Incorporating INTERACT II Clinical Decision Support Tools into Nursing Home Health Information Technology

PubMed Central

Handler, Steven M.; Sharkey, Siobhan S.; Hudak, Sandra; Ouslander, Joseph G.

2012-01-01

A substantial reduction in hospitalization rates has been associated with the implementation of the Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers (INTERACT) quality improvement intervention using the accompanying paper-based clinical practice tools (INTERACT II). There is significant potential to further increase the impact of INTERACT by integrating INTERACT II tools into nursing home (NH) health information technology (HIT) via standalone or integrated clinical decision support (CDS) systems. This article highlights the process of translating INTERACT II tools from paper to NH HIT. The authors believe that widespread dissemination and integration of INTERACT II CDS tools into various NH HIT products could lead to sustainable improvement in resident and clinician process and outcome measures, including enhanced interclinician communication and a reduction in potentially avoidable hospitalizations. PMID:22267955

Augmented Reality Tool for the Situational Awareness Improvement of UAV Operators

PubMed Central

Ruano, Susana; Cuevas, Carlos; Gallego, Guillermo; García, Narciso

2017-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being extensively used nowadays. Therefore, pilots of traditional aerial platforms should adapt their skills to operate them from a Ground Control Station (GCS). Common GCSs provide information in separate screens: one presents the video stream while the other displays information about the mission plan and information coming from other sensors. To avoid the burden of fusing information displayed in the two screens, an Augmented Reality (AR) tool is proposed in this paper. The AR system has two functionalities for Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) UAVs: route orientation and target identification. Route orientation allows the operator to identify the upcoming waypoints and the path that the UAV is going to follow. Target identification allows a fast target localization, even in the presence of occlusions. The AR tool is implemented following the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standards so that it can be used in different GCSs. The experiments show how the AR tool improves significantly the situational awareness of the UAV operators. PMID:28178189

Augmented Reality Tool for the Situational Awareness Improvement of UAV Operators.

PubMed

Ruano, Susana; Cuevas, Carlos; Gallego, Guillermo; García, Narciso

2017-02-06

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being extensively used nowadays. Therefore, pilots of traditional aerial platforms should adapt their skills to operate them from a Ground Control Station (GCS). Common GCSs provide information in separate screens: one presents the video stream while the other displays information about the mission plan and information coming from other sensors. To avoid the burden of fusing information displayed in the two screens, an Augmented Reality (AR) tool is proposed in this paper. The AR system has two functionalities for Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) UAVs: route orientation and target identification. Route orientation allows the operator to identify the upcoming waypoints and the path that the UAV is going to follow. Target identification allows a fast target localization, even in the presence of occlusions. The AR tool is implemented following the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standards so that it can be used in different GCSs. The experiments show how the AR tool improves significantly the situational awareness of the UAV operators.

Evaluation and refinement of a handheld health information technology tool to support the timely update of bedside visual cues to prevent falls in hospitals.

PubMed

Teh, Ruth C-A; Visvanathan, Renuka; Ranasinghe, Damith; Wilson, Anne

2018-06-01

To evaluate clinicians' perspectives, before and after clinical implementation (i.e. trial) of a handheld health information technology (HIT) tool, incorporating an iPad device and automatically generated visual cues for bedside display, for falls risk assessment and prevention in hospital. This pilot study utilized mixed-methods research with focus group discussions and Likert-scale surveys to elicit clinicians' attitudes. The study was conducted across three phases within two medical wards of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Phase 1 (pretrial) involved focus group discussion (five staff) and surveys (48 staff) to elicit preliminary perspectives on tool use, benefits and barriers to use and recommendations for improvement. Phase 2 (tool trial) involved HIT tool implementation on two hospital wards over consecutive 12-week periods. Phase 3 (post-trial) involved focus group discussion (five staff) and surveys (29 staff) following tool implementation, with similar themes as in Phase 1. Qualitative data were evaluated using content analysis, and quantitative data using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis, with subgroup analyses on user status (P ≤ 0.05). Four findings emerged on clinicians' experience, positive perceptions, negative perceptions and recommendations for improvement of the tool. Pretrial, clinicians were familiar with using visual cues in hospital falls prevention. They identified potential benefits of the HIT tool in obtaining timely, useful falls risk assessment to improve patient care. During the trial, the wards differed in methods of tool implementation, resulting in lower uptake by clinicians on the subacute ward. Post-trial, clinicians remained supportive for incorporating the tool into clinical practice; however, there were issues with usability and lack of time for tool use. Staff who had not used the tool had less appreciation for it improving their understanding of patients' falls risk factors (odds ratio 0.12), or effectively preventing hospital falls (odds ratio 0.12). Clinicians' recommendations resulted in subsequent technological refinement of the tool, and provision of an additional iPad device for more efficient use. This study adds to the limited pool of knowledge about clinicians' attitudes toward health technology use in falls avoidance. Clinicians were willing to use the HIT tool, and their concerns about its usability were addressed in ongoing tool improvement. Including end-users in the development and refinement processes, as well as having high staff uptake of new technologies, is important in improving their acceptance and usage, and in maximizing beneficial feedback to further inform tool development.

Information Technology: A Tool to Cut Health Care Costs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mukkamala, Ravi; Maly, K. J.; Overstreet, C. M.; Foudriat, E. C.

1996-01-01

Old Dominion University embarked on a project to see how current computer technology could be applied to reduce the cost and or to improve the efficiency of health care services. We designed and built a prototype for an integrated medical record system (MRS). The MRS is written in Tool control language/Tool kit (Tcl/Tk). While the initial version of the prototype had patient information hard coded into the system, later versions used an INGRES database for storing patient information. Currently, we have proposed an object-oriented model for implementing MRS. These projects involve developing information systems for physicians and medical researchers to enhance their ability for improved treatment at reduced costs. The move to computerized patient records is well underway, several standards exist for laboratory records, and several groups are working on standards for other portions of the patient record.

Development of the major trauma case review tool.

PubMed

Curtis, Kate; Mitchell, Rebecca; McCarthy, Amy; Wilson, Kellie; Van, Connie; Kennedy, Belinda; Tall, Gary; Holland, Andrew; Foster, Kim; Dickinson, Stuart; Stelfox, Henry T

2017-02-28

As many as half of all patients with major traumatic injuries do not receive the recommended care, with variance in preventable mortality reported across the globe. This variance highlights the need for a comprehensive process for monitoring and reviewing patient care, central to which is a consistent peer-review process that includes trauma system safety and human factors. There is no published, evidence-informed standardised tool that considers these factors for use in adult or paediatric trauma case peer-review. The aim of this research was to develop and validate a trauma case review tool to facilitate clinical review of paediatric trauma patient care in extracting information to facilitate monitoring, inform change and enable loop closure. Development of the trauma case review tool was multi-faceted, beginning with a review of the trauma audit tool literature. Data were extracted from the literature to inform iterative tool development using a consensus approach. Inter-rater agreement was assessed for both the pilot and finalised versions of the tool. The final trauma case review tool contained ten sections, including patient factors (such as pre-existing conditions), presenting problem, a timeline of events, factors contributing to the care delivery problem (including equipment, work environment, staff action, organizational factors), positive aspects of care and the outcome of panel discussion. After refinement, the inter-rater reliability of the human factors and outcome components of the tool improved with an average 86% agreement between raters. This research developed an evidence-informed tool for use in paediatric trauma case review that considers both system safety and human factors to facilitate clinical review of trauma patient care. This tool can be used to identify opportunities for improvement in trauma care and guide quality assurance activities. Validation is required in the adult population.

Improving Sickle Cell Transitions of Care Through Health Information Technology.

PubMed

Frost, Jennifer R; Cherry, Rebecca K; Oyeku, Suzette O; Faro, Elissa Z; Crosby, Lori E; Britto, Maria; Tuchman, Lisa K; Horn, Ivor B; Homer, Charles J; Jain, Anjali

2016-07-01

Transitions between inpatient and outpatient care and pediatric to adult care are associated with increased mortality for sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. As accurate and timely sharing of health information is essential during transitions, a health information technology (HIT)-enabled tool holds promise to improve care transitions. From 2012 through 2014, the team conducted and analyzed data from an environmental scan, key informant interviews, and focus groups to inform the development of an HIT-enabled tool for SCD patients' use during care transitions. The scan included searches of peer-reviewed and gray literature to understand SCD patient needs, transition concerns, and best practices in mobile health applications, and searches of websites and online stores to identify existing transition tools and their features. Eleven focus groups consisted of four groups of SCD patients of varying ages (≥9 years); three groups of parents/caregivers of SCD patients; three groups of providers; and one with IT developers. In focus groups, patients and caregivers reported that the transition from home to the emergency department (ED) was the most challenging; the ED was also where transitions from pediatric to adult care usually occurred. Patients felt they were not taken seriously by unfamiliar ED providers, and their inability to convey their diagnosis, pain regimen, and detailed medical history while in significant pain hindered care. The environmental scan did not reveal an existing suitable transition tool, but patients, parents, providers, and IT experts saw the potential and appeal of creating a tool to meet ED health information needs to improve care transitions. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. All rights reserved.

Critical care providers refer to information tools less during communication tasks after a critical care clinical information system introduction.

PubMed

Ballermann, Mark; Shaw, Nicola T; Mayes, Damon C; Gibney, R T Noel

2011-01-01

Electronic documentation methods may assist critical care providers with information management tasks in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). We conducted a quasi-experimental observational study to investigate patterns of information tool use by ICU physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists during verbal communication tasks. Critical care providers used tools less at 3 months after the CCIS introduction. At 12 months, care providers referred to paper and permanent records, especially during shift changes. The results suggest potential areas of improvement for clinical information systems in assisting critical care providers in ensuring informational continuity around their patients.

