education markets and cultures of education in shaping the aspirations and achievements of potential future doctors. It employs ethnographic data to consider how 'non-traditional' learners acclimatise to medical school. Our findings indicate that the students who succeed best are those who can see themselves as belonging within the education system, regardless of their social and cultural background.

  19. 48 CFR 352.239-73 - Electronic information and technology accessibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... technology accessibility. 352.239-73 Section 352.239-73 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND... Clauses 352.239-73 Electronic information and technology accessibility. (a) As prescribed in 339.201-70(a), the Contracting Officer shall insert the following provision: Electronic and Information Technology...

  20. 48 CFR 352.239-73 - Electronic information and technology accessibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... technology accessibility. 352.239-73 Section 352.239-73 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND... Clauses 352.239-73 Electronic information and technology accessibility. (a) As prescribed in 339.201-70(a), the Contracting Officer shall insert the following provision: Electronic and Information Technology...

  1. 48 CFR 352.239-73 - Electronic information and technology accessibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... technology accessibility. 352.239-73 Section 352.239-73 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND... Clauses 352.239-73 Electronic information and technology accessibility. (a) As prescribed in 339.201-70(a), the Contracting Officer shall insert the following provision: Electronic and Information Technology...

  2. 48 CFR 352.239-73 - Electronic information and technology accessibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... technology accessibility. 352.239-73 Section 352.239-73 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND... Clauses 352.239-73 Electronic information and technology accessibility. (a) As prescribed in 339.201-70(a), the Contracting Officer shall insert the following provision: Electronic and Information Technology...

  3. 48 CFR 352.239-73 - Electronic information and technology accessibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... technology accessibility. 352.239-73 Section 352.239-73 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND... Clauses 352.239-73 Electronic information and technology accessibility. (a) As prescribed in 339.201-70(a), the Contracting Officer shall insert the following provision: Electronic and Information Technology...

  4. Web-Based Medical Service: Technology Attractiveness, Medical Creditability, Information Source, and Behavior Intention.

    PubMed

    Wang, Shan Huei

    2017-08-02

    Web-based medical service (WBMS), a cooperative relationship between medical service and Internet technology, has been called one of the most innovative services of the 21st century. However, its business promotion and implementation in the medical industry have neither been expected nor executed. Few studies have explored this phenomenon from the viewpoint of inexperienced patients. The primary goal of this study was to explore whether technology attractiveness, medical creditability, and diversified medical information sources could increase users' behavior intention. This study explored the effectiveness of web-based medical service by using three situations to manipulate sources of medical information. A total of 150 questionnaires were collected from people who had never used WBMS before. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the mediation and moderated-mediation effects. Perceived ease of use (P=.002) and perceived usefulness (P=.001) significantly enhance behavior intentions. Medical credibility is a mediator (P=.03), but the relationship does not significantly differ under diverse manipulative information channels (P=.39). Medical credibility could explain the extra variation between technology attractiveness and behavior intention, but not significant under different moderating effect of medical information sources. ©Shan Huei Wang. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 02.08.2017.

  5. Equal Access Initiative HIV/AIDS Information Resources from NLM

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Templin-Branner W. and N. Dancy

    The Equal Access Initiative: HIV/AIDS Information Resources from the National Library of Medicine training is designed specifically for the National Minority AIDS Council 2010 Equal Access Initiative (EAI) Computer Grants Program awardees to provide valuable health information resources from the National Library of Medicine and other reliable sources to increase awareness of the wealth of treatment information and educational materials that are available on the Internet and to improve prevention and treatment education for their clients. These resources will also meet the needs of community-based

  6. [A survey of medical information education in radiological technology schools].

    PubMed

    Ohba, Hisateru; Ogasawara, Katsuhiko; Hoshino, Shuhei; Hosoba, Minoru; Okuda, Yasuo; Konishi, Yasuhiko; Ikeda, Ryuji

    2010-08-20

    The purpose of this study was to clarify actual conditions and problems in medical information education and to propose the educational concept to be adopted in medical information. A questionnaire survey was carried out by the anonymous method in June 2008. The survey was intended for 40 radiological technology schools. The questionnaire items were as follows: (1) educational environment in medical information education, (2) content of a lecture in medical information, (3) problems in medical information education. The response rate was 55.0% (22 schools). Half of the responding schools had a laboratory on medical information. Seventeen schools had a medical information education facility, and out of them, approximately 50% had an educational medical information system. The main problems of the medical information education were as follows: (a) motivation of the students is low, (b) the educational coverage and level for medical information are uncertain, (c) there are not an appropriate textbook and educational guidance. In conclusion, these findings suggest that it is necessary to have a vision of medical information education in the education of radiological technologists.

  7. Adult Age Differences in Accessing and Retrieving Information from Long-Term Memory.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Petros, Thomas V.; And Others

    1983-01-01

    Investigated adult age differences in accessing and retrieving information from long-term memory. Results showed that older adults (N=26) were slower than younger adults (N=35) at feature extraction, lexical access, and accessing category information. The age deficit was proportionally greater when retrieval of category information was required.…

  8. 48 CFR 1809.505-4 - Obtaining access to sensitive information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Obtaining access to sensitive information. 1809.505-4 Section 1809.505-4 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL... Organizational and Consultant Conflicts of Interest 1809.505-4 Obtaining access to sensitive information. (b) In...

  9. It is time to improve the quality of medical information distributed to students across social media.

    PubMed

    Zucker, Benjamin E; Kontovounisios, Christos

    2018-01-01

    The ubiquitous nature of social media has meant that its effects on fields outside of social communication have begun to be felt. The generation undergoing medical education are of the generation referred to as "digital natives", and as such routinely incorporate social media into their education. Social media's incorporation into medical education includes its use as a platform to distribute information to the public ("distributive education") and as a platform to provide information to a specific audience ("push education"). These functions have proved beneficial in many regards, such as enabling constant access to the subject matter, other learners, and educators. However, the usefulness of using social media as part of medical education is limited by the vast quantities of poor quality information and the time required to find information of sufficient quality and relevance, a problem confounded by many student's preoccupation with "efficient" learning. In this Perspective, the authors discuss whether social media has proved useful as a tool for medical education. The current growth in the use of social media as a tool for medical education seems to be principally supported by students' desire for efficient learning rather than by the efficacy of social media as a resource for medical education. Therefore, improvements in the quality of information required to maximize the impact of social media as a tool for medical education are required. Suggested improvements include an increase in the amount of educational content distributed on social media produced by academic institutions, such as universities and journals.

  10. Predictive medical information and underwriting.

    PubMed

    Dodge, John H

    2007-01-01

    Medical underwriting involves the application of actuarial science by analyzing medical information to predict the future risk of a claim. The objective is that individuals with like risk are treated in a like manner so that the premium paid is proportional to the risk of future claim.

  11. 38 CFR 14.602 - Requests for medical information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Requests for medical... medical information. (a) Where there is indication that a tort claim will be filed, medical records or... medical records, documents, reports, or other information shall be handled in accordance with the...

  12. 38 CFR 14.602 - Requests for medical information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Requests for medical... medical information. (a) Where there is indication that a tort claim will be filed, medical records or... medical records, documents, reports, or other information shall be handled in accordance with the...

  13. 38 CFR 14.602 - Requests for medical information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Requests for medical... medical information. (a) Where there is indication that a tort claim will be filed, medical records or... medical records, documents, reports, or other information shall be handled in accordance with the...

  14. 38 CFR 14.602 - Requests for medical information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Requests for medical... medical information. (a) Where there is indication that a tort claim will be filed, medical records or... medical records, documents, reports, or other information shall be handled in accordance with the...

  15. Comparison of medication safety systems in critical access hospitals: Combined analysis of two studies.

    PubMed

    Cochran, Gary L; Barrett, Ryan S; Horn, Susan D

    2016-08-01

    The role of pharmacist transcription, onsite pharmacist dispensing, use of automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs), nurse-nurse double checks, or barcode-assisted medication administration (BCMA) in reducing medication error rates in critical access hospitals (CAHs) was evaluated. Investigators used the practice-based evidence methodology to identify predictors of medication errors in 12 Nebraska CAHs. Detailed information about each medication administered was recorded through direct observation. Errors were identified by comparing the observed medication administered with the physician's order. Chi-square analysis and Fisher's exact test were used to measure differences between groups of medication-dispensing procedures. Nurses observed 6497 medications being administered to 1374 patients. The overall error rate was 1.2%. The transcription error rates for orders transcribed by an onsite pharmacist were slightly lower than for orders transcribed by a telepharmacy service (0.10% and 0.33%, respectively). Fewer dispensing errors occurred when medications were dispensed by an onsite pharmacist versus any other method of medication acquisition (0.10% versus 0.44%, p = 0.0085). The rates of dispensing errors for medications that were retrieved from a single-cell ADC (0.19%), a multicell ADC (0.45%), or a drug closet or general supply (0.77%) did not differ significantly. BCMA was associated with a higher proportion of dispensing and administration errors intercepted before reaching the patient (66.7%) compared with either manual double checks (10%) or no BCMA or double check (30.4%) of the medication before administration (p = 0.0167). Onsite pharmacist dispensing and BCMA were associated with fewer medication errors and are important components of a medication safety strategy in CAHs. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Expanding access to high-quality plain-language patient education information through context-specific hyperlinks

    PubMed Central

    Ancker, Jessica S.; Mauer, Elizabeth; Hauser, Diane; Calman, Neil

    2016-01-01

    Medical records, which are increasingly directly accessible to patients, contain highly technical terms unfamiliar to many patients. A federally qualified health center (FQHC) sought to help patients interpret their records by embedding context-specific hyperlinks to plain-language patient education materials in its portal. We assessed the impact of this innovation through a 3-year retrospective cohort study. A total of 12,877 (10% of all patients) in this safety net population had used the MPC links. Black patients, Latino patients comfortable using English, and patients covered by Medicaid were more likely to use the informational hyperlinks than other patients. The positive association with black race and Latino ethnicity remained statistically significant in multivariable models that controlled for insurance type. We conclude that many of the sociodemographic factors associated with the digital divide do not present barriers to accessing context-specific patient education information once in the portal. In fact, this type of highly convenient plain-language patient education may provide particular value to patients in traditionally disadvantaged groups. PMID:28269821

  17. 49 CFR 633.15 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT Project Management Oversight Services § 633.15 Access to information. A recipient of FTA funds for a major capital project shall provide the...

  18. 49 CFR 633.15 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT Project Management Oversight Services § 633.15 Access to information. A recipient of FTA funds for a major capital project shall provide the...

  19. 49 CFR 633.15 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT Project Management Oversight Services § 633.15 Access to information. A recipient of FTA funds for a major capital project shall provide the...

  20. 49 CFR 633.15 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT Project Management Oversight Services § 633.15 Access to information. A recipient of FTA funds for a major capital project shall provide the...

  1. 49 CFR 633.15 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT Project Management Oversight Services § 633.15 Access to information. A recipient of FTA funds for a major capital project shall provide the...

  2. Design characteristics that affect speed of information access and clarity of presentation in an electronic neuroanatomy atlas.

    PubMed

    Stewart, P A; Nathan, N; Nyhof-Young, J

    2007-01-01

    Functional Neuroanatomy, an interactive electronic neuroanatomical atlas, was designed for first year medical students. Medical students have much to learn in a limited time; therefore a major goal in the atlas design was that it facilitate rapid, accurate information retrieval. To assess this feature, we designed a testing scenario in which students who had never taken a neuroanatomy course were asked to complete two equivalent tests, one using the electronic atlas and one using a comparable hard copy atlas, in a limited period of time. The tests were too long to be completed in the time allotted, so test scores were measures of how quickly correct information could be retrieved from each source. Statistical analysis of the data showed that the tests were of equal difficulty and that accurate information retrieval was significantly faster using the electronic atlas when compared with the hard copy atlas (P < 0.0001). Post-test focus groups (n = 4) allowed us to infer that the following design features contributed to rapid information access: the number of structures in the database was limited to those that are relevant to a practicing physician; all of the program modules were presented in both text and image form on the index screen, which doubled as a site map; pages were layered electronically such that information was hidden until requested, structures available on each page were listed alphabetically and could be accessed by clicking on their name; and an illustrated glossary was provided and equipped with a search engine.

  3. Communication training for advanced medical students improves information recall of medical laypersons in simulated informed consent talks – a randomized controlled trial

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Informed consent talks are mandatory before invasive interventions. However, the patients’ information recall has been shown to be rather poor. We investigated, whether medical laypersons recalled more information items from a simulated informed consent talk after advanced medical students participated in a communication training aiming to reduce a layperson’s cognitive load. Methods Using a randomized, controlled, prospective cross-over-design, 30 5th and 6th year medical students were randomized into two groups. One group received communication training, followed by a comparison intervention (early intervention group, EI); the other group first received the comparison intervention and then communication training (late intervention group, LI). Before and after the interventions, the 30 medical students performed simulated informed consent talks with 30 blinded medical laypersons using a standardized set of information. We then recorded the number of information items the medical laypersons recalled. Results After the communication training both groups of medical laypersons recalled significantly more information items (EI: 41 ± 9% vs. 23 ± 9%, p < .0001, LI 49 ± 10% vs. 35 ± 6%, p < .0001). After the comparison intervention the improvement was modest and significant only in the LI (EI: 42 ± 9% vs. 40 ± 9%, p = .41, LI 35 ± 6% vs. 29 ± 9%, p = .016). Conclusion Short communication training for advanced medical students improves information recall of medical laypersons in simulated informed consent talks. PMID:23374907

  4. Web-Based Consumer Health Information: Public Access, Digital Division, and Remainders

    PubMed Central

    Lorence, Daniel; Park, Heeyoung

    2006-01-01

    Public access Internet portals and decreasing costs of personal computers have created a growing consensus that unequal access to information, or a “digital divide,” has largely disappeared for US consumers. A series of technology initiatives in the late 1990s were believed to have largely eliminated the divide. For healthcare patients, access to information is an essential part of the consumer-centric framework outlined in the recently proposed national health information initiative. Data from a recent study of health information-seeking behaviors on the Internet suggest that a “digitally underserved group” persists, effectively limiting the planned national health information infrastructure to wealthier Americans. PMID:16926743

  5. 1 CFR 456.4 - Public access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... request directed initially to the wrong information source will be correctly routed by the Commission's... reaches, or with the exercise of due diligence should have reached, the appropriate information source. (d... 1 General Provisions 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Public access to information. 456.4 Section 456...

  6. Maternity patients' access to their electronic medical records: use and perspectives of a patient portal.

    PubMed

    Megan Forster, Megan; Dennison, Kerrie; Callen, Joanne; Andrew, Andrew; Westbrook, Johanna I

    Patients have been able to access clinical information from their paper-based health records for a number of years. With the advent of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) access to this information can now be achieved online using a secure electronic patient portal. The purpose of this study was to investigate maternity patients' use and perceptions of a patient portal developed at the Mater Mothers' Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. A web-based patient portal, one of the first developed and deployed in Australia, was introduced on 26 June 2012. The portal was designed for maternity patients booked at Mater Mothers' Hospital, as an alternative to the paper-based Pregnancy Health Record. Through the portal, maternity patients are able to complete their hospital registration form online and obtain current health information about their pregnancy (via their EMR), as well as access a variety of support tools to use during their pregnancy such as tailored public health advice. A retrospective cross-sectional study design was employed. Usage statistics were extracted from the system for a one year period (1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013). Patients' perceptions of the portal were obtained using an online survey, accessible by maternity patients for two weeks in February 2013 (n=80). Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the data. Between July 2012 and June 2013, 10,892 maternity patients were offered a patient portal account and access to their EMR. Of those 6,518 created one (60%; 6,518/10,892) and 3,104 went on to request access to their EMR (48%; 3,104/6,518). Of these, 1,751 had their access application granted by 30 June 2013. The majority of maternity patients submitted registration forms online via the patient portal (56.7%). Patients could view their EMR multiple times: there were 671 views of the EMR, 2,781 views of appointment schedules and 135 birth preferences submitted via the EMR. Eighty survey responses were received from EMR account holders, (response

  7. Mobile medical image retrieval

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duc, Samuel; Depeursinge, Adrien; Eggel, Ivan; Müller, Henning

    2011-03-01

    Images are an integral part of medical practice for diagnosis, treatment planning and teaching. Image retrieval has gained in importance mainly as a research domain over the past 20 years. Both textual and visual retrieval of images are essential. In the process of mobile devices becoming reliable and having a functionality equaling that of formerly desktop clients, mobile computing has gained ground and many applications have been explored. This creates a new field of mobile information search & access and in this context images can play an important role as they often allow understanding complex scenarios much quicker and easier than free text. Mobile information retrieval in general has skyrocketed over the past year with many new applications and tools being developed and all sorts of interfaces being adapted to mobile clients. This article describes constraints of an information retrieval system including visual and textual information retrieval from the medical literature of BioMedCentral and of the RSNA journals Radiology and Radiographics. Solutions for mobile data access with an example on an iPhone in a web-based environment are presented as iPhones are frequently used and the operating system is bound to become the most frequent smartphone operating system in 2011. A web-based scenario was chosen to allow for a use by other smart phone platforms such as Android as well. Constraints of small screens and navigation with touch screens are taken into account in the development of the application. A hybrid choice had to be taken to allow for taking pictures with the cell phone camera and upload them for visual similarity search as most producers of smart phones block this functionality to web applications. Mobile information access and in particular access to images can be surprisingly efficient and effective on smaller screens. Images can be read on screen much faster and relevance of documents can be identified quickly through the use of images contained in

  8. Availability of and ease of access to calorie information on restaurant websites.

    PubMed

    Bennett, Gary G; Steinberg, Dori M; Lanpher, Michele G; Askew, Sandy; Lane, Ilana B; Levine, Erica L; Goodman, Melody S; Foley, Perry B

    2013-01-01

    Offering calories on restaurant websites might be particularly important for consumer meal planning, but the availability of and ease of accessing this information are unknown. We assessed websites for the top 100 U.S. chain restaurants to determine the availability of and ease of access to calorie information as well as website design characteristics. We also examined potential predictors of calorie availability and ease of access. Eighty-two percent of restaurants provided calorie information on their websites; 25% presented calories on a mobile-formatted website. On average, calories could be accessed in 2.35±0.99 clicks. About half of sites (51.2%) linked to calorie information via the homepage. Fewer than half had a separate section identifying healthful options (46.3%), or utilized interactive meal planning tools (35.4%). Quick service/fast casual, larger restaurants, and those with less expensive entrées and lower revenue were more likely to make calorie information available. There were no predictors of ease of access. Calorie information is both available and largely accessible on the websites of America's leading restaurants. It is unclear whether consumer behavior is affected by the variability in the presentation of calorie information.

  9. Information seeking anxiety among M.A. Students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

    PubMed

    Aghaei, Fereshteh; Soleymani, Mohammad Reza; Rizi, Hassan Ashrafi

    2017-01-01

    Information-seeking anxiety is a feeling caused by abundance of information or failure to proper interpret the information that can adversely affect the ability of individuals for seeking information and meeting their information needs. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate information-seeking anxiety, factors causing it, and methods for addressing and reducing this type of anxiety. The purpose of this study was to evaluate information-seeking anxiety in postgraduate students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. This study has been conducted using survey method. A total of 265 postgraduate students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were selected with the help of stratified random sampling. Data collection tool was a questionnaire designed for this purpose. The gathered data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that the topic selection factor played a more prominent role in creating information seeking anxiety compared to other factors. Apart from students of school of medicine, information seeking anxiety was below average among the students. In addition, there was a significant difference between information seeking anxiety in students from different departments. Finally, female students had higher information seeking anxiety compared to male students. Although information seeking anxiety among students was lower than average in most cases, further reduction of anxiety could be achieved by facilitating access to information resources and library information services and increasing the quality of students' information literacy through training courses tailored to each discipline are necessary.

  10. The national profile of access to medical care: where do we stand?

    PubMed

    Aday, L A; Andersen, R M

    1984-12-01

    This paper presents analyses of recent national survey data on access to medical care. In particular, information on major access indicators and special problems associated with the economic and political climate of the 1980s collected in a 1982 national telephone survey of 6,610 United States adults and children, representing some 4,802 families, is compared with previous national surveys for key population subgroups--by age, place of residence, income, race, insurance coverage, and type of regular source of care. In general, the findings show that favorable progress has been made, but some inequities continue to persist. Some traditionally disadvantaged groups are more likely to have a regular family doctor, private insurance coverage, have been to a doctor, or had certain preventive tests and procedures than was true for them in the past. On the other hand, compared to the more economically and/or socially advantaged groups in 1982, they have still not "caught up" entirely. There also is evidence that they may be hardest hit by the exacerbation of the financial barriers to care that result from unemployment, inflation, and cutbacks in health program eligibility and benefits that have characterized the decade of the 1980s.