Introduction of the identification, situation, background, assessment, recommendations tool to improve the quality of information transfer during medical handover in intensive care.

PubMed

Ramasubbu, Benjamin; Stewart, Emma; Spiritoso, Rosalba

2017-02-01

To audit the quality and safety of the current doctor-to-doctor handover of patient information in our Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit. If deficient, to implement a validated handover tool to improve the quality of the handover process. In Cycle 1 we observed the verbal handover and reviewed the written handover information transferred for 50 consecutive patients in St George's Hospital Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit. For each patient's handover, we assessed whether each section of the Identification, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendations tool was used on a scale of 0-2. Zero if no information in that category was transferred, one if the information was partially transferred and two if all relevant information was transferred. Each patient's handover received a score from 0 to 10 and thus, each cycle a total score of 0-500. Following the implementation of the Identification, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendations handover tool in our Intensive Care Unit in Cycle 2, we re-observed the handover process for another 50 consecutive patients hence, completing the audit cycle. There was a significant difference between the total scores from Cycle 1 and 2 (263/500 versus 457/500, p < 0.001). The median handover score for Cycle 1 was 5/10 (interquartile range 4-6). The median handover score for Cycle 2 was 9/10 (interquartile range 9-10). Patient handover scores increased significantly between Cycle 1 and 2, U = 13.5, p < 0.001. The introduction of a standardised handover template (Identification, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendations tool) has improved the quality and safety of the doctor-to-doctor handover of patient information in our Intensive Care Unit.

Improving Escalation of Care: Development and Validation of the Quality of Information Transfer Tool.

PubMed

Johnston, Maximilian J; Arora, Sonal; Pucher, Philip H; Reissis, Yannis; Hull, Louise; Huddy, Jeremy R; King, Dominic; Darzi, Ara

2016-03-01

To develop and provide validity and feasibility evidence for the QUality of Information Transfer (QUIT) tool. Prompt escalation of care in the setting of patient deterioration can prevent further harm. Escalation and information transfer skills are not currently measured in surgery. This study comprised 3 phases: the development (phase 1), validation (phase 2), and feasibility analysis (phase 3) of the QUIT tool. Phase 1 involved identification of core skills needed for successful escalation of care through literature review and 33 semistructured interviews with stakeholders. Phase 2 involved the generation of validity evidence for the tool using a simulated setting. Thirty surgeons assessed a deteriorating postoperative patient in a simulated ward and escalated their care to a senior colleague. The face and content validity were assessed using a survey. Construct and concurrent validity of the tool were determined by comparing performance scores using the QUIT tool with those measured using the Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) tool. Phase 3 was conducted using direct observation of escalation scenarios on surgical wards in 2 hospitals. A 7-category assessment tool was developed from phase 1 consisting of 24 items. Twenty-one of 24 items had excellent content validity (content validity index >0.8). All 7 categories and 18 of 24 (P < 0.05) items demonstrated construct validity. The correlation between the QUIT and SBAR tools used was strong indicating concurrent validity (r = 0.694, P < 0.001). Real-time scoring of escalation referrals was feasible and indicated that doctors currently have better information transfer skills than nurses when faced with a deteriorating patient. A validated tool to assess information transfer for deteriorating surgical patients was developed and tested using simulation and real-time clinical scenarios. It may improve the quality and safety of patient care on the surgical ward.

Design and application of a tool for structuring, capitalizing and making more accessible information and lessons learned from accidents involving machinery.

PubMed

Sadeghi, Samira; Sadeghi, Leyla; Tricot, Nicolas; Mathieu, Luc

2017-12-01

Accident reports are published in order to communicate the information and lessons learned from accidents. An efficient accident recording and analysis system is a necessary step towards improvement of safety. However, currently there is a shortage of efficient tools to support such recording and analysis. In this study we introduce a flexible and customizable tool that allows structuring and analysis of this information. This tool has been implemented under TEEXMA®. We named our prototype TEEXMA®SAFETY. This tool provides an information management system to facilitate data collection, organization, query, analysis and reporting of accidents. A predefined information retrieval module provides ready access to data which allows the user to quickly identify the possible hazards for specific machines and provides information on the source of hazards. The main target audience for this tool includes safety personnel, accident reporters and designers. The proposed data model has been developed by analyzing different accident reports.

BilKristal 2.0: A tool for pattern information extraction from crystal structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okuyan, Erhan; Güdükbay, Uğur

2014-01-01

We present a revised version of the BilKristal tool of Okuyan et al. (2007). We converted the development environment into Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 in order to resolve compatibility issues. We added multi-core CPU support and improvements are made to graphics functions in order to improve performance. Discovered bugs are fixed and exporting functionality to a material visualization tool is added.

Development and Validation of a Standardized Tool for Prioritization of Information Sources.

PubMed

Akwar, Holy; Kloeze, Harold; Mukhi, Shamir

2016-01-01

To validate the utility and effectiveness of a standardized tool for prioritization of information sources for early detection of diseases. The tool was developed with input from diverse public health experts garnered through survey. Ten raters used the tool to evaluate ten information sources and reliability among raters was computed. The Proc mixed procedure with random effect statement and SAS Macros were used to compute multiple raters' Fleiss Kappa agreement and Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance. Ten disparate information sources evaluated obtained the following composite scores: ProMed 91%; WAHID 90%; Eurosurv 87%; MediSys 85%; SciDaily 84%; EurekAl 83%; CSHB 78%; GermTrax 75%; Google 74%; and CBC 70%. A Fleiss Kappa agreement of 50.7% was obtained for ten information sources and 72.5% for a sub-set of five sources rated, which is substantial agreement validating the utility and effectiveness of the tool. This study validated the utility and effectiveness of a standardized criteria tool developed to prioritize information sources. The new tool was used to identify five information sources suited for use by the KIWI system in the CEZD-IIR project to improve surveillance of infectious diseases. The tool can be generalized to situations when prioritization of numerous information sources is necessary.

Collaboration between infection control and occupational health in three continents: a success story with international impact.

PubMed

Yassi, Annalee; Bryce, Elizabeth A; Breilh, Jaime; Lavoie, Marie-Claude; Ndelu, Lindiwe; Lockhart, Karen; Spiegel, Jerry

2011-11-08

Globalization has been accompanied by the rapid spread of infectious diseases, and further strain on working conditions for health workers globally. Post-SARS, Canadian occupational health and infection control researchers got together to study how to better protect health workers, and found that training was indeed perceived as key to a positive safety culture. This led to developing information and communication technology (ICT) tools. The research conducted also showed the need for better workplace inspections, so a workplace audit tool was also developed to supplement worker questionnaires and the ICT. When invited to join Ecuadorean colleagues to promote occupational health and infection control, these tools were collectively adapted and improved, including face-to-face as well as on-line problem-based learning scenarios. The South African government then invited the team to work with local colleagues to improve occupational health and infection control, resulting in an improved web-based health information system to track incidents, exposures, and occupational injury and diseases. As the H1N1 pandemic struck, the online infection control course was adapted and translated into Spanish, as was a novel skill-building learning tool that permits health workers to practice selecting personal protective equipment. This tool was originally developed in collaboration with the countries from the Caribbean region and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Research from these experiences led to strengthened focus on building capacity of health and safety committees, and new modules are thus being created, informed by that work.The products developed have been widely heralded as innovative and interactive, leading to their inclusion into "toolkits" used internationally. The tools used in Canada were substantially improved from the collaborative adaptation process for South and Central America and South Africa. This international collaboration between occupational health and infection control researchers led to the improvement of the research framework and development of tools, guidelines and information systems. Furthermore, the research and knowledge-transfer experience highlighted the value of partnership amongst Northern and Southern researchers in terms of sharing resources, experiences and knowledge.

Collaboration between infection control and occupational health in three continents: a success story with international impact

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Globalization has been accompanied by the rapid spread of infectious diseases, and further strain on working conditions for health workers globally. Post-SARS, Canadian occupational health and infection control researchers got together to study how to better protect health workers, and found that training was indeed perceived as key to a positive safety culture. This led to developing information and communication technology (ICT) tools. The research conducted also showed the need for better workplace inspections, so a workplace audit tool was also developed to supplement worker questionnaires and the ICT. When invited to join Ecuadorean colleagues to promote occupational health and infection control, these tools were collectively adapted and improved, including face-to-face as well as on-line problem-based learning scenarios. The South African government then invited the team to work with local colleagues to improve occupational health and infection control, resulting in an improved web-based health information system to track incidents, exposures, and occupational injury and diseases. As the H1N1 pandemic struck, the online infection control course was adapted and translated into Spanish, as was a novel skill-building learning tool that permits health workers to practice selecting personal protective equipment. This tool was originally developed in collaboration with the countries from the Caribbean region and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Research from these experiences led to strengthened focus on building capacity of health and safety committees, and new modules are thus being created, informed by that work. The products developed have been widely heralded as innovative and interactive, leading to their inclusion into “toolkits” used internationally. The tools used in Canada were substantially improved from the collaborative adaptation process for South and Central America and South Africa. This international collaboration between occupational health and infection control researchers led to the improvement of the research framework and development of tools, guidelines and information systems. Furthermore, the research and knowledge-transfer experience highlighted the value of partnership amongst Northern and Southern researchers in terms of sharing resources, experiences and knowledge. PMID:22166059

Human eye haptics-based multimedia.