  11. Medical Image Analysis by Cognitive Information Systems - a Review.

    PubMed

    Ogiela, Lidia; Takizawa, Makoto

    2016-10-01

    This publication presents a review of medical image analysis systems. The paradigms of cognitive information systems will be presented by examples of medical image analysis systems. The semantic processes present as it is applied to different types of medical images. Cognitive information systems were defined on the basis of methods for the semantic analysis and interpretation of information - medical images - applied to cognitive meaning of medical images contained in analyzed data sets. Semantic analysis was proposed to analyzed the meaning of data. Meaning is included in information, for example in medical images. Medical image analysis will be presented and discussed as they are applied to various types of medical images, presented selected human organs, with different pathologies. Those images were analyzed using different classes of cognitive information systems. Cognitive information systems dedicated to medical image analysis was also defined for the decision supporting tasks. This process is very important for example in diagnostic and therapy processes, in the selection of semantic aspects/features, from analyzed data sets. Those features allow to create a new way of analysis.

  12. Medical Device Guidebook: A browser information resource for medical device users.

    PubMed

    Clarkson, Douglas M

    2017-03-01

    A web based information resource - the 'Medical Device Guidebook' - for the enabling of safe use of medical devices is described. Medical devices are described within a 'catalogue' of specific models and information on a specific model is provided within a consistent set of information 'keys'. These include 'user manuals', 'points of caution', 'clinical use framework', 'training/assessment material', 'frequently asked questions', 'authorised user comments' and 'consumables'. The system allows identification of known risk/hazards associated with specific devices, triggered, for example, by national alerts or locally raised safety observations. This provides a mechanism for more effective briefing of equipment users on the associated hazards of equipment. A feature of the system is the inclusion of a specific 'Operational Procedure' for each device, where the lack of this focus is shown in the literature to often be a key factor in equipment misuse and associated patient injury. The 'Guidebook' provides a mechanism for the development of an information resource developed within local clinical networks and encourages a consistent approach to medical device use. Copyright © 2017 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. 45 CFR 1326.17 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THE ADMINISTRATION ON AGING, OLDER AMERICANS PROGRAMS GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES FOR SUPPORT AND NUTRITION SERVICES § 1326.17 Access to information. A tribal organization...

  14. 45 CFR 1326.17 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THE ADMINISTRATION ON AGING, OLDER AMERICANS PROGRAMS GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES FOR SUPPORT AND NUTRITION SERVICES § 1326.17 Access to information. A tribal organization...

  15. 45 CFR 1326.17 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THE ADMINISTRATION ON AGING, OLDER AMERICANS PROGRAMS GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES FOR SUPPORT AND NUTRITION SERVICES § 1326.17 Access to information. A tribal organization...

  16. 45 CFR 1326.17 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THE ADMINISTRATION ON AGING, OLDER AMERICANS PROGRAMS GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES FOR SUPPORT AND NUTRITION SERVICES § 1326.17 Access to information. A tribal organization...

  17. 45 CFR 1326.17 - Access to information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THE ADMINISTRATION ON AGING, OLDER AMERICANS PROGRAMS GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES FOR SUPPORT AND NUTRITION SERVICES § 1326.17 Access to information. A tribal organization...

  18. Research Investigation of Information Access Methods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heinrichs, John H.; Sharkey, Thomas W.; Lim, Jeen-Su

    2006-01-01

    This study investigates the satisfaction of library users at Wayne State University who utilize alternative information access methods. The LibQUAL+[TM] desired and perceived that satisfaction ratings are used to determine the user's "superiority gap." By focusing limited library resources to address "superiority gap" issues identified by each…

  19. Content-based management service for medical videos.

    PubMed

    Mendi, Engin; Bayrak, Coskun; Cecen, Songul; Ermisoglu, Emre

    2013-01-01

    Development of health information technology has had a dramatic impact to improve the efficiency and quality of medical care. Developing interoperable health information systems for healthcare providers has the potential to improve the quality and equitability of patient-centered healthcare. In this article, we describe an automated content-based medical video analysis and management service that provides convenience and ease in accessing the relevant medical video content without sequential scanning. The system facilitates effective temporal video segmentation and content-based visual information retrieval that enable a more reliable understanding of medical video content. The system is implemented as a Web- and mobile-based service and has the potential to offer a knowledge-sharing platform for the purpose of efficient medical video content access.

  20. Access to the Information Superhighway and Emerging Information Technologies by People with Disabilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Council on Disability, Washington, DC.

    This report discusses the growth of the National Information Infrastructure (NII), or the information superhighway, and its implications for people with disabilities. Advantages for people with disabilities include: increasing the ability of individuals with some types of disabilities to access and use information; decreasing personal isolation…

  1. [Effects of the Internet on the dissemination of medical information: some thoughts on applied ethics].

    PubMed

    Lucas, Jacques

    2009-10-01

    Learned and professional societies as well as health authorities must attempt to provide free access to their databases for physicians, by a simple repertory of key words and, if necessary, by portals. Although information available for physicians may not be intended to be secret, it often requires some professional training to be interpreted appropriately. The principles of the Code of Medical Ethics, as transcribed in the Public Health Code, apply to all forms and media of information and communication. In public spaces, readers must be guaranteed that information written by physicians corresponds to the state of the art, that it is not advertising or self-promotion or commercial, that it was developed by a process ensuring quality, and that it distinguishes clearly between a popularized description of scientific data and what remains uncertain because research is on-going. The public should be informed about the source of the information they see, the editorial quality of the site, and any potential financial dependence or conflicts of interest. According to the medical association, prudence is recommended for physicians who moderate chat-rooms and discussion lists. List moderation, like any other type of medical activity, must not be improvised; it requires prudence, thought, and training.

  2. Effect of information literacy training course on information literacy skills of undergraduate students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences based on ACRL standards.

    PubMed

    Karimi, Zohreh; Ashrafi-Rizi, Hasan; Papi, Ahmad; Shahrzadi, Leila; Hassanzadeh, Akbar

    2015-01-01

    Information literacy is the basis for lifelong learning. Information literacy skills, especially for student in an environment that is full of information from multiple technologies are being developed is equally important. Information literacy is a set of cognitive and practical skills and like any other science, proper training is needed, and standard-based education is definitely better and evaluation would be easier. This study aimed to determine the impact of information literacy training course on information literacy skills of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences students based on ACRL standard in 2012. The study method is semi-experience with two group design (with pre-test and post-test) and applied. The data collection toll was a questionnaire assessing student's information literacy that developed by Davarpanah and Siamak and validity was confirmed by professional librarians and reliability as measured by Cronbach's alpha, was 0.83. The sample consisted of 50 undergraduate students from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences that by random sampling method was perch in both case and control groups. Before and after the training (once a week), a questionnaire was distributed between the two groups. This training was held in a classroom equipped with computers with internet access and in addition to training using brochures and librarian presentation, interactive methods such as discussion and exercises were used. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software and two level of descriptive (mean and SD) and inferential statistics (t-test and t-paired). The results showed that the students' information literacy scores before the training was lower than average, so that in the control group was 32.96 and in the case group was 33.24; while information literacy scores in the case group significantly increased after the training (46.68). Also, the effect of education, respectively had a greater impact on the ability to access information (the second

  3. Effect of information literacy training course on information literacy skills of undergraduate students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences based on ACRL standards

    PubMed Central

    Karimi, Zohreh; Ashrafi-rizi, Hasan; Papi, Ahmad; Shahrzadi, Leila; Hassanzadeh, Akbar

    2015-01-01

    Background: Information literacy is the basis for lifelong learning. Information literacy skills, especially for student in an environment that is full of information from multiple technologies are being developed is equally important. Information literacy is a set of cognitive and practical skills and like any other science, proper training is needed, and standard-based education is definitely better and evaluation would be easier. This study aimed to determine the impact of information literacy training course on information literacy skills of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences students based on ACRL standard in 2012. Materials and Methods: The study method is semi-experience with two group design (with pre-test and post-test) and applied. The data collection toll was a questionnaire assessing student's information literacy that developed by Davarpanah and Siamak and validity was confirmed by professional librarians and reliability as measured by Cronbach's alpha, was 0.83. The sample consisted of 50 undergraduate students from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences that by random sampling method was perch in both case and control groups. Before and after the training (once a week), a questionnaire was distributed between the two groups. This training was held in a classroom equipped with computers with internet access and in addition to training using brochures and librarian presentation, interactive methods such as discussion and exercises were used. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software and two level of descriptive (mean and SD) and inferential statistics (t-test and t-paired). Results: The results showed that the students’ information literacy scores before the training was lower than average, so that in the control group was 32.96 and in the case group was 33.24; while information literacy scores in the case group significantly increased after the training (46.68). Also, the effect of education, respectively had a greater impact on the

  4. Impact of patient access to Internet health records on glaucoma medication: randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Kashiwagi, Kenji; Tsukahara, Shigeo

    2014-01-15

    Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness. Reduction of intraocular pressure is the only proven way to prevent progression of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. The majority of glaucoma patients need to use antiglaucoma ophthalmic solutions over the course of their life. Thus, good adherence and persistency of glaucoma treatment are important factors for better glaucoma care. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of an Internet-based glaucoma care support system on glaucoma medication use. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. The non-Internet access (NIA) group consisted of patients who had access to the Internet-based glaucoma care support system during the 4-year period only when they were examined by ophthalmologists. The Internet access (IA) group consisted of patients who had the same Internet-based glaucoma care support system access as the NIA group for the first 2 years following enrollment but who were also given free access to the glaucoma care support system for the remaining 2 years. Changes in glaucoma medication use were investigated. In total, 81 patients in the IA group and 90 patients in the NIA group satisfied the study protocol. The number of antiglaucoma ophthalmic solutions used during the study period significantly increased in the NIA group (P<.03) but not in the IA group. The percentages of patients with unchanged, increased, and decreased antiglaucoma ophthalmic solution use during the study period were 61.1% (55/90), 17.8% (16/90), and 3.3% (3/90), respectively, in the NIA group, and 56.8% (46/81), 8.6% (7/81), and 13.6% (11/81), respectively, in the IA group (P<.001). Internet access significantly shifted from an increasing intraocular pressure trend to a decreasing trend in the IA group (P=.002) among the patients who did not have any medication changes. Allowing patients to browse their medical data may reduce the use and improve the effectiveness of glaucoma medication. UMIN-CTR Clinical Trial Number

  5. Corruption in the health care sector: A barrier to access of orthopaedic care and medical devices in Uganda.

    PubMed

    Bouchard, Maryse; Kohler, Jillian C; Orbinski, James; Howard, Andrew

    2012-05-03

    Globally, injuries cause approximately as many deaths per year as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and 90% of injury deaths occur in low- and middle- income countries. Given not all injuries kill, the disability burden, particularly from orthopaedic injuries, is much higher but is poorly measured at present. The orthopaedic services and orthopaedic medical devices needed to manage the injury burden are frequently unavailable in these countries. Corruption is known to be a major barrier to access of health care, but its effects on access to orthopaedic services is still unknown. A qualitative case study of 45 open-ended interviews was conducted to investigate the access to orthopaedic health services and orthopaedic medical devices in Uganda. Participants included orthopaedic surgeons, related healthcare professionals, industry and government representatives, and patients. Participants' experiences in accessing orthopaedic medical devices were explored. Thematic analysis was used to analyze and code the transcripts. Analysis of the interview data identified poor leadership in government and corruption as major barriers to access of orthopaedic care and orthopaedic medical devices. Corruption was perceived to occur at the worker, hospital and government levels in the forms of misappropriation of funds, theft of equipment, resale of drugs and medical devices, fraud and absenteeism. Other barriers elicited included insufficient health infrastructure and human resources, and high costs of orthopaedic equipment and poverty. This study identified perceived corruption as a significant barrier to access of orthopaedic care and orthopaedic medical devices in Uganda. As the burden of injury continues to grow, the need to combat corruption and ensure access to orthopaedic services is imperative. Anti-corruption strategies such as transparency and accountability measures, codes of conduct, whistleblower protection, and higher wages and benefits for workers could be

  6. Corruption in the health care sector: A barrier to access of orthopaedic care and medical devices in Uganda

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Globally, injuries cause approximately as many deaths per year as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and 90% of injury deaths occur in low- and middle- income countries. Given not all injuries kill, the disability burden, particularly from orthopaedic injuries, is much higher but is poorly measured at present. The orthopaedic services and orthopaedic medical devices needed to manage the injury burden are frequently unavailable in these countries. Corruption is known to be a major barrier to access of health care, but its effects on access to orthopaedic services is still unknown. Methods A qualitative case study of 45 open-ended interviews was conducted to investigate the access to orthopaedic health services and orthopaedic medical devices in Uganda. Participants included orthopaedic surgeons, related healthcare professionals, industry and government representatives, and patients. Participants’ experiences in accessing orthopaedic medical devices were explored. Thematic analysis was used to analyze and code the transcripts. Results Analysis of the interview data identified poor leadership in government and corruption as major barriers to access of orthopaedic care and orthopaedic medical devices. Corruption was perceived to occur at the worker, hospital and government levels in the forms of misappropriation of funds, theft of equipment, resale of drugs and medical devices, fraud and absenteeism. Other barriers elicited included insufficient health infrastructure and human resources, and high costs of orthopaedic equipment and poverty. Conclusions This study identified perceived corruption as a significant barrier to access of orthopaedic care and orthopaedic medical devices in Uganda. As the burden of injury continues to grow, the need to combat corruption and ensure access to orthopaedic services is imperative. Anti-corruption strategies such as transparency and accountability measures, codes of conduct, whistleblower protection, and higher

  7. Availability of and Ease of Access to Calorie Information on Restaurant Websites

    PubMed Central

    Bennett, Gary G.; Steinberg, Dori M.; Lanpher, Michele G.; Askew, Sandy; Lane, Ilana B.; Levine, Erica L.; Goodman, Melody S.; Foley, Perry B.

    2013-01-01

    Objective Offering calories on restaurant websites might be particularly important for consumer meal planning, but the availability of and ease of accessing this information are unknown. Methods We assessed websites for the top 100 U.S. chain restaurants to determine the availability of and ease of access to calorie information as well as website design characteristics. We also examined potential predictors of calorie availability and ease of access. Results Eighty-two percent of restaurants provided calorie information on their websites; 25% presented calories on a mobile-formatted website. On average, calories could be accessed in 2.35±0.99 clicks. About half of sites (51.2%) linked to calorie information via the homepage. Fewer than half had a separate section identifying healthful options (46.3%), or utilized interactive meal planning tools (35.4%). Quick service/fast casual, larger restaurants, and those with less expensive entrées and lower revenue were more likely to make calorie information available. There were no predictors of ease of access. Conclusion Calorie information is both available and largely accessible on the websites of America’s leading restaurants. It is unclear whether consumer behavior is affected by the variability in the presentation of calorie information. PMID:23977193

  8. Issues of Access in the New Information Age.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bergen, Dan

    This paper suggests that library and information systems provide access to claims to knowledge rather than to knowledge or information and that such claims to knowledge are in fact claims to truth. The stated purpose of the paper is to explain why the library and information community should adhere to at least soft, if not hard, skepticism with…

  9. An Observational Study of Consumers’ Accessing of Nutrition Information in Chain Restaurants

    PubMed Central

    Agnew, Henry; Brownell, Kelly D.

    2009-01-01

    In this observational study, we determined how frequently consumers accessed on-premises nutrition information provided at chain restaurants. The number of patrons entering and accessing nutrition information was recorded at 8 locations that were part of 4 major restaurant chains (McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, and Au Bon Pain). Only 6 (0.1%) of 4311 patrons accessed on-premises nutrition information before purchasing food. This very small percentage suggests that such information should be more prominently displayed, such as on restaurant menu boards, to help customers make informed decisions. PMID:19299679

  10. An observational study of consumers' accessing of nutrition information in chain restaurants.

    PubMed

    Roberto, Christina A; Agnew, Henry; Brownell, Kelly D

    2009-05-01

    In this observational study, we determined how frequently consumers accessed on-premises nutrition information provided at chain restaurants. The number of patrons entering and accessing nutrition information was recorded at 8 locations that were part of 4 major restaurant chains (McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, and Au Bon Pain). Only 6 (0.1%) of 4311 patrons accessed on-premises nutrition information before purchasing food. This very small percentage suggests that such information should be more prominently displayed, such as on restaurant menu boards, to help customers make informed decisions.

  11. Resolving embarrassing medical conditions with online health information.

    PubMed

    Redston, Sarah; de Botte, Sharon; Smith, Carl

    2018-06-01

    Reliance on online health information is proliferating and the Internet has the potential to revolutionize the provision of public health information. The anonymity of online health information may be particularly appealing to people seeking advice on 'embarrassing' health problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) whether data generated by the embarrassingproblems.com health information site showed any temporal patterns in problem resolution, and (2) whether successful resolution of a medical problem using online information varied with the type of medical problem. We analyzed the responses of visitors to the embarrassingproblems.com website on the resolution of their problems. The dataset comprised 100,561 responses to information provided on 77 different embarrassing problems grouped into 9 classes of medical problem over an 82-month period. Data were analyzed with a Bernoulli Generalized Linear Model using Bayesian inference. We detected a statistically important interaction between embarrassing problem type and the time period in which data were collected, with an improvement in problem resolution over time for all of the classes of medical problem on the website but with a lower rate of increase in resolution for urinary health problems and medical problems associated with the mouth and face. As far as we are aware, this is the first analysis of data of this nature. Findings support the growing recognition that online health information can contribute to the resolution of embarrassing medical problems, but demonstrate that outcomes may vary with medical problem type. The results indicate that building data collection into online information provision can help to refine and focus health information for online users. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Medical-Grade Channel Access and Admission Control in 802.11e EDCA for Healthcare Applications

    PubMed Central

    Son, Sunghwa; Park, Kyung-Joon; Park, Eun-Chan

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we deal with the problem of assuring medical-grade quality of service (QoS) for real-time medical applications in wireless healthcare systems based on IEEE 802.11e. Firstly, we show that the differentiated channel access of IEEE 802.11e cannot effectively assure medical-grade QoS because of priority inversion. To resolve this problem, we propose an efficient channel access algorithm. The proposed algorithm adjusts arbitrary inter-frame space (AIFS) in the IEEE 802.11e protocol depending on the QoS measurement of medical traffic, to provide differentiated near-absolute priority for medical traffic. In addition, based on rigorous capacity analysis, we propose an admission control scheme that can avoid performance degradation due to network overload. Via extensive simulations, we show that the proposed mechanism strictly assures the medical-grade QoS and improves the throughput of low-priority traffic by more than several times compared to the conventional IEEE 802.11e. PMID:27490666

  13. Information needs of academic medical scientists at Chulalongkorn University.

    PubMed Central

    Premsmit, P

    1990-01-01

    The information needs of scientists in English-speaking countries have been studied and reported in the library literature. However, few studies exist on the information-seeking patterns of scientists in developing countries, and no study has examined the information needs of medical scientists in developing Asian countries. This study investigated the information needs of academic medical scientists at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. The results indicate that medical scientists have three types of information needs: identifying up-to-date information, obtaining relevant studies and data, and developing research topics. Thai scientists' information-seeking behavior was different from that of scientists in developed countries. The study shows a high use of libraries as information providers; Thai medical scientists rely heavily on information from abroad. PMID:2224302

  14. Accessing personal medical records online: a means to what ends?

    PubMed

    Shah, Syed Ghulam Sarwar; Fitton, Richard; Hannan, Amir; Fisher, Brian; Young, Terry; Barnett, Julie

    2015-02-01

    Initiatives in the UK to enable patients to access their electronic health records (EHRs) are gathering momentum. All citizens of the European Union should have access to their records by 2015, a target that the UK has endorsed. To identify the ways in which patients used their access to their EHRs, what they sought to achieve, and the extent to which EHR access was related to the concept of making savings. An audit of patients' online access to medical records was conducted in July-August 2011 using a survey questionnaire. Two hundred and twenty six patients who were registered with two general practices in the National Health Service (NHS) located in the UK and who had accessed their personal EHRs at least twice in the preceding 12 months i.e. from July 2010 to July 2011, completed the questionnaire. Data analysis A thematic analysis of the comments that patients gave in response to the open ended questions on the questionnaire. Overall, evaluations of record access were positive. Four main themes relating to the ways in which patients accessed their records were identified: making savings, checking past activity, preparation for future action, and setting new expectations. Quite apart from any benefits of savings in healthcare resources, this study has provided qualitative evidence of the active ways in which patients may make use of access to their EHRs, many of which are in line with proportionate health management strategies. Access to personal EHRs may contribute to the development of new expectations among patients. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. Compulsory Licenses for Cancer Drugs: Does Circumventing Patent Rights Improve Access to Oncology Medications?

    PubMed Central

    Bognar, Cinthia Leite Frizzera Borges; Bychkovsky, Brittany L.

    2016-01-01

    Worldwide, there are enormous inequities in cancer control that cause poor outcomes among patients with cancer who live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). One of the biggest challenges that oncology faces today is how to increase patient access to expensive, but life-saving, therapies in LMICs. Access to cancer medications in LMICs is a major problem, especially in recent years, as the costs of these therapies continue to rise exponentially. One mechanism available to LMICs to improve access to cancer medications allows a country to pursue a compulsory license for a given drug. Here, we will review how the legal framework in the World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement and the Doha Declaration supports countries to circumvent patent laws and acquire compulsory licenses for essential medicines. We will also discuss the current and future role of compulsory licenses in oncology and how compulsory licenses may improve access to cancer drugs in LMICs. PMID:28717715

  16. Access Control to Information in Pervasive Computing Environments

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-08-01

    for foo’s public key. (Digital signatures are omitted.) indicate a set of location and time intervals. A service will return location information only...stands for foo’s public key. (Digital signatures are omitted.) it describes the resource to which access is granted. Currently, we allow only resources...information relationship. Alice’s location information is bun- dled in her personal information. (The digital signature is omitted.) We use extended

  17. [Approaches to development and implementation of the medical information system for military-medical commission of the multidisciplinary military-medical organisation].