PubMed

Velandia, David; Uribe-Quevedo, Alvaro; Perez-Gutierrez, Byron

2014-01-01

Immersive and interactive multimedia applications offer complementary study tools in anatomy as users can explore 3D models while obtaining information about the organ, tissue or part being explored. Haptics increases the sense of interaction with virtual objects improving user experience in a more realistic manner. Common eye studying tools are books, illustrations, assembly models, and more recently these are being complemented with mobile apps whose 3D capabilities, computing power and customers are increasing. The goal of this project is to develop a complementary eye anatomy and pathology study tool using deformable models within a multimedia application, offering the students the opportunity for exploring the eye from up close and within with relevant information. Validation of the tool provided feedback on the potential of the development, along with suggestions on improving haptic feedback and navigation.

E-KIT: An Electronic-Knowledge Information Tool for Organizing Site Information and Improving Technical Communication with Stakeholders - 13082

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

Kautsky, Mark; Findlay, Richard C.; Hodges, Rex A.

2013-07-01

Managing technical references for projects that have long histories is hampered by the large collection of documents, each of which might contain discrete pieces of information relevant to the site conceptual model. A database application has been designed to improve the efficiency of retrieving technical information for a project. Although many databases are currently used for accessing analytical and geo-referenced data, applications designed specifically to manage technical reference material for projects are scarce. Retrieving site data from the array of available references becomes an increasingly inefficient use of labor. The electronic-Knowledge Information Tool (e-KIT) is designed as a project-level resourcemore » to access and communicate technical information. The e-KIT is a living tool that grows as new information becomes available, and its value to the project increases as the volume of site information increases. Having all references assembled in one location with complete reference citations and links to elements of the site conceptual model offers a way to enhance communication with outside groups. The published and unpublished references are incorporated into the e-KIT, while the compendium of references serves as a complete bibliography for the project. (authors)« less

Complex adaptive systems: a tool for interpreting responses and behaviours.

PubMed

Ellis, Beverley

2011-01-01

Quality improvement is a priority for health services worldwide. There are many barriers to implementing change at the locality level and misinterpreting responses and behaviours can effectively block change. Electronic health records will influence the means by which knowledge and information are generated and sustained among those operating quality improvement programmes. To explain how complex adaptive system (CAS) theory provides a useful tool and new insight into the responses and behaviours that relate to quality improvement programmes in primary care enabled by informatics. Case studies in two English localities who participated in the implementation and development of quality improvement programmes. The research strategy included purposefully sampled case studies, conducted within a social constructionist ontological perspective. Responses and behaviours of quality improvement programmes in the two localities include both positive and negative influences associated with a networked model of governance. Pressures of time, resources and workload are common issues, along with the need for education and training about capturing, coding, recording and sharing information held within electronic health records to support various information requirements. Primary care informatics enables information symmetry among those operating quality improvement programmes by making some aspects of care explicit, allowing consensus about quality improvement priorities and implementable solutions.

Improving Readability of an Evaluation Tool for Low-Income Clients Using Visual Information Processing Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Townsend, Marilyn S.; Sylva, Kathryn; Martin, Anna; Metz, Diane; Wooten-Swanson, Patti

2008-01-01

Literacy is an issue for many low-income audiences. Using visual information processing theories, the goal was improving readability of a food behavior checklist and ultimately improving its ability to accurately capture existing changes in dietary behaviors. Using group interviews, low-income clients (n = 18) evaluated 4 visual styles. The text…

A strategy to improve priority setting in developing countries.

PubMed

Kapiriri, Lydia; Martin, Douglas K

2007-09-01

Because the demand for health services outstrips the available resources, priority setting is one of the most difficult issues faced by health policy makers, particularly those in developing countries. Priority setting in developing countries is fraught with uncertainty due to lack of credible information, weak priority setting institutions, and unclear priority setting processes. Efforts to improve priority setting in these contexts have focused on providing information and tools. In this paper we argue that priority setting is a value laden and political process, and although important, the available information and tools are not sufficient to address the priority setting challenges in developing countries. Additional complementary efforts are required. Hence, a strategy to improve priority setting in developing countries should also include: (i) capturing current priority setting practices, (ii) improving the legitimacy and capacity of institutions that set priorities, and (iii) developing fair priority setting processes.

Survey of Consumer Informatics for Palliation and Hospice Care

PubMed Central

Corn, Milton; Gustafson, David H.; Harris, Linda M.; Kutner, Jean S.; McFarren, Ann E.; Shad, Aziza T.

2012-01-01

Context Palliation in patient care is under-utilized in part because many patients have insufficient knowledge about this management option. Information technology can improve awareness by providing access to numerous sources of trustworthy information. Evidence Acquisition To estimate what a patient interested in palliation might find online, online resources were searched in July 2010, using terms relevant to palliation. PubMed was searched for publications relevant to discussed topics. Evidence Synthesis Search engines returned vast numbers of hits, and identifying trustworthy sites was difficult. Products judged as trustworthy were classified as information, decision tool, or extended interaction tool. Sites with useful educational material were relatively plentiful; decision guides and interactive tools were much rarer. Available consumer informatics did not address well some terminal illnesses, and some subpopulations such as children, nor was there sufficient attention to literacy levels or principles of instructional design. Online or published information about usage numbers, effectiveness, and cost/benefit considerations was scant. Many sectors, including commercial, government, healthcare, research, and wellness/advocacy groups, have created consumer informatics for palliation. Conclusions Online information about palliation is available, although identifying trustworthy sources can be problematic. General information sites are relatively plentiful, but more tools for decision making, and interaction would increase value of web resources. More attention to literacy levels, instructional principles, and needs of special populations would improve products. Research to measure usage of such tools, ability to influence behavior, and cost/benefit issues is needed. PMID:21521592

Tailored and Integrated Web-Based Tools for Improving Psychosocial Outcomes of Cancer Patients: The DoTTI Development Framework

PubMed Central

Bryant, Jamie; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; Tzelepis, Flora; Henskens, Frans; Paul, Christine; Stevenson, William

2014-01-01

Background Effective communication with cancer patients and their families about their disease, treatment options, and possible outcomes may improve psychosocial outcomes. However, traditional approaches to providing information to patients, including verbal information and written booklets, have a number of shortcomings centered on their limited ability to meet patient preferences and literacy levels. New-generation Web-based technologies offer an innovative and pragmatic solution for overcoming these limitations by providing a platform for interactive information seeking, information sharing, and user-centered tailoring. Objective The primary goal of this paper is to discuss the advantages of comprehensive and iterative Web-based technologies for health information provision and propose a four-phase framework for the development of Web-based information tools. Methods The proposed framework draws on our experience of constructing a Web-based information tool for hematological cancer patients and their families. The framework is based on principles for the development and evaluation of complex interventions and draws on the Agile methodology of software programming that emphasizes collaboration and iteration throughout the development process. Results The DoTTI framework provides a model for a comprehensive and iterative approach to the development of Web-based informational tools for patients. The process involves 4 phases of development: (1) Design and development, (2) Testing early iterations, (3) Testing for effectiveness, and (4) Integration and implementation. At each step, stakeholders (including researchers, clinicians, consumers, and programmers) are engaged in consultations to review progress, provide feedback on versions of the Web-based tool, and based on feedback, determine the appropriate next steps in development. Conclusions This 4-phase framework is evidence-informed and consumer-centered and could be applied widely to develop Web-based programs for a diverse range of diseases. PMID:24641991

Tailored and integrated Web-based tools for improving psychosocial outcomes of cancer patients: the DoTTI development framework.

PubMed

Smits, Rochelle; Bryant, Jamie; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; Tzelepis, Flora; Henskens, Frans; Paul, Christine; Stevenson, William

2014-03-14

Effective communication with cancer patients and their families about their disease, treatment options, and possible outcomes may improve psychosocial outcomes. However, traditional approaches to providing information to patients, including verbal information and written booklets, have a number of shortcomings centered on their limited ability to meet patient preferences and literacy levels. New-generation Web-based technologies offer an innovative and pragmatic solution for overcoming these limitations by providing a platform for interactive information seeking, information sharing, and user-centered tailoring. The primary goal of this paper is to discuss the advantages of comprehensive and iterative Web-based technologies for health information provision and propose a four-phase framework for the development of Web-based information tools. The proposed framework draws on our experience of constructing a Web-based information tool for hematological cancer patients and their families. The framework is based on principles for the development and evaluation of complex interventions and draws on the Agile methodology of software programming that emphasizes collaboration and iteration throughout the development process. The DoTTI framework provides a model for a comprehensive and iterative approach to the development of Web-based informational tools for patients. The process involves 4 phases of development: (1) Design and development, (2) Testing early iterations, (3) Testing for effectiveness, and (4) Integration and implementation. At each step, stakeholders (including researchers, clinicians, consumers, and programmers) are engaged in consultations to review progress, provide feedback on versions of the Web-based tool, and based on feedback, determine the appropriate next steps in development. This 4-phase framework is evidence-informed and consumer-centered and could be applied widely to develop Web-based programs for a diverse range of diseases.