    PubMed

    Kuvshinov, K E; Klipak, V M; Chaplyuk, A L; Moskovko, V M; Belyshev, D V; Zherebko, O A

    2015-06-01

    The current task of the implementation of medical information systems in the military and medical organizations is an automation of the military-medical expertise as one of the most important activities. In this regard, noteworthy experience of the 9th Medical Diagnostic Centre (9th MDC), where on the basis of medical information system "Interi PROMIS" for the first time was implemented the automation of the work of military medical commission. The given paper presents an algorithm for constructing of the information system for the military-medical examination; detailed description of its elements is given. According to military servicemen the implementation of the Military Medical Commission (MMC) subsystem of the medical information system implemented into the 9th MDC has reduced the time required for the MMC and paperwork, greatly facilitate the work of physicians and medical specialists on military servicemen examination. This software can be widely applied in ambulatory and hospital practice, especially in case of mass military-medical examinations.

  18. Medication deserts: survey of neighborhood disparities in availability of prescription medications.

    PubMed

    Amstislavski, Philippe; Matthews, Ariel; Sheffield, Sarah; Maroko, Andrew R; Weedon, Jeremy

    2012-11-09

    Only a small amount of research has focused on the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and geographic access to prescription medications at community pharmacies in North America and Europe. To examine the relationship between a community's socio-economic context and its residents' geographic access to common medications in pharmacies, we hypothesized that differences are present in access to pharmacies across communities with different socio-economic environments, and in availability of commonly prescribed medications within pharmacies located in communities with different socio-economic status. We visited 408 pharmacies located in 168 socio-economically diverse communities to assess the availability of commonly prescribed medications. We collected the following information at each pharmacy visited: hours of operation, pharmacy type, in-store medication availability, and the cash price of the 13 most commonly prescribed medications. We calculated descriptive statistics for the sample and fitted a series of hierarchical linear models to test our hypothesis that the in-stock availability of medications differs by the socio-economic conditions of the community. This was accomplished by modeling medication availability in pharmacies on the socio-economic factors operating at the community level in a socio-economically devise urban area. Pharmacies in poor communities had significantly higher odds of medications being out of stock, OR=1.24, 95% CI [1.02, 1.52]. There was also a significant difference in density of smaller, independent pharmacies with very limited stock and hours of operation, and larger, chain pharmacies in poor communities as compared to the middle and low-poverty communities. The findings suggest that geographic access to a neighborhood pharmacy, the type of pharmacy, and availability of commonly prescribed medications varies significantly across communities. In extreme cases, entire communities could be deemed "medication deserts

  19. Assessing the impact of a medical image access system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McNeill, Kevin M.; Maloney, Kris; Parra, Miguel V.; Ovitt, Theron W.; Dallas, William J.

    1994-05-01

    We have developed and installed a Medical Image Access System in an intensive care unit. Images are acquired and transmitted automatically to this system, thus expanding on the previous results of Shile et. al. It is our goal to determine what effect regular, sustained availability of image data in the clinic has on the Intensive Care Unit and the Department of Radiology. Our system is installed and has been in regular use in the hospital since late August of 1993. Since the time of installation we have been collecting usage information from both the manual and automated systems. From this data we are performing the standard measures established by DeSimone et. al. Our initial results support the original findings that image availability in the clinic leads to earlier patient care decision based on the image data. However, our findings do not seem to indicate that there is a breakdown of communication between the clinician and the radiologist as a result of the use of the clinical display system. In addition to the established measure we are investigating other criteria to measure time saved by both the clinician and radiologist. The results are reported in this paper.

  20. Medical cannabis access, use, and substitution for prescription opioids and other substances: A survey of authorized medical cannabis patients.

    PubMed

    Lucas, Philippe; Walsh, Zach

    2017-04-01

    In 2014 Health Canada replaced the Marihuana for Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) with the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR). One of the primary changes in the new program has been to move from a single Licensed Producer (LP) of cannabis to multiple Licensed Producers. This is the first comprehensive survey of patients enrolled in the MMPR. Patients registered to purchase cannabis from Tilray, a federally authorized Licenced Producer (LP) within the MMPR, were invited to complete an online survey consisting of 107 questions on demographics, patterns of use, and cannabis substitution effect. The survey was completed by 271 respondents. Cannabis is perceived to be an effective treatment for diverse conditions, with pain and mental health the most prominent. Findings include high self-reported use of cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs (63%), particularly pharmaceutical opioids (30%), benzodiazepines (16%), and antidepressants (12%). Patients also reported substituting cannabis for alcohol (25%), cigarettes/tobacco (12%), and illicit drugs (3%). A significant percentage of patients (42%) reported accessing cannabis from illegal/unregulated sources in addition to access via LPs, and over half (55%) were charged to receive a medical recommendation to use cannabis, with nearly 25% paying $300 or more. The finding that patients report its use as a substitute for prescription drugs supports prior research on medical cannabis users; however, this study is the first to specify the classes of prescription drugs for which cannabis it is used as a substitute, and to match this substitution to specific diagnostic categories. The findings that some authorized patients purchase cannabis from unregulated sources and that a significant percentage of patients were charged for medical cannabis recommendations highlight ongoing policy challenges for this federal program. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Access to Healthcare in Russia: A Pilot Study in Ekaterinburg.

    PubMed

    Antonova, Natalia

    2016-06-01

    The aim of the study was to analyze accessibility of medical assistance in Russian polyclinics (a case study of the city of Ekaterinburg). The research included an anonymous survey of patients in five polyclinics of Ekaterinburg (N=500) conducted by applying a specially developed standardised interview. The following factors of medical care accessibility were analyzed: the patient's financial status and administrative and managerial resources of medical institutions. Medical aid in polyclinics is provided within the framework of the Compulsory Medical Insurance Programme. 72% of the patients polled, however, had to pay for medical services. In order to pay less for medical services and to obtain services faster patients use informal payments: they either pay their doctors directly (4%) or make gifts (58%). Low-income population groups refuse to pay for medical services or to make gifts to the medical staff. They also tend not to follow their doctors' recommendations. The most significant indicators of the organizational and managerial work of a medical institution which limit accessibility are the following: queues in front of doctors' offices (41%) and difficulties with making appointments (17%). To solve the problem of medical aid accessibility in the Russian state healthcare system, it is necessary to develop information and reference materials for patients available in every polyclinic listing the terms of provision of free medical aid and types of free medical services. The difficulties to obtain medical services could be resolved at the management level by using the material and human resources of the administration of medical institutions. Copyright© by the National Institute of Public Health, Prague 2015.

  2. "It's making contacts": notions of social capital and implications for widening access to medical education.

    PubMed

    Nicholson, S; Cleland, J A

    2017-05-01

    In the UK widening access (WA) activities and policies aim to increase the representation from lower socio-economic groups into Higher Education. Whilst linked to a political rhetoric of inclusive education such initiatives have however failed to significantly increase the number of such students entering medicine. This is compounded by a discourse that portrays WA applicants and students as lacking the essential skills or attributes to be successful in medical education. Much of the research in this area to date has been weak and it is critical to better understand how WA applicants and students negotiate medical admissions and education to inform change. To address this gap we amalgamated a larger dataset from three qualitative studies of student experiences of WA to medicine (48 participants in total). Inductively analysing the findings using social capital as a theoretical lens we created and clustered codes into categories, informed by the concepts of "weak ties" and "bridging and linking capital", terms used by previous workers in this field, to better understand student journeys in medical education. Successful applicants from lower socio-economic groups recognise and mobilise weak ties to create linking capital. However once in medical school these students seem less aware of the need for, or how to create, capital effectively. We argue WA activities should support increasing the social capital of under-represented applicants and students, and future selection policy needs to take into account the varying social capital of students, so as to not overtly disadvantage some social groups.

  3. Evaluation of online consumer medication information.

    PubMed

    Kim, Karissa Y; Metzger, Anne; Wigle, Patricia R; Choe, Pearl J

    2011-06-01

    Millions of Americans search the Internet for health-related information; however, the readability and comprehensiveness of consumer medication information (CMI) on the Internet has not been widely studied. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the readability and comprehensiveness of online CMI. The readability and comprehensiveness of consumer drug information found on 3 well-known Web sites (Medline Plus, Yahoo Health, and WebMD) was evaluated; in particular, information related to 10 commonly prescribed medications. Readability was assessed using the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) and Fry Readability Graph (FRG) tools; comprehensiveness of information was evaluated using the Keystone action plan criteria. Using SMOG, the mean reading level of each Web site was 13th grade level or higher. Using the FRG, the mean reading level was 10th grade or higher. Out of the 24 points in the Keystone action plan criteria, information found on each of the Web sites was deemed accurate with mean score of 21, 21, and 19 for Medline Plus, Yahoo Health, and WebMD, respectively. For the medications reviewed, CMI found on Web sites was accurate when assessed using the Keystone action plan criteria. The readability levels were higher than the recommended sixth grade level. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. 29 CFR 1910.1020 - Access to employee exposure and medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... results of medical examinations (pre-employment, pre-assignment, periodic, or episodic) and laboratory tests (including chest and other X-ray examinations taken for the purposes of establishing a base-line...), the employer shall prominently post a copy of the written access order and its accompanying cover...

  5. 29 CFR 1910.1020 - Access to employee exposure and medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... results of medical examinations (pre-employment, pre-assignment, periodic, or episodic) and laboratory tests (including chest and other X-ray examinations taken for the purposes of establishing a base-line...), the employer shall prominently post a copy of the written access order and its accompanying cover...

  6. 29 CFR 1910.1020 - Access to employee exposure and medical records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... results of medical examinations (pre-employment, pre-assignment, periodic, or episodic) and laboratory tests (including chest and other X-ray examinations taken for the purposes of establishing a base-line...), the employer shall prominently post a copy of the written access order and its accompanying cover...

  7. Public library computer training for older adults to access high-quality Internet health information

    PubMed Central

    Xie, Bo; Bugg, Julie M.

    2010-01-01

    An innovative experiment to develop and evaluate a public library computer training program to teach older adults to access and use high-quality Internet health information involved a productive collaboration among public libraries, the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a Library and Information Science (LIS) academic program at a state university. One hundred and thirty-one older adults aged 54–89 participated in the study between September 2007 and July 2008. Key findings include: a) participants had overwhelmingly positive perceptions of the training program; b) after learning about two NIH websites (http://nihseniorhealth.gov and http://medlineplus.gov) from the training, many participants started using these online resources to find high quality health and medical information and, further, to guide their decision-making regarding a health- or medically-related matter; and c) computer anxiety significantly decreased (p < .001) while computer interest and efficacy significantly increased (p = .001 and p < .001, respectively) from pre- to post-training, suggesting statistically significant improvements in computer attitudes between pre- and post-training. The findings have implications for public libraries, LIS academic programs, and other organizations interested in providing similar programs in their communities. PMID:20161649

  8. Information-seeking trends of medical professionals and students from middle-income countries: a focus on the Philippines.

    PubMed

    Gavino, Alex I; Ho, Beverly Lorraine C; Wee, Pura Angela A; Marcelo, Alvin B; Fontelo, Paul

    2013-12-01

    Increased emphasis has been given to the practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM) worldwide. Access to quality health information is essential to the practice of EBM in developing countries. To understand the information needs and sources of information of physicians from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Medical doctors and students participated in an 18-question online or paper study. Of the 156 respondents from six LMICs, 146 (94%) came from the Philippines. Eighty-eight per cent encountered at least one clinical question daily, while 58% were very likely to search for answers. A basic mobile phone was the most used device at home (94%) and at work (82%). More than half had Internet connectivity at home (62%) and just under half at work (46%). In decreasing order, short messaging services (SMS), email, instant messaging and multimedia messaging services (MMS) were the most commonly used messaging tools at home and at work. The primary source for medication questions was a formulary, but for diagnostic dilemmas, colleagues were consulted first. PubMed use was high for therapy and management questions. The use of health information from the Internet through mobile devices may be increasing. Access to health information was higher at home than at work. These results may be useful when planning resources for healthcare givers in resource-poor settings. © 2013 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2013 Health Libraries Group.

  9. 48 CFR 1837.203-70 - Providing contractors access to sensitive information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... developed at private expense or that the Government has generated that qualifies for an exception to the... require access to sensitive information in the Government's possession, which may be entitled to... because the service provider has access to other companies' sensitive information, and shall establish...

  10. 48 CFR 1837.203-70 - Providing contractors access to sensitive information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... developed at private expense or that the Government has generated that qualifies for an exception to the... require access to sensitive information in the Government's possession, which may be entitled to... because the service provider has access to other companies' sensitive information, and shall establish...

  11. Access control and confidentiality in radiology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Noumeir, Rita; Chafik, Adil

    2005-04-01

    A medical record contains a large amount of data about the patient such as height, weight and blood pressure. It also contains sensitive information such as fertility, abortion, psychiatric data, sexually transmitted diseases and diagnostic results. Access to this information must be carefully controlled. Information technology has greatly improved patient care. The recent extensive deployment of digital medical images made diagnostic images promptly available to healthcare decision makers, regardless of their geographic location. Medical images are digitally archived, transferred on telecommunication networks, and visualized on computer screens. However, with the widespread use of computing and communication technologies in healthcare, the issue of data security has become increasingly important. Most of the work until now has focused on the security of data communication to ensure its integrity, authentication, confidentiality and user accountability. The mechanisms that have been proposed to achieve the security of data communication are not specific to healthcare. Data integrity can be achieved with data signature. Data authentication can be achieved with certificate exchange. Data confidentiality can be achieved with encryption. User accountability can be achieved with audits. Although these mechanisms are essential to ensure data security during its transfer on the network, access control is needed in order to ensure data confidentiality and privacy within the information system application. In this paper, we present and discuss an access control mechanism that takes into account the notion of a care process. Radiology information is categorized and a model to enforce data privacy is proposed.

  12. Electronic medical record systems in critical access hospitals: leadership perspectives on anticipated and realized benefits.

    PubMed

    Mills, Troy R; Vavroch, Jared; Bahensky, James A; Ward, Marcia M

    2010-04-01

    The growth of electronic medical records (EMRs) is driven by the belief that EMRs will significantly improve healthcare providers' performance and reduce healthcare costs. Evidence supporting these beliefs is limited, especially for small rural hospitals. A survey that focused on health information technology (HIT) capacity was administered to all hospitals in Iowa. Structured interviews were conducted with the leadership at 15 critical access hospitals (CAHs) that had implemented EMRs in order to assess the perceived benefits of operational EMRs. The results indicate that most of the hospitals implemented EMRs to improve efficiency, timely access, and quality. Many CAH leaders also viewed EMR implementation as a necessary business strategy to remain viable and improve financial performance. While some reasons reflect external influences, such as perceived future federal mandates, other reasons suggest that the decision was driven by internal forces, including the hospital's culture and the desires of key leaders to embrace HIT. Anticipated benefits were consistent with goals; however, realized benefits were rarely obvious in terms of quantifiable results. These findings expand the limited research on the rationale for implementing EMRs in critical access hospitals.

  13. Persistent digital divide in access to and use of the Internet as a resource for health information: Results from a California population-based study.

    PubMed

    Nguyen, Amy; Mosadeghi, Sasan; Almario, Christopher V

    2017-07-01

    Access to the Internet has grown dramatically over the past two decades. Using data from a population-based survey, we aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of (i) access to the Internet, and (ii) use of the Internet to search for health information. We analyzed data from the 2011-12 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and included all individuals 18 years of age and older. Our outcomes were (i) prior use of the Internet, and (ii) use of the Internet to find health or medical information within the past year. We performed survey-weighted logistic regression models on our outcomes to adjust for potentially confounding demographic and socioeconomic factors. Our study included an unweighted and survey-weighted sample of 42,935 and 27,796,484 individuals, respectively. We found that 81.5% of the weighted sample reported having previously used the Internet. Among Internet users, 64.5% stated that they used the Internet within the past year to find health or medical information. Racial/ethnic minorities, older individuals, and those who lived in lower income households and rural areas were less likely to have access to and use the Internet to search for health information. Conversely, English-proficiency and increasing levels of education were positively associated with online health information-seeking. We found that most Californians have access to and use the Internet to search for health information, but still noted a persistent digital divide. Interventions to narrow the divide are needed, otherwise this may lead to a continued widening of existing healthcare disparities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Development of an integrated medical supply information system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Eric; Wermus, Marek; Blythe Bauman, Deborah

    2011-08-01

    The integrated medical supply inventory control system introduced in this study is a hybrid system that is shaped by the nature of medical supply, usage and storage capacity limitations of health care facilities. The system links demand, service provided at the clinic, health care service provider's information, inventory storage data and decision support tools into an integrated information system. ABC analysis method, economic order quantity model, two-bin method and safety stock concept are applied as decision support models to tackle inventory management issues at health care facilities. In the decision support module, each medical item and storage location has been scrutinised to determine the best-fit inventory control policy. The pilot case study demonstrates that the integrated medical supply information system holds several advantages for inventory managers, since it entails benefits of deploying enterprise information systems to manage medical supply and better patient services.

  15. How Do Adolescents Access Health Information? And Do They Ask Their Physicians?

    PubMed Central

    Ettel, George; Nathanson, Ian; Ettel, Donna; Wilson, Christine; Meola, Paul

    2012-01-01

    Objective: To improve understanding about how high school students use electronic tools to obtain health information and how this information affects their behavior. Design/Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, we administered an anonymous survey to high school students in grades 9 through 12 at a single private Catholic high school, inquiring about their use of electronic tools to obtain health information, topics of interest, sources used to obtain information, and modifications in their behavior based on that information. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance were used to compare trends across grade levels. Results: Of 705 students enrolled, 24.7% were either absent or chose not to participate in the survey. Of the remaining 531 students, 497 completed the surveys, for a response rate of 70.5% (497 of 705) and a participation rate of 93.6% (497 of 531). All students were comfortable using the Internet, and >90% used it at home and in school. Access to broadband applications averaged 95% at home and 80% at school. A significant proportion (0.66; p < 0.0001) of students reported that they trusted the information found online, and 22% (not significant) modified their behavior on the basis of the information they found. Forty-two percent searched for general health information, and 43% investigated specific medical conditions or disease states. Topics related to skin were researched significantly more than nutrition, birth control, and sexually transmitted diseases. Although a significant number of students (p < 0.05) reported conducting e-mail conversations related to health topics with their teachers, <5% had e-mail communications with physicians. Conclusions: These data indicate that most high school students used the Internet and broadband applications at school and at home as resources for health care information. A significant number of students trusted the online information, and at nearly one-quarter subsequently modified their

  16. Computer-Based Medical System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1998-01-01

    SYMED, Inc., developed a unique electronic medical records and information management system. The S2000 Medical Interactive Care System (MICS) incorporates both a comprehensive and interactive medical care support capability and an extensive array of digital medical reference materials in either text or high resolution graphic form. The system was designed, in cooperation with NASA, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of physician practices. The S2000 is a MS (Microsoft) Windows based software product which combines electronic forms, medical documents, records management, and features a comprehensive medical information system for medical diagnostic support and treatment. SYMED, Inc. offers access to its medical systems to all companies seeking competitive advantages.

  17. Users' information-seeking behavior on a medical library Website

    PubMed Central

    Rozic-Hristovski, Anamarija; Hristovski, Dimitar; Todorovski, Ljupco

    2002-01-01

    The Central Medical Library (CMK) at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, started to build a library Website that included a guide to library services and resources in 1997. The evaluation of Website usage plays an important role in its maintenance and development. Analyzing and exploring regularities in the visitors' behavior can be used to enhance the quality and facilitate delivery of information services, identify visitors' interests, and improve the server's performance. The analysis of the CMK Website users' navigational behavior was carried out by analyzing the Web server log files. These files contained information on all user accesses to the Website and provided a great opportunity to learn more about the behavior of visitors to the Website. The majority of the available tools for Web log file analysis provide a predefined set of reports showing the access count and the transferred bytes grouped along several dimensions. In addition to the reports mentioned above, the authors wanted to be able to perform interactive exploration and ad hoc analysis and discover trends in a user-friendly way. Because of that, we developed our own solution for exploring and analyzing the Web logs based on data warehousing and online analytical processing technologies. The analytical solution we developed proved successful, so it may find further application in the field of Web log file analysis. We will apply the findings of the analysis to restructuring the CMK Website. PMID:11999179

  18. 75 FR 63170 - Access to Confidential Business Information by Avanti Corporation

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-10-14

    ... control actions. They will also provide computer data base support related to providing information on...: Access to the confidential data will occur no sooner than October 21, 2010. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... data, including CBI, will continue until October 31, 2015. If the contract is extended, this access...