Technology as Mediation Tool for Improving Teaching Profession in Higher Education Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altinay-Gazi, Zehra; Altinay-Aksal, Fahriye

2017-01-01

Technology became a mediation tool for forming information and developing skills is teacher education programs of higher education institutions because technological tools can be used for self-reflection of prospective teachers' teaching performances. Practical implementation of teacher education programmes is a part of quality indicator in higher…

Collaborative Data Mining Tool for Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Enrique; Romero, Cristobal; Ventura, Sebastian; Gea, Miguel; de Castro, Carlos

2009-01-01

This paper describes a collaborative educational data mining tool based on association rule mining for the continuous improvement of e-learning courses allowing teachers with similar course's profile sharing and scoring the discovered information. This mining tool is oriented to be used by instructors non experts in data mining such that, its…

Improving team information sharing with a structured call-out in anaesthetic emergencies: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Weller, J M; Torrie, J; Boyd, M; Frengley, R; Garden, A; Ng, W L; Frampton, C

2014-06-01

Sharing information with the team is critical in developing a shared mental model in an emergency, and fundamental to effective teamwork. We developed a structured call-out tool, encapsulated in the acronym 'SNAPPI': Stop; Notify; Assessment; Plan; Priorities; Invite ideas. We explored whether a video-based intervention could improve structured call-outs during simulated crises and if this would improve information sharing and medical management. In a simulation-based randomized, blinded study, we evaluated the effect of the video-intervention teaching SNAPPI on scores for SNAPPI, information sharing, and medical management using baseline and follow-up crisis simulations. We assessed information sharing using a probe technique where nurses and technicians received unique, clinically relevant information probes before the simulation. Shared knowledge of probes was measured in a written, post-simulation test. We also scored sharing of diagnostic options with the team and medical management. Anaesthetists' scores for SNAPPI were significantly improved, as was the number of diagnostic options they shared. We found a non-significant trend to improve information-probe sharing and medical management in the intervention group, and across all simulations, a significant correlation between SNAPPI and information-probe sharing. Of note, only 27% of the clinically relevant information about the patient provided to the nurse and technician in the pre-simulation information probes was subsequently learnt by the anaesthetist. We developed a structured communication tool, SNAPPI, to improve information sharing between anaesthetists and their team, taught it using a video-based intervention, and provide initial evidence to support its value for improving communication in a crisis. © The Author [2014]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Incorporation of Cross-Disciplinary Teaching and a Wiki Research Project to Engage Undergraduate Students' to Develop Information Literacy, Critical Thinking, and Communication Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crist, Courtney A.; Duncan, Susan E.; Bianchi, Laurie M.

2017-01-01

A Wiki research project was created in the Functional Foods for Health (FST/HNFE 2544) as an instructional tool and assignment for improving undergraduate students' proficiency in evaluating appropriate information sources for rapidly evolving science and research. The project design targeted improving students' information literacy skills…

Literacy and Informational Interviews

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Decarie, Christina

2010-01-01

Informational interviews are valuable tools for improving writing, editing, and interviewing skills, and they are also extremely valuable in improving the soft skills that are valued by employers, such as confidence, adaptability, the ability to set and keep deadlines, the ability to manage risk, and so on. These soft skills, this article argues,…

An Overview of Tools for Creating, Validating and Using PDS Metadata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, T. A.; Hardman, S. H.; Padams, J.; Mafi, J. N.; Cecconi, B.

2017-12-01

NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS) has defined information models for creating metadata to describe bundles, collections and products for all the assets acquired by a planetary science projects. Version 3 of the PDS Information Model (commonly known as "PDS3") is widely used and is used to describe most of the existing planetary archive. Recently PDS has released version 4 of the Information Model (commonly known as "PDS4") which is designed to improve consistency, efficiency and discoverability of information. To aid in creating, validating and using PDS4 metadata the PDS and a few associated groups have developed a variety of tools. In addition, some commercial tools, both free and for a fee, can be used to create and work with PDS4 metadata. We present an overview of these tools, describe those tools currently under development and provide guidance as to which tools may be most useful for missions, instrument teams and the individual researcher.

Contextual constraints for the design of patient-centered health IT tools.

PubMed

Gonzales, Michael J; O'Connor, Maria Francesca; Riek, Laurel D

2013-01-01

Technologists are constantly working to improve clinical practice by developing new health information technology (Health IT) tools, yet may not always consider the context of how these tools may be used. Patient preferences can vary widely as a result of demographics, health conditions, physical limitations, and personal inclinations, with healthcare providers having to adapt clinical encounters to better suit patient needs. Health IT tools, too, need to be agile across different healthcare contexts, with each stakeholder's specific needs in mind. In this paper, we discuss the challenges and limitations associated with the design and automation of contextually sensitive devices in the healthcare environment. We target the various contexts in which health information is presented in patient-provider encounters, and discuss contextual constraints that may apply to the aforementioned situations. In addition, we present a number of suggestions for informational constraints and the design of informational tools in these settings so that patient and provider informational needs can be better met in clinical communication contexts.

DisVis: Visualizing Discussion Threads in Online Health Communities.

PubMed

Nakikj, Drashko; Mamykina, Lena

2016-01-01

An increasing number of individuals turn to online health communities (OHC) for information, advice and support about their health condition or disease. As a result of users' active participation, these forums store overwhelming volumes of information, which can make access to this information challenging and frustrating. To help overcome this problem we designed a discussion visualization tool DisVis. DisVis includes features for overviewing, browsing and finding particular information in a discussion. In a between subjects study, we tested the impact of DisVis on individuals' ability to provide an overview of a discussion, find topics of interest and summarize opinions. The study showed that after using the tool, the accuracy of participants' answers increased by 68% (p-value = 0.023) while at the same time exhibiting trends for reducing the time to answer by 38% with no statistical significance (p-value = 0.082). Qualitative interviews showed general enthusiasm regarding tools for improving browsing and searching for information within discussion forums, suggested different usage scenarios, highlighted opportunities for improving the design of DisVis, and outlined new directions for visualizing user-generated content within OHCs.

Measuring Practicing Clinicians' Information Literacy. An Exploratory Analysis in the Context of Panel Management.

PubMed

Dixon, Brian E; Barboza, Katherine; Jensen, Ashley E; Bennett, Katelyn J; Sherman, Scott E; Schwartz, Mark D

2017-02-15

As healthcare moves towards technology-driven population health management, clinicians must adopt complex digital platforms to access health information and document care. This study explored information literacy, a set of skills required to effectively navigate population health information systems, among primary care providers in one Veterans' Affairs (VA) medical center. Information literacy was assessed during an 8-month randomized trial that tested a population health (panel) management intervention. Providers were asked about their use and comfort with two VA digital tools for panel management at baseline, 16 weeks, and post-intervention. An 8-item scale (range 0-40) was used to measure information literacy (Cronbach's α=0.84). Scores between study arms and provider types were compared using paired t-tests and ANOVAs. Associations between self-reported digital tool use and information literacy were measured via Pearson's correlations. Providers showed moderate levels of information literacy (M= 27.4, SD 6.5). There were no significant differences in mean information literacy between physicians (M=26.4, SD 6.7) and nurses (M=30.5, SD 5.2, p=0.57 for difference), or between intervention (M=28.4, SD 6.5) and control groups (M=25.1, SD 6.2, p=0.12 for difference). Information literacy was correlated with higher rates of self-reported information system usage (r=0.547, p=0.001). Clinicians identified data access, accuracy, and interpretability as potential information literacy barriers. While exploratory in nature, cautioning generalizability, the study suggests that measuring and improving clinicians' information literacy may play a significant role in the implementation and use of digital information tools, as these tools are rapidly being deployed to enhance communication among care teams, improve health care outcomes, and reduce overall costs.

Measuring Practicing Clinicians’ Information Literacy

PubMed Central

Barboza, Katherine; Jensen, Ashley E.; Bennett, Katelyn J.; Sherman, Scott E.; Schwartz, Mark D.

2017-01-01

Summary Background As healthcare moves towards technology-driven population health management, clinicians must adopt complex digital platforms to access health information and document care. Objectives This study explored information literacy, a set of skills required to effectively navigate population health information systems, among primary care providers in one Veterans’ Affairs (VA) medical center. Methods Information literacy was assessed during an 8-month randomized trial that tested a population health (panel) management intervention. Providers were asked about their use and comfort with two VA digital tools for panel management at baseline, 16 weeks, and post-intervention. An 8-item scale (range 0-40) was used to measure information literacy (Cronbach’s a=0.84). Scores between study arms and provider types were compared using paired t-tests and ANOVAs. Associations between self-reported digital tool use and information literacy were measured via Pearson’s correlations. Results Providers showed moderate levels of information literacy (M= 27.4, SD 6.5). There were no significant differences in mean information literacy between physicians (M=26.4, SD 6.7) and nurses (M=30.5, SD 5.2, p=0.57 for difference), or between intervention (M=28.4, SD 6.5) and control groups (M=25.1, SD 6.2, p=0.12 for difference). Information literacy was correlated with higher rates of self-reported information system usage (r=0.547, p=0.001). Clinicians identified data access, accuracy, and interpretability as potential information literacy barriers. Conclusions While exploratory in nature, cautioning generalizability, the study suggests that measuring and improving clinicians’ information literacy may play a significant role in the implementation and use of digital information tools, as these tools are rapidly being deployed to enhance communication among care teams, improve health care outcomes, and reduce overall costs. PMID:28197620

School Improvement Grants: Guidance and Tools for the 2015 Amended Regulations--Maximizing the Optional Planning/Pre-Implementation Year

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Redding, Sam; Dunn, Lenay; McCauley, Carlas

2015-01-01

The purpose of this guide is to provide states, districts, and schools with information and support to prepare applications for 2015-2016 School Improvement Grants (SIGs). The guide includes tools, checklists, and questions for SEAs and LEAs aligned with the revised SIG requirements, primarily focused on how to leverage the "planning…

A service concept and tools to improve maternal and newborn health in Nigeria and Uganda.