  19. Medical adhesive-related skin injuries associated with vascular access.

    PubMed

    Hitchcock, Jan; Savine, Louise

    2017-04-27

    Establishing vascular access and preventing infection, both at insertion and during ongoing care is generally the top priority; the maintenance of optimal skin integrity is often a distant secondary consideration. Skin can react to different types of dressings or adhesives, or problems can arise relating to the securement of lines or the development of sensitivities to cleaning solutions. Clearly, these scenarios are not limited to the securement of vascular access devices; however, a patient with a long-term vascular access device may not have other options for vascular access, which makes this a very important and yet largely unrecognised area. A review of the limited literature that existed up to March 2015 showed it was typically concerned with skin tears connected with dressings and removal, and contact irritant dermatitis. The tissue viability team and vascular access team reviewed the current products associated with a typical vascular access dressing to ensure it was fit for purpose and where at all possible had good scientific literature for validation. The team worked proactively to recognise those patients at risk with the early identification of potential medical adhesive-related skin injuries (MARSI). To facilitate this an algorithm was developed that offers a step-by-step approach, clearly outlining what to do to prevent MARSI and its treatment should it develop. These reactions can result from other factors than the dressing alone, and an increase in these kinds of skin reaction in patients who are on chemotherapy regimens is being explored further. Through the implementation of an algorithm, education for both staff and patients and collaborative working between vascular access and tissue viability teams, a reduction in these phenomena has been seen despite an increasing number of at-risk patients.

  20. Protecting Privacy in Computerized Medical Information.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Office of Technology Assessment.

    This report analyzes the implications of computerized medical information and the challenges it brings to individual privacy. The report examines the nature of the privacy interest in health care information and the current state of the law protecting that information; the nature of proposals to computerize health care information and the…

  1. One and done? Equality of opportunity and repeated access to scarce, indivisible medical resources.

    PubMed

    Huesch, Marco D

    2012-05-24

    Existing ethical guidelines recommend that, all else equal, past receipt of a medical resource (e.g. a scarce organ) should not be considered in current allocation decisions (e.g. a repeat transplantation). One stated reason for this ethical consensus is that formal theories of ethics and justice do not persuasively accept or reject repeated access to the same medical resources. Another is that restricting attention to past receipt of a particular medical resource seems arbitrary: why couldn't one just as well, it is argued, consider receipt of other goods such as income or education? In consequence, simple allocation by lottery or first-come-first-served without consideration of any past receipt is thought to best afford equal opportunity, conditional on equal medical need.There are three issues with this view that need to be addressed. First, public views and patient preferences are less ambiguous than formal theories of ethics. Empirical work shows strong preferences for fairness in health care that have not been taken into account: repeated access to resources has been perceived as unfair. Second, while difficult to consider receipt of many other prior resources including non-medical resources, this should not be used a motive for ignoring the receipt of any and all goods including the focal resource in question. Third, when all claimants to a scarce resource are equally deserving, then use of random allocation seems warranted. However, the converse is not true: mere use of a randomizer does not by itself make the merits of all claimants equal. My conclusion is that not ignoring prior receipt of the same medical resource, and prioritizing those who have not previously had access to the medical resource in question, may be perceived as fairer and more equitable by society.

  2. One and done? Equality of opportunity and repeated access to scarce, indivisible medical resources

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Existing ethical guidelines recommend that, all else equal, past receipt of a medical resource (e.g. a scarce organ) should not be considered in current allocation decisions (e.g. a repeat transplantation). Discussion One stated reason for this ethical consensus is that formal theories of ethics and justice do not persuasively accept or reject repeated access to the same medical resources. Another is that restricting attention to past receipt of a particular medical resource seems arbitrary: why couldn’t one just as well, it is argued, consider receipt of other goods such as income or education? In consequence, simple allocation by lottery or first-come-first-served without consideration of any past receipt is thought to best afford equal opportunity, conditional on equal medical need. There are three issues with this view that need to be addressed. First, public views and patient preferences are less ambiguous than formal theories of ethics. Empirical work shows strong preferences for fairness in health care that have not been taken into account: repeated access to resources has been perceived as unfair. Second, while difficult to consider receipt of many other prior resources including non-medical resources, this should not be used a motive for ignoring the receipt of any and all goods including the focal resource in question. Third, when all claimants to a scarce resource are equally deserving, then use of random allocation seems warranted. However, the converse is not true: mere use of a randomizer does not by itself make the merits of all claimants equal. Summary My conclusion is that not ignoring prior receipt of the same medical resource, and prioritizing those who have not previously had access to the medical resource in question, may be perceived as fairer and more equitable by society. PMID:22624597

  3. Patients' Use of the Internet for Medical Information

    PubMed Central

    Diaz, Joseph A; Griffith, Rebecca A; Ng, James J; Reinert, Steven E; Friedmann, Peter D; Moulton, Anne W

    2002-01-01

    OBJECTIVES To determine the percentage of patients enrolled in a primary care practice who use the Internet for health information, to describe the types of information sought, to evaluate patients' perceptions of the quality of this information, and to determine if patients who use the Internet for health information discuss this with their doctors. DESIGN Self-administered mailed survey. SETTING Patients from a primary care internal medicine private practice. PARTICIPANTS Randomly selected patients (N = 1,000) were mailed a confidential survey between December 1999 and March 2000. The response rate was 56.2%. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Of the 512 patients who returned the survey, 53.5% (274) stated that they used the Internet for medical information. Those using the Internet for medical information were more educated (P < .001) and had higher incomes (P < .001). Respondents used the Internet for information on a broad range of medical topics. Sixty percent felt that the information on the Internet was the “same as” or “better than” information from their doctors. Of those using the Internet for health information, 59% did not discuss this information with their doctor. Neither gender, education level, nor age less than 60 years was associated with patients sharing their Web searches with their physicians. However, patients who discussed this information with their doctors rated the quality of information higher than those who did not share this information with their providers. CONCLUSIONS Primary care providers should recognize that patients are using the World Wide Web as a source of medical and health information and should be prepared to offer suggestions for Web-based health resources and to assist patients in evaluating the quality of medical information available on the Internet. PMID:11929503

  4. Community access to health information in Ireland.

    PubMed

    Macdougall, J

    1999-06-01

    This paper is based on a research project conducted on consumer health information (CHI) in the Republic of Ireland, the results of which were published in a report entitled Well Read: Developing Consumer Health Information in Ireland. The paper describes the research methodology and the Irish experience in relation to CHI followed by a discussion of access problems, illustrated with examples from the special needs and primary care sectors. The role of information providers in relation to primary healthcare and libraries is examined briefly, and finally the main research conclusions and recommendations are highlighted.

  5. Sri Lanka's national assessment on innovation and intellectual property for access to medical products.

    PubMed

    Beneragama, Hemantha; Shridhar, Manisha; Ranasinghe, Thushara; Dissanayake, Vajira Hw

    2016-09-01

    In 2008, the Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property (GSPA-PHI) was launched by the World Health Organization, to stimulate fresh thinking on innovation in, and access to, medicines and to build sustainable research on diseases disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries. As part of the activities of the GSPA-PHI, Sri Lanka has been the first country to date to assess the national environment for medical technology and innovation. This year-long, multistakeholder, participative analysis facilitated identification of clear and implementable policy recommendations, for the government to increase its effectiveness in promoting innovation in health products through institutional development, investment and coordination among all areas relevant to public health. The assessment also highlighted areas for priority action, including closing the technology gap in development of health products, facilitating technology transfer, and building the health-research and allied workforces. The Sri Lankan experience will inform the ongoing independent external evaluation of the GSPA-PHI worldwide. The assessment process coincided with the passing of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority Act in 2015. In addition, there is growing recognition that regional cooperation will be critical to improving access to medical products in the future. Sri Lanka is therefore actively promoting cooperation to establish a regional regulatory affairs network. Lessons learnt from the Sri Lankan assessment may also benefit other countries embarking on a national GSPA-PHI assessment.

  6. 49 CFR 1007.3 - Requests by an individual for information or access.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Requests by an individual for information or access. 1007.3 Section 1007.3 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued... CONTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS § 1007.3 Requests by an individual for information or access. (a...

  7. Proximity-based access control for context-sensitive information provision in SOA-based systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rajappan, Gowri; Wang, Xiaofei; Grant, Robert; Paulini, Matthew

    2014-06-01

    Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has enabled open-architecture integration of applications within an enterprise. For net-centric Command and Control (C2), this elucidates information sharing between applications and users, a critical requirement for mission success. The Information Technology (IT) access control schemes, which arbitrate who gets access to what information, do not yet have the contextual knowledge to dynamically allow this information sharing to happen dynamically. The access control might prevent legitimate users from accessing information relevant to the current mission context, since this context may be very different from the context for which the access privileges were configured. We evaluate a pair of data relevance measures - proximity and risk - and use these as the basis of dynamic access control. Proximity is a measure of the strength of connection between the user and the resource. However, proximity is not sufficient, since some data might have a negative impact, if leaked, which far outweighs importance to the subject's mission. For this, we use a risk measure to quantify the downside of data compromise. Given these contextual measures of proximity and risk, we investigate extending Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), which is used by the Department of Defense, and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), which is widely used in the civilian market, so that these standards-based access control models are given contextual knowledge to enable dynamic information sharing. Furthermore, we consider the use of such a contextual access control scheme in a SOA-based environment, in particular for net-centric C2.

  8. 75 FR 21662 - Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-04-26

    ...] Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB... Regulation on Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records (29 CFR 1910.1020). DATES: Comments must be... operating small businesses, and to reduce to the maximum extent feasible unnecessary duplication of efforts...