PubMed

Salgado, Mariana; Wendland, Melanie; Rodriguez, Damaris; Bohren, Meghan A; Oladapo, Olufemi T; Ojelade, Olubunmi A; Mugerwa, Kidza; Fawole, Bukola

2017-12-01

The "Better Outcomes in Labor Difficulty" (BOLD) project used a service design process to design a set of tools to improve quality of care during childbirth by strengthening linkages between communities and health facilities in Nigeria and Uganda. This paper describes the Passport to Safer Birth concept and the tools developed as a result. Service design methods were used to identify facilitators and barriers to quality care, and to develop human-centered solutions. The service design process had three phases: Research for Design, Concept Design, and Detail Design, undertaken in eight hospitals and catchment communities. The service concept "Better Beginnings" comprises three tools. The "Pregnancy Purse" provides educational information to women throughout pregnancy. The "Birth Board" is a visual communication tool that presents the labor and childbirth process. The "Family Pass" is a set of wearable passes for the woman and her supporter to facilitate communication of care preferences. The Better Beginnings service concept and tools form the basis for the promotion of access to information and knowledge acquisition, and could improve communication between the healthcare provider, the woman, and her family during childbirth. © 2017 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. The World Health Organization retains copyright and all other rights in the manuscript of this article as submitted for publication.

An Integrated Approach of Fuzzy Linguistic Preference Based AHP and Fuzzy COPRAS for Machine Tool Evaluation.

PubMed

Nguyen, Huu-Tho; Md Dawal, Siti Zawiah; Nukman, Yusoff; Aoyama, Hideki; Case, Keith

2015-01-01

Globalization of business and competitiveness in manufacturing has forced companies to improve their manufacturing facilities to respond to market requirements. Machine tool evaluation involves an essential decision using imprecise and vague information, and plays a major role to improve the productivity and flexibility in manufacturing. The aim of this study is to present an integrated approach for decision-making in machine tool selection. This paper is focused on the integration of a consistent fuzzy AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and a fuzzy COmplex PRoportional ASsessment (COPRAS) for multi-attribute decision-making in selecting the most suitable machine tool. In this method, the fuzzy linguistic reference relation is integrated into AHP to handle the imprecise and vague information, and to simplify the data collection for the pair-wise comparison matrix of the AHP which determines the weights of attributes. The output of the fuzzy AHP is imported into the fuzzy COPRAS method for ranking alternatives through the closeness coefficient. Presentation of the proposed model application is provided by a numerical example based on the collection of data by questionnaire and from the literature. The results highlight the integration of the improved fuzzy AHP and the fuzzy COPRAS as a precise tool and provide effective multi-attribute decision-making for evaluating the machine tool in the uncertain environment.

Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit provides schools with information on how to carry out a practical plan to improve indoor air problems at little- or no-cost using straightforward activities and in-house staff.

Evaluation in industry of a draft code of practice for manual handling.

PubMed

Ashby, Liz; Tappin, David; Bentley, Tim

2004-05-01

This paper reports findings from a study which evaluated the draft New Zealand Code of Practice for Manual Handling. The evaluation assessed the ease of use, applicability and validity of the Code and in particular the associated manual handling hazard assessment tools, within New Zealand industry. The Code was studied in a sample of eight companies from four sectors of industry. Subjective feedback and objective findings indicated that the Code was useful, applicable and informative. The manual handling hazard assessment tools incorporated in the Code could be adequately applied by most users, with risk assessment outcomes largely consistent with the findings of researchers using more specific ergonomics methodologies. However, some changes were recommended to the risk assessment tools to improve usability and validity. The evaluation concluded that both the Code and the tools within it would benefit from simplification, improved typography and layout, and industry-specific information on manual handling hazards.

Use of Standardized Assessment Tools to Improve the Effectiveness of Palliative Care Rounds: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

PubMed

Spaner, Donna; Caraiscos, Valerie B; Muystra, Christina; Furman, Margaret Lynn; Zaltz-Dubin, Jodi; Wharton, Marilyn; Whitehead, Katherine

Optimal care for patients in the palliative care setting requires effective clinical teamwork. Communication may be challenging for health-care workers from different disciplines. Daily rounds are one way for clinical teams to share information and develop care plans for patients. The objective of this initiative was to improve the structure and process of daily palliative care rounds by incorporating the use of standardized tools and improved documentation into the meeting. We chose a quality improvement (QI) approach to address this initiative. Our aims were to increase the use of assessment tools when discussing patient care in rounds and to improve the documentation and accessibility of important information in the health record, including goals of care. This QI initiative used a preintervention and postintervention comparison of the outcome measures of interest. The initiative was tested in a palliative care unit (PCU) over a 22-month period from April 2014 to January 2016. Participants were clinical staff in the PCU. Data collected after the completion of several plan-do-study-act cycles showed increased use and incorporation of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System and Palliative Performance Scale into patient care discussions as well as improvement in inclusion of goals of care into the patient plan of care. Our findings demonstrate that the effectiveness of daily palliative care rounds can be improved by incorporating the use of standard assessment tools and changes into the meeting structure to better focus and direct patient care discussions.

PANTHER version 11: expanded annotation data from Gene Ontology and Reactome pathways, and data analysis tool enhancements.

PubMed

Mi, Huaiyu; Huang, Xiaosong; Muruganujan, Anushya; Tang, Haiming; Mills, Caitlin; Kang, Diane; Thomas, Paul D

2017-01-04

The PANTHER database (Protein ANalysis THrough Evolutionary Relationships, http://pantherdb.org) contains comprehensive information on the evolution and function of protein-coding genes from 104 completely sequenced genomes. PANTHER software tools allow users to classify new protein sequences, and to analyze gene lists obtained from large-scale genomics experiments. In the past year, major improvements include a large expansion of classification information available in PANTHER, as well as significant enhancements to the analysis tools. Protein subfamily functional classifications have more than doubled due to progress of the Gene Ontology Phylogenetic Annotation Project. For human genes (as well as a few other organisms), PANTHER now also supports enrichment analysis using pathway classifications from the Reactome resource. The gene list enrichment tools include a new 'hierarchical view' of results, enabling users to leverage the structure of the classifications/ontologies; the tools also allow users to upload genetic variant data directly, rather than requiring prior conversion to a gene list. The updated coding single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) scoring tool uses an improved algorithm. The hidden Markov model (HMM) search tools now use HMMER3, dramatically reducing search times and improving accuracy of E-value statistics. Finally, the PANTHER Tree-Attribute Viewer has been implemented in JavaScript, with new views for exploring protein sequence evolution. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Useful to Usable (U2U): Transforming Climate Variability and Change Information for Cereal Crop Producers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niyogi, D.; Andresen, J.

2011-12-01

Corn and soybean production contributes over $100 billion annually to the U.S. economy, most of which comes from the intensely cultivated corn-belt region of the Midwest. Successful crop production in this region is highly dependent on favorable temperatures and appropriate precipitation patters, making this industry vulnerable to changes in climate patterns. Though predictive models are constantly improving, there are gaps in our understanding of how different management practices can be used to help farmers adapt to changes in climate while maintaining economic viability. Furthermore, currently available tools and models are not meeting producers' needs, and little is known about the types of information they would like to access. Useful to Usable (U2U): Transforming Climate Variability and Change Information for Cereal Crop Producers is an integrated research and extension project that seeks to improve the resilience and profitability of farms in the North Central Region amid variable climate change through the development and dissemination of improved decision support tools, resource materials, and training. The goal is to work closely with producers to help them make better long-term plans on what, when and where to plant, and also how to manage crops for maximum yields and minimum environmental damage. The U2U team is composed of a uniquely qualified group of climatologists, crop modelers, agronomists, economists, and social scientists from 10 partner universities across the Midwest. Over the span of 5 years, collaborators will complete tasks associated with 5 objectives that will enhance the usability of climate information for the agricultural community and lead to more sustainable farming operations. First the team will produce research on the biophysical and economic impacts of different climate scenarios on corn and soybean yields in the North Central Region (objective 1) and conduct complementary research to understand how producers and advisors are likely to use this information (objective 2). Based on these findings, decision support tools (DSTs) and training materials will be developed to effectively deliver climate information to stakeholders (objective 3). Next, DSTs will be piloted in a four-state region (Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, and Michigan) to help improve tools and evaluate effectiveness (objective 4). After several iterations with stakeholders to ensure the usability and utility of the tools, the program will be extended to all twelve states in the region (objective 5). Decision support tools, along with training products, surveys, feedback mechanisms and collaborative social tools, will be supported using the NSF-funded and Purdue University developed HUBzero web-based technology.

A Collaborative Educational Association Rule Mining Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Enrique; Romero, Cristobal; Ventura, Sebastian; de Castro, Carlos

2011-01-01

This paper describes a collaborative educational data mining tool based on association rule mining for the ongoing improvement of e-learning courses and allowing teachers with similar course profiles to share and score the discovered information. The mining tool is oriented to be used by non-expert instructors in data mining so its internal…

A consumer guide: tools to manage vegetation and fuels.

Treesearch

David L. Peterson; Louisa Evers; Rebecca A. Gravenmier; Ellen Eberhardt

2007-01-01

Current efforts to improve the scientific basis for fire management on public lands will benefit from more efficient transfer of technical information and tools that support planning, implementation, and effectiveness of vegetation and hazardous fuel treatments. The technical scope, complexity, and relevant spatial scale of analytical and decision support tools differ...

Global application of disorders of sex development-related electronic resources: e-learning, e-consultation and e-information sharing.

PubMed

Muscarella, Miriam; Kranenburg-van Koppen, Laura; Grijpink-van den Biggelaar, Kalinka; Drop, Stenvert L S

2014-01-01

The past 20 years have seen proliferation of electronic (e) resources that promote improved understanding of disorders of sex development (DSD): e-learning for physicians and trainees, e-consultation between clinicians, and e-information for families and affected individuals. Recent e-learning advances have emerged from the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology's online learning portal for current physicians and trainees. Developed with attention to developing clinical competencies incorporating learning theory, and presenting material that represents international best practice, this e-learning portal offers advances in training, making information more accessible for clinicians and trainees. Multiple levels of instruction, authentic case examples, collaborative forums for physicians and trainees, individualized feedback and user-friendly tools represent advances in trainee and physician learning that can take place in any location. e-consultation is an emerging tool that aims to connect physicians with specialists experienced in DSD care. Although it faces logistical challenges, e-consultation carries the potential to improve DSD care, especially in remote areas with limited access to DSD specialists. e-information for families and patients of all ages is widely accessible online, often with focus on DSD biology, medical care, and psychological and social support. e-information tools aid self-management and support of those affected by DSD. Efforts to improve these resources should aim to map information to individual users, incorporate optimally clear nomenclature, and continue as a 'shared enterprise' of clinicians, affected individuals, families and researchers. Improving the quality of DSD-related e-learning and e-information and developing e-consultation carries the potential to transform DSD care and support for patients, families and physicians worldwide. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Providing the Missing Link: the Exposure Science Ontology ExO

EPA Science Inventory

Although knowledge-discovery tools are new to the exposure science community, these tools are critical for leveraging exposure information to design health studies and interpret results for improved public health decisions. Standardized ontologies define relationships, allow for ...

About Using Predictive Models and Tools To Assess Chemicals under TSCA

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

As part of EPA's effort to promote chemical safety, OPPT provides public access to predictive models and tools which can help inform the public on the hazards and risks of substances and improve chemical management decisions.

Haptic over visual information in the distribution of visual attention after tool-use in near and far space.

PubMed

Park, George D; Reed, Catherine L

2015-10-01

Despite attentional prioritization for grasping space near the hands, tool-use appears to transfer attentional bias to the tool's end/functional part. The contributions of haptic and visual inputs to attentional distribution along a tool were investigated as a function of tool-use in near (Experiment 1) and far (Experiment 2) space. Visual attention was assessed with a 50/50, go/no-go, target discrimination task, while a tool was held next to targets appearing near the tool-occupied hand or tool-end. Target response times (RTs) and sensitivity (d-prime) were measured at target locations, before and after functional tool practice for three conditions: (1) open-tool: tool-end visible (visual + haptic inputs), (2) hidden-tool: tool-end visually obscured (haptic input only), and (3) short-tool: stick missing tool's length/end (control condition: hand occupied but no visual/haptic input). In near space, both open- and hidden-tool groups showed a tool-end, attentional bias (faster RTs toward tool-end) before practice; after practice, RTs near the hand improved. In far space, the open-tool group showed no bias before practice; after practice, target RTs near the tool-end improved. However, the hidden-tool group showed a consistent tool-end bias despite practice. Lack of short-tool group results suggested that hidden-tool group results were specific to haptic inputs. In conclusion, (1) allocation of visual attention along a tool due to tool practice differs in near and far space, and (2) visual attention is drawn toward the tool's end even when visually obscured, suggesting haptic input provides sufficient information for directing attention along the tool.

Development and Implementation of Team-Based Panel Management Tools: Filling the Gap between Patient and Population Information Systems.

PubMed

Watts, Brook; Lawrence, Renée H; Drawz, Paul; Carter, Cameron; Shumaker, Amy Hirsch; Kern, Elizabeth F

2016-08-01

Effective team-based models of care, such as the Patient-Centered Medical Home, require electronic tools to support proactive population management strategies that emphasize care coordination and quality improvement. Despite the spread of electronic health records (EHRs) and vendors marketing population health tools, clinical practices still may lack the ability to have: (1) local control over types of data collected/reports generated, (2) timely data (eg, up-to-date data, not several months old), and accordingly (3) the ability to efficiently monitor and improve patient outcomes. This article describes a quality improvement project at the hospital system level to develop and implement a flexible panel management (PM) tool to improve care of subpopulations of patients (eg, panels of patients with diabetes) by clinical teams. An in-depth case analysis approach is used to explore barriers and facilitators in building a PM registry tool for team-based management needs using standard data elements (eg, laboratory values, pharmacy records) found in EHRs. Also described are factors that may contribute to sustainability; to date the tool has been adapted to 6 disease-focused subpopulations encompassing more than 200,000 patients. Two key lessons emerged from this initiative: (1) though challenging, team-based clinical end users and information technology needed to work together consistently to refine the product, and (2) locally developed population management tools can provide efficient data tracking for frontline clinical teams and leadership. The preliminary work identified critical gaps that were successfully addressed by building local PM registry tools from EHR-derived data and offers lessons learned for others engaged in similar work. (Population Health Management 2016;19:232-239).

Improvement of Computer Software Quality through Software Automated Tools.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-08-30

information that are returned from the tools to the human user, and the forms in which these outputs are presented. Page 2 of 4 STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT: What... AUTOMIATED SOFTWARE TOOL MONITORING SYSTEM APPENDIX 2 2-1 INTRODUCTION This document and Automated Software Tool Monitoring Program (Appendix 1) are...t Output Output features provide links from the tool to both the human user and the target machine (where applicable). They describe the types

The impact of health information technology on patient safety.

PubMed

Alotaibi, Yasser K; Federico, Frank

2017-12-01

Since the original Institute of Medicine (IOM) report was published there has been an accelerated development and adoption of health information technology with varying degrees of evidence about the impact of health information technology on patient safety.  This article is intended to review the current available scientific evidence on the impact of different health information technologies on improving patient safety outcomes. We conclude that health information technology improves patient's safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety. Healthcare organizations need to be selective in which technology to invest in, as literature shows that some technologies have limited evidence in improving patient safety outcomes.

The impact of health information technology on patient safety

PubMed Central

Alotaibi, Yasser K.; Federico, Frank

2017-01-01

Since the original Institute of Medicine (IOM) report was published there has been an accelerated development and adoption of health information technology with varying degrees of evidence about the impact of health information technology on patient safety. This article is intended to review the current available scientific evidence on the impact of different health information technologies on improving patient safety outcomes. We conclude that health information technology improves patient’s safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety. Healthcare organizations need to be selective in which technology to invest in, as literature shows that some technologies have limited evidence in improving patient safety outcomes. PMID:29209664

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…

Lean and Information Technology Toolkit

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Lean and Information Technology Toolkit is a how-to guide which provides resources to environmental agencies to help them use Lean Startup, Lean process improvement, and Agile tools to streamline and automate processes.

Development of a web-based toolkit to support improvement of care coordination in primary care.

PubMed

Ganz, David A; Barnard, Jenny M; Smith, Nina Z Y; Miake-Lye, Isomi M; Delevan, Deborah M; Simon, Alissa; Rose, Danielle E; Stockdale, Susan E; Chang, Evelyn T; Noël, Polly H; Finley, Erin P; Lee, Martin L; Zulman, Donna M; Cordasco, Kristina M; Rubenstein, Lisa V

2018-05-23

Promising practices for the coordination of chronic care exist, but how to select and share these practices to support quality improvement within a healthcare system is uncertain. This study describes an approach for selecting high-quality tools for an online care coordination toolkit to be used in Veterans Health Administration (VA) primary care practices. We evaluated tools in three steps: (1) an initial screening to identify tools relevant to care coordination in VA primary care, (2) a two-clinician expert review process assessing tool characteristics (e.g. frequency of problem addressed, linkage to patients' experience of care, effect on practice workflow, and sustainability with existing resources) and assigning each tool a summary rating, and (3) semi-structured interviews with VA patients and frontline clinicians and staff. Of 300 potentially relevant tools identified by searching online resources, 65, 38, and 18 remained after steps one, two and three, respectively. The 18 tools cover five topics: managing referrals to specialty care, medication management, patient after-visit summary, patient activation materials, agenda setting, patient pre-visit packet, and provider contact information for patients. The final toolkit provides access to the 18 tools, as well as detailed information about tools' expected benefits, and resources required for tool implementation. Future care coordination efforts can benefit from systematically reviewing available tools to identify those that are high quality and relevant.

New Tools for Measuring and Improving Patient Safety in Canadian Hospitals.

PubMed

D'Silva, Jennifer; Amuah, Joseph Emmanuel; Sovran, Vanessa; MacLaurin, Anne; Rodgers, Jennifer; Johnson, Tracy; Leeb, Kira; Kossey, Sandi

2017-01-01

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) have collaborated on a new measure of patient safety, along with a resource of evidence-informed practices. This measure captures four broad categories of harm in acute care hospitals, consisting of 31 clinical groups selected by clinicians. Analysis showed that harm was experienced in 1 of 18 hospital stays in Canada in 2014ߝ2015 and that no single category accounted for the majority of harmful events. Although CIHI and CPSI continue to work with hospitals and experts to further refine the methodology, the measure and associated Improvement Resource are useful new tools for monitoring and identifying harm, and have the potential to improve patient safety.