  9. Access to and value of information to support good practice for staff in Kenyan hospitals

    PubMed Central

    Muinga, Naomi; Sen, Barbara; Ayieko, Philip; Todd, Jim; English, Mike

    2015-01-01

    Background Studies have sought to define information needs of health workers within very specific settings or projects. Lacking in the literature is how hospitals in low-income settings are able to meet the information needs of their staff and the use of information communication technologies (ICT) in day-to-day information searching. Objective The study aimed to explore where professionals in Kenyan hospitals turn to for work-related information in their day-to-day work. Additionally, it examined what existing solutions are provided by hospitals with regard to provision of best practice care. Lastly, the study explored the use of ICT in information searching. Design Data for this study were collected in July 2012. Self-administered questionnaires (SAQs) were distributed across 22 study hospitals with an aim to get a response from 34 health workers per hospital. Results SAQs were collected from 657 health workers. The most popular sources of information to guide work were fellow health workers and printed guidelines while the least popular were scientific journals. Of value to health workers were: national treatment policies, new research findings, regular reports from surveillance data, information on costs of services and information on their performance of routine clinical tasks; however, hospitals only partially met these needs. Barriers to accessing information sources included: ‘not available/difficult to get’ and ‘difficult to understand’. ICT use for information seeking was reported and with demographic specific differences noted from the multivariate logistic regression model; nurses compared to medical doctors and older workers were less likely to use ICT for health information searching. Barriers to accessing Internet were identified as: high costs and the lack of the service at home or at work. Conclusions Hospitals need to provide appropriate information by improving information dissemination efforts and providing an enabling environment that

  10. Access to and value of information to support good practice for staff in Kenyan hospitals.

    PubMed

    Muinga, Naomi; Sen, Barbara; Ayieko, Philip; Todd, Jim; English, Mike

    2015-01-01

    Studies have sought to define information needs of health workers within very specific settings or projects. Lacking in the literature is how hospitals in low-income settings are able to meet the information needs of their staff and the use of information communication technologies (ICT) in day-to-day information searching. The study aimed to explore where professionals in Kenyan hospitals turn to for work-related information in their day-to-day work. Additionally, it examined what existing solutions are provided by hospitals with regard to provision of best practice care. Lastly, the study explored the use of ICT in information searching. Data for this study were collected in July 2012. Self-administered questionnaires (SAQs) were distributed across 22 study hospitals with an aim to get a response from 34 health workers per hospital. SAQs were collected from 657 health workers. The most popular sources of information to guide work were fellow health workers and printed guidelines while the least popular were scientific journals. Of value to health workers were: national treatment policies, new research findings, regular reports from surveillance data, information on costs of services and information on their performance of routine clinical tasks; however, hospitals only partially met these needs. Barriers to accessing information sources included: 'not available/difficult to get' and 'difficult to understand'. ICT use for information seeking was reported and with demographic specific differences noted from the multivariate logistic regression model; nurses compared to medical doctors and older workers were less likely to use ICT for health information searching. Barriers to accessing Internet were identified as: high costs and the lack of the service at home or at work. Hospitals need to provide appropriate information by improving information dissemination efforts and providing an enabling environment that allows health workers find the information they need for

  11. The Healthy Web--Access to Online Health Information for Individuals with Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geiger, Brian; Evans, R. R.; Cellitti, M. A.; Smith, K. Hogan; O'Neal, Marcia R.; Firsing, S. L., III; Chandan, P.

    2011-01-01

    Background: The Internet can be an invaluable resource for obtaining health information by people with disabilities. Although valid and reliable information is available, previous research revealed barriers to accessing health information online. Health education specialists have the responsibilities to insure that it is accessible to all users.…

  12. Popularity of Russian information sources of medical education.

    PubMed

    Vasilyeva, Irina V; Arseniev, Sergey B

    2014-01-01

    The aim of the present study is to analyze the popularity of information sources of medical educational sites <webmedinfo.ru>, medical information portal <meduniver.com>, medical portal for students <6years.net>, electronic library of medical literature <booksmed.com>, <medliter.ru> and <medbook.net.ru>. Three sites (<www.webmedinfo.ru>, <meduniver.com> and <6years.net>) provide sources of medical literature, educational videos, medical histories, medical papers and medical popular literature. And three other sites (<www.booksmed.com>, <www.medliter.ru> and <www.medbook.net.ru>) provide sources for electronic medical books on various subjects. Using on-line programs Alexa and Cy-pr we have analyzed the website's rating and identified the main data and time-varying data of the sites. Calculated Alexa Rank rating was determined for each site. Our study has shown that the most popular information sources of medical education among the six studied sites for Russian users is <meduniver.com>; the site <booksmed.com> is at the second place referring to the Alexa Rank rating and the site <webmedinfo.ru> is at the second place referring to the citation index in Yandex. The most popular medical site of electronic medical books is <booksmed.com>.

  13. An Unequal Information Society: How Information Access Initiatives Contribute to the Construction of Inequality

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sanfilippo, Madelyn Rose

    2016-01-01

    Unequal access to information has significant social and political consequences, and is itself a consequence of sociotechnical systems born of social, cultural, economic, and institutional context. Information is unequally distributed both within and between communities. While many factors that shape information inequality shift subtly over time,…

  14. Purchasing online journal access for a hospital medical library: how to identify value in commercially available products.

    PubMed

    Carter, Thomas P; Carter, Anne O; Broomes, Gwendolyn

    2006-07-12

    Medical practice today requires evaluating large amounts of information which should be available at all times. This information is found most easily in a digital form. Some information has already been evaluated for validity (evidence based medicine sources) and some is in unevaluated form (paper and online journals). In order to improve access to digital information, the School of Clinical Medicine and Research at the University of the West Indies and Queen Elizabeth Hospital decided to enhance the library by offering online full text medical articles and evidence based medicine sources. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the relative value of online journal commercial products available for a small hospital and medical school library. Three reference standards were chosen to represent the ideal list of core periodicals for a broad range of medical care: 2 Brandon/Hill selected lists of journals for the small medical library (BH and BH core) and the academic medical library core journal collection chosen for the Florida State University College of Medicine Medical Library. Six commercially available collections were compared to the reference standards and to the current paper journal subscription list as regards to number of journals matched and cost per journal matched. Ease of use and presence of secondary sources were also considered. The cost per journal matched ranged from US $3194 to $81. Because of their low subscription prices, the Biomedical Reference Collection and Proquest products were the most cost beneficial. However, they provided low coverage of the ideal lists (12-17% and 21-32% respectively) and contained significant embargoes on current editions, were not user friendly and contained no secondary sources. The Ovid Brandon/Hill Plus Collection overcame these difficulties but had a much higher cost-benefit range while providing higher coverage of the ideal lists (14-47%). After considering costs, benefits, ease of use, embargoes, presence of

  15. The availability of community health center services and access to medical care.

    PubMed

    Kirby, James B; Sharma, Ravi

    2017-12-01

    Community Health Centers (CHCs) funded by Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act are an essential part of the health care safety net in the US. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expanded the program significantly, but the extent to which the availability of CHCs improve access to care in general is not clear. In this paper, we examine the associations between the availability of CHC services in communities and two key measures of ambulatory care access - having a usual source of care and having any office-based medical visits over a one year period. We pooled six years of data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2008-2013) and linked it to geographic data on CHCs from Health Resources and Services Administration's Health Center Program Uniform Data System. We also link other community characteristics from the Area Health Resource File and the Dartmouth Institute's data files. The associations between CHC availability and our access measures are estimated with logistic regression models stratified by insurance status. The availability of CHC services was positively associated with both measures of access among those with no insurance coverage. Additionally, it was positively associated with having a usual source of care among those with Medicaid and private insurance. These findings persist after controlling for key individual- and community-level characteristics. Our findings suggest that an enhanced CHC program could be an important resource for supporting the efficacy of expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act and, ultimately, improving access to quality primary care for underserved Americans. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  16. Why do patients engage in medical tourism?

    PubMed

    Runnels, Vivien; Carrera, P M

    2012-12-01

    Medical tourism is commonly perceived and popularly depicted as an economic issue, both at the system and individual levels. The decision to engage in medical tourism, however, is more complex, driven by patients' unmet need, the nature of services sought and the manner by which treatment is accessed. In order to beneficially employ the opportunities medical tourism offers, and address and contain possible threats and harms, an informed decision is crucial. This paper aims to enhance the current knowledge on medical tourism by isolating the focal content of the decisions that patients make. Based on the existing literature, it proposes a sequential decision-making process in opting for or against medical care abroad, and engaging in medical tourism, including considerations of the required treatments, location of treatment, and quality and safety issues attendant to seeking care. Accordingly, it comments on the imperative of access to health information and the current regulatory environment which impact on this increasingly popular and complex form of accessing and providing medical care. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Policy Issues in Computer Networks: Multi-Access Information Systems.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lyons, Patrice A.

    As computer databases become more publicly accessible through public networks, there is a growing need to provide effective protection for proprietary information. Without adequate assurances that their works will be protected, authors and other copyright owners may be reluctant to allow the full text of their works to be accessed through computer…

  18. Effects and Satisfaction of Medical Device Safety Information Reporting System Using Electronic Medical Record.

    PubMed

    Jang, Hye Jung; Choi, Young Deuk; Kim, Nam Hyun

    2017-04-01

    This paper describes an evaluation study on the effectiveness of developing an in-hospital medical device safety information reporting system for managing safety information, including adverse incident data related to medical devices, following the enactment of the Medical Device Act in Korea. Medical device safety information reports were analyzed for 190 cases that took place prior to the application of a medical device safety information reporting system and during a period when the reporting system was used. Also, questionnaires were used to measure the effectiveness of the medical device safety information reporting system. The analysis was based on the questionnaire responses of 15 reporters who submitted reports in both the pre- and post-reporting system periods. Sixty-two reports were submitted in paper form, but after the system was set up, this number more than doubled to 128 reports in electronic form. In terms of itemized reporting, a total of 45 items were reported. Before the system was used, 23 items had been reported, but this increased to 32 items after the system was put to use. All survey variables of satisfaction received a mean of over 3 points, while positive attitude , potential benefits , and positive benefits all exceeded 4 points, each receiving 4.20, 4.20, and 4.13, respectively. Among the variables, time-consuming and decision-making had the lowest mean values, each receiving 3.53. Satisfaction was found to be high for system quality and user satisfaction , but relatively low for time-consuming and decision-making . We were able to verify that effective reporting and monitoring of adverse incidents and the safety of medical devices can be implemented through the establishment of an in-hospital medical device safety information reporting system that can enhance patient safety and medical device risk management.

  19. 38 CFR 17.241 - Sharing medical information services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Sharing medical... AFFAIRS MEDICAL Sharing of Medical Facilities, Equipment, and Information § 17.241 Sharing medical... Under Secretary for Health shall prescribe, Directors of Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers...

  20. Medication deserts: survey of neighborhood disparities in availability of prescription medications

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Only a small amount of research has focused on the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and geographic access to prescription medications at community pharmacies in North America and Europe. To examine the relationship between a community’s socio-economic context and its residents’ geographic access to common medications in pharmacies, we hypothesized that differences are present in access to pharmacies across communities with different socio-economic environments, and in availability of commonly prescribed medications within pharmacies located in communities with different socio-economic status. Methods We visited 408 pharmacies located in 168 socio-economically diverse communities to assess the availability of commonly prescribed medications. We collected the following information at each pharmacy visited: hours of operation, pharmacy type, in-store medication availability, and the cash price of the 13 most commonly prescribed medications. We calculated descriptive statistics for the sample and fitted a series of hierarchical linear models to test our hypothesis that the in-stock availability of medications differs by the socio-economic conditions of the community. This was accomplished by modeling medication availability in pharmacies on the socio-economic factors operating at the community level in a socio-economically devise urban area. Results Pharmacies in poor communities had significantly higher odds of medications being out of stock, OR=1.24, 95% CI [1.02, 1.52]. There was also a significant difference in density of smaller, independent pharmacies with very limited stock and hours of operation, and larger, chain pharmacies in poor communities as compared to the middle and low-poverty communities. Conclusions The findings suggest that geographic access to a neighborhood pharmacy, the type of pharmacy, and availability of commonly prescribed medications varies significantly across communities. In extreme cases, entire communities