Show Me My Health Plans: a study protocol of a randomized trial testing a decision support tool for the federal health insurance marketplace in Missouri.

PubMed

Politi, Mary C; Barker, Abigail R; Kaphingst, Kimberly A; McBride, Timothy; Shacham, Enbal; Kebodeaux, Carey S

2016-02-16

The implementation of the ACA has improved access to quality health insurance, a necessary first step to improving health outcomes. However, access must be supplemented by education to help individuals make informed choices for plans that meet their individual financial and health needs. Drawing on a model of information processing and on prior research, we developed a health insurance decision support tool called Show Me My Health Plans. Developed with extensive stakeholder input, the current tool (1) simplifies information through plain language and graphics in an educational component; (2) assesses and reviews knowledge interactively to ensure comprehension of key material; (3) incorporates individual and/or family health status to personalize out-of-pocket cost estimates; (4) assesses preferences for plan features; and (5) helps individuals weigh information appropriate to their interests and needs through a summary page with "good fit" plans generated from a tailored algorithm. The current study will evaluate whether the online decision support tool improves health insurance decisions compared to a usual care condition (the healthcare.gov marketplace website). The trial will include 362 individuals (181 in each group) from rural, suburban, and urban settings within a 90 mile radius around St. Louis. Eligibility criteria includes English-speaking individuals 18-64 years old who are eligible for the ACA marketplace plans. They will be computer randomized to view the intervention or usual care condition. Presenting individuals with options that they can understand tailored to their needs and preferences could help improve decision quality. By helping individuals narrow down the complexity of health insurance plan options, decision support tools such as this one could prepare individuals to better navigate enrollment in a plan that meets their individual needs. The randomized trial was registered in clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02522624) on August 6, 2015.

Tools to support evidence-informed public health decision making.

PubMed

Yost, Jennifer; Dobbins, Maureen; Traynor, Robyn; DeCorby, Kara; Workentine, Stephanie; Greco, Lori

2014-07-18

Public health professionals are increasingly expected to engage in evidence-informed decision making to inform practice and policy decisions. Evidence-informed decision making involves the use of research evidence along with expertise, existing public health resources, knowledge about community health issues, the local context and community, and the political climate. The National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools has identified a seven step process for evidence-informed decision making. Tools have been developed to support public health professionals as they work through each of these steps. This paper provides an overview of tools used in three Canadian public health departments involved in a study to develop capacity for evidence-informed decision making. As part of a knowledge translation and exchange intervention, a Knowledge Broker worked with public health professionals to identify and apply tools for use with each of the steps of evidence-informed decision making. The Knowledge Broker maintained a reflective journal and interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of decision makers and public health professionals. This paper presents qualitative analysis of the perceived usefulness and usability of the tools. Tools were used in the health departments to assist in: question identification and clarification; searching for the best available research evidence; assessing the research evidence for quality through critical appraisal; deciphering the 'actionable message(s)' from the research evidence; tailoring messages to the local context to ensure their relevance and suitability; deciding whether and planning how to implement research evidence in the local context; and evaluating the effectiveness of implementation efforts. Decision makers provided descriptions of how the tools were used within the health departments and made suggestions for improvement. Overall, the tools were perceived as valuable for advancing and sustaining evidence-informed decision making. Tools are available to support the process of evidence-informed decision making among public health professionals. The usability and usefulness of these tools for advancing and sustaining evidence-informed decision making are discussed, including recommendations for the tools' application in other public health settings beyond this study. Knowledge and awareness of these tools may assist other health professionals in their efforts to implement evidence-informed practice.

The Obesity Learning Centre (OLC) – a website supporting those working towards a healthy weight and reducing obesity levels

PubMed Central

Korjonen, Helena

2011-01-01

Objectives: Develop a website, the OLC, which supports those people who work on promoting a healthy weight and tackling obesity. Research shows that original networks where sharing of information and peer interaction take place create solutions to current public health challenges. Methods: Considerations that are relevant when building a new information service as well as the technical set up and information needs of users were taken into account prior to building the OLC and during continuous development and maintenance. Results: The OLC provides global news, resources and tools and link out to other networks, websites and organisations providing similar useful information. The OLC also uses social networking tools to highlight new and important information. Discussion: Networks contribute to a stronger community that can respond to emerging challenges in public health. The OLC improves connections of people and services from different backgrounds and organisations. Some challenges exist in the technical set up and also because of other aspects, e.g. public health information and differing information needs. Conclusion: Public health work programmes should include networking opportunities where public policy can be disseminated. The provision of necessary tools and resources can lead to better decision-making, save time and money and lead to improved public health outcomes. PMID:23569599

Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices.

PubMed

Ventola, C Lee

2014-07-01

Health care professionals can use a variety of social media tools to improve or enhance networking, education, and other activities. However, these tools also present some potential risks, such as unreliable information and violations of patients' privacy rights.

NIH tools facilitate matching cancer drugs with gene targets

Cancer.gov

A new study details how a suite of web-based tools provides the research community with greatly improved capacity to compare data derived from large collections of genomic information against thousands of drugs. By comparing drugs and genetic targets, re

Addressing outpatient continuity for ambulatory training: A novel tool for longitudinal primary care sign out.

PubMed

Long, Theodore; Uradu, Andrea; Castillo, Ronald; Brienza, Rebecca

2016-01-01

We created a tool to improve communication among health professional trainees in the ambulatory setting. The tool was devised to both inform practice partner teams about high-risk patients and assign patient follow-up issues to team members. Team members were internal medicine residents and nurse practitioner fellows in the VA Connecticut Healthcare System Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education (CoEPCE), an interprofessional training model in primary care. We used a combination of Likert scale response questions and open ended questions to evaluate trainee attitudes before and after the implementation of the tool, as well as solicited feedback to improve the tool. After using the primary care sign out tool, trainees expressed greater confidence that they could identify high-risk patients that had been cared for by other trainees and that important patient care issues would be followed up by others when they were not in clinic. In terms of areas for improvement, respondents wanted to have the sign out tool posted online. Our sign out tool offers a strategy that others can use to improve communication and knowledge of shared patients within teams comprised of interprofessional trainees.

Remote Sensing Information Gateway

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remote Sensing Information Gateway, a tool that allows scientists, researchers and decision makers to access a variety of multi-terabyte, environmental datasets and to subset the data and obtain only needed variables, greatly improving the download time.

Indoor Air Quality Tools for Tribal Communities

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This Website can help you improve IAQ in your tribal community. You can find information to educate your community about the simple actions they can take to improve their IAQ and protect their health.

75 FR 5299 - Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Overview Information; National Institute...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-02

... planned outputs are expected to contribute to advances in knowledge, improvements in policy and practice... of accomplishments (e.g., new or improved tools, methods, discoveries, standards, interventions...

76 FR 50993 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request-Generic Clearance...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-17

...: Proposed Collection; Comment Request--Generic Clearance to Conduct Methodological Testing, Surveys, Focus... proposed information collection. This information collection will conduct research by methodological... Methodological Testing, Surveys, Focus Groups, and Related Tools to Improve the Management of Federal Nutrition...

Reporting Data with "Over-the-Counter" Data Analysis Supports Improves Educators' Data Analyses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rankin, Jenny Grant

2014-01-01

The benefits of making data-informed decisions to improve learning rely on educators correctly interpreting given data. Many educators routinely misinterpret data, even at districts with proactive support for data use. The tool most educators use for data analyses, which is an information technology data system or its reports, typically reports…

Modeling regional-scale wildland fire emissions with the wildland fire emissions information system

Treesearch

Nancy H.F. French; Donald McKenzie; Tyler Erickson; Benjamin Koziol; Michael Billmire; K. Endsley; Naomi K.Y. Scheinerman; Liza Jenkins; Mary E. Miller; Roger Ottmar; Susan Prichard

2014-01-01

As carbon modeling tools become more comprehensive, spatial data are needed to improve quantitative maps of carbon emissions from fire. The Wildland Fire Emissions Information System (WFEIS) provides mapped estimates of carbon emissions from historical forest fires in the United States through a web browser. WFEIS improves access to data and provides a consistent...

FRACTAL Systems & Project suite: engineering tools for improving development and operation of the systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-Calpena, A.; Mujica-Alvarez, E.; Osinde-Lopez, J.; García-Vargas, M.

2008-07-01

This paper describes the FRACTAL Systems & Projects suite. This suite is composed by several tools (GECO, DOCMA and SUMO) that provide the capabilities that all organizations need to store and manage the system information generated along the project's lifetime, from the design phase to the operation phase. The amount of information that is generated in a project keeps growing in size and complexity along the project's lifetime, to an extent that it becomes impossible to manage it without the aid of specific computer-based tools. The suite described in this paper is the solution developed by FRACTAL to assist the execution of different scientific projects, mainly related with telescopes and instruments, for astronomical research centres. These tools help the system and project engineers to maintain the technical control of the systems and to ensure an optimal use of the resources. GECO eases the control of the system configuration data; DOCMA provides the means to organise and manage the documents generated in the project; SUMO allows managing and scheduling the operation, the maintenance activities and the resources during the operational phase of a system. These tools improve the project communication making the information available to the authorized users (project team, customers, Consortium's members, etc). Finally and depending on the project needs, these three tools can be used integrated or in an independent manner.

Implementation and evaluation of health passport communication tools in emergency departments.

PubMed

Heifetz, Marina; Lunsky, Yona

2018-01-01

People with IDD (intellectual or developmental disabilities) and their families consistently report dissatisfaction with their emergency department experience. Clear care plans and communication tools may not only improve the quality of patient care, but also can prevent unnecessary visits and reduce the likelihood of return visits. To evaluate communication tools to be used by people with IDD in psychiatric and general emergency departments in three different regions of Ontario. Health passport communication tools were locally tailored and implemented in each of the three regions. A total of 28 questionnaires and 18 interviews with stakeholders (e.g., hospital staff, community agency representatives, families) were completed across the regions to obtain feedback on the implementation of health passports with people with IDD. Participants felt that the health passport tools provided helpful information, improved communication between patients with IDD and hospital staff, and were user friendly. Continued efforts are needed to work with communities on maintenance of this tool, ensuring all hospital staff are utilizing the information. These findings emphasize the merits of health passport tools being implemented in the health system to support communication between patients with IDD and health care practitioners and the importance of tailoring tools to local settings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Integrated Approach of Fuzzy Linguistic Preference Based AHP and Fuzzy COPRAS for Machine Tool Evaluation

PubMed Central

Nguyen, Huu-Tho; Md Dawal, Siti Zawiah; Nukman, Yusoff; Aoyama, Hideki; Case, Keith

2015-01-01

Globalization of business and competitiveness in manufacturing has forced companies to improve their manufacturing facilities to respond to market requirements. Machine tool evaluation involves an essential decision using imprecise and vague information, and plays a major role to improve the productivity and flexibility in manufacturing. The aim of this study is to present an integrated approach for decision-making in machine tool selection. This paper is focused on the integration of a consistent fuzzy AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and a fuzzy COmplex PRoportional ASsessment (COPRAS) for multi-attribute decision-making in selecting the most suitable machine tool. In this method, the fuzzy linguistic reference relation is integrated into AHP to handle the imprecise and vague information, and to simplify the data collection for the pair-wise comparison matrix of the AHP which determines the weights of attributes. The output of the fuzzy AHP is imported into the fuzzy COPRAS method for ranking alternatives through the closeness coefficient. Presentation of the proposed model application is provided by a numerical example based on the collection of data by questionnaire and from the literature. The results highlight the integration of the improved fuzzy AHP and the fuzzy COPRAS as a precise tool and provide effective multi-attribute decision-making for evaluating the machine tool in the uncertain environment. PMID:26368541

BEST Winery Guidebook: Benchmarking and Energy and Water SavingsTool for the Wine Industry

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

Galitsky, Christina; Worrell, Ernst; Radspieler, Anthony

2005-10-15

Not all industrial facilities have the staff or the opportunity to perform a detailed audit of their operations. The lack of knowledge of energy efficiency opportunities provides an important barrier to improving efficiency. Benchmarking has demonstrated to help energy users understand energy use and the potential for energy efficiency improvement, reducing the information barrier. In California, the wine making industry is not only one of the economic pillars of the economy; it is also a large energy consumer, with a considerable potential for energy-efficiency improvement. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Fetzer Vineyards developed an integrated benchmarking and self-assessment tool formore » the California wine industry called ''BEST''(Benchmarking and Energy and water Savings Tool) Winery. BEST Winery enables a winery to compare its energy efficiency to a best practice winery, accounting for differences in product mix and other characteristics of the winery. The tool enables the user to evaluate the impact of implementing energy and water efficiency measures. The tool facilitates strategic planning of efficiency measures, based on the estimated impact of the measures, their costs and savings. BEST Winery is available as a software tool in an Excel environment. This report serves as background material, documenting assumptions and information on the included energy and water efficiency measures. It also serves as a user guide for the software package.« less

The need for monetary information within corporate water accounting.

PubMed

Burritt, Roger L; Christ, Katherine L

2017-10-01

A conceptual discussion is provided about the need to add monetary data to water accounting initiatives and how best to achieve this if companies are to become aware of the water crisis and to take actions to improve water management. Analysis of current water accounting initiatives reveals the monetary business case for companies to improve water management is rarely considered, there being a focus on physical information about water use. Three possibilities emerge for mainstreaming the integration of monetization into water accounting: add-on to existing water accounting frameworks and tools, develop new tools which include physical and monetary information from the start, and develop environmental management accounting (EMA) into a water-specific application and set of tools. The paper appraises these three alternatives and concludes that development of EMA would be the best way forward. Suggestions for further research include the need to examine the use of a transdisciplinary method to address the complexities of water accounting. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving Balance in TBI Using a Low-Cost Customized Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Tool

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-14-2-0150 TITLE: Improving Balance in TBI Using a Low- Cost Customized Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Tool PRINCIPAL...PREPARED FOR: U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Fort Detrick, Maryland 21702-5012 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: Approved for Public ...DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per

Towards a National Space Weather Predictive Capability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, N. J.; Lindstrom, K. L.; Ryschkewitsch, M. G.; Anderson, B. J.; Gjerloev, J. W.; Merkin, V. G.; Kelly, M. A.; Miller, E. S.; Sitnov, M. I.; Ukhorskiy, A. Y.; Erlandson, R. E.; Barnes, R. J.; Paxton, L. J.; Sotirelis, T.; Stephens, G.; Comberiate, J.

2014-12-01

National needs in the area of space weather informational and predictive tools are growing rapidly. Adverse conditions in the space environment can cause disruption of satellite operations, communications, navigation, and electric power distribution grids, leading to a variety of socio-economic losses and impacts on our security. Future space exploration and most modern human endeavors will require major advances in physical understanding and improved transition of space research to operations. At present, only a small fraction of the latest research and development results from NASA, NOAA, NSF and DoD investments are being used to improve space weather forecasting and to develop operational tools. The power of modern research and space weather model development needs to be better utilized to enable comprehensive, timely, and accurate operational space weather tools. The mere production of space weather information is not sufficient to address the needs of those who are affected by space weather. A coordinated effort is required to support research-to-applications transition efforts and to develop the tools required those who rely on this information. In this presentation we will review datasets, tools and models that have resulted from research by scientists at JHU/APL, and examine how they could be applied to support space weather applications in coordination with other community assets and capabilities.

Tools to support evidence-informed public health decision making

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Public health professionals are increasingly expected to engage in evidence-informed decision making to inform practice and policy decisions. Evidence-informed decision making involves the use of research evidence along with expertise, existing public health resources, knowledge about community health issues, the local context and community, and the political climate. The National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools has identified a seven step process for evidence-informed decision making. Tools have been developed to support public health professionals as they work through each of these steps. This paper provides an overview of tools used in three Canadian public health departments involved in a study to develop capacity for evidence-informed decision making. Methods As part of a knowledge translation and exchange intervention, a Knowledge Broker worked with public health professionals to identify and apply tools for use with each of the steps of evidence-informed decision making. The Knowledge Broker maintained a reflective journal and interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of decision makers and public health professionals. This paper presents qualitative analysis of the perceived usefulness and usability of the tools. Results Tools were used in the health departments to assist in: question identification and clarification; searching for the best available research evidence; assessing the research evidence for quality through critical appraisal; deciphering the ‘actionable message(s)’ from the research evidence; tailoring messages to the local context to ensure their relevance and suitability; deciding whether and planning how to implement research evidence in the local context; and evaluating the effectiveness of implementation efforts. Decision makers provided descriptions of how the tools were used within the health departments and made suggestions for improvement. Overall, the tools were perceived as valuable for advancing and sustaining evidence-informed decision making. Conclusion Tools are available to support the process of evidence-informed decision making among public health professionals. The usability and usefulness of these tools for advancing and sustaining evidence-informed decision making are discussed, including recommendations for the tools’ application in other public health settings beyond this study. Knowledge and awareness of these tools may assist other health professionals in their efforts to implement evidence-informed practice. PMID:25034534

Development of a Web-based resident profiling tool to support training in practice-based learning and improvement.

PubMed

Lyman, Jason A; Schorling, John; Nadkarni, Mohan; May, Natalie; Scully, Ken; Voss, John

2008-04-01

Multiple factors are driving residency programs to explicitly address practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI), yet few information systems exist to facilitate such training. We developed, implemented, and evaluated a Web-based tool that provides Internal Medicine residents at the University of Virginia Health System with population-based reports about their ambulatory clinical experiences. Residents use Systems and Practice Analysis for Resident Competencies (SPARC) to identify potential areas for practice improvement. Thirty-three (65%) of 51 residents completed a survey assessing SPARC's usefulness, with 94% agreeing that it was a useful educational tool. Twenty-six residents (51%) completed a before-after study indicating increased agreement (5-point Likert scale, with 5=strongly agree) with statements regarding confidence in ability to access population-based data about chronic disease management (mean [SD] 2.5 [1.2] vs. 4.5 [0.5], p < .001, sign test) and information comparing their practice style to that of their peers (2.2 [1.2] vs. 4.6 [0.5], p < .001).

Process analytical technology in the pharmaceutical industry: a toolkit for continuous improvement.

PubMed

Scott, Bradley; Wilcock, Anne

2006-01-01

Process analytical technology (PAT) refers to a series of tools used to ensure that quality is built into products while at the same time improving the understanding of processes, increasing efficiency, and decreasing costs. It has not been widely adopted by the pharmaceutical industry. As the setting for this paper, the current pharmaceutical manufacturing paradigm and PAT guidance to date are discussed prior to the review of PAT principles and tools, benefits, and challenges. The PAT toolkit contains process analyzers, multivariate analysis tools, process control tools, and continuous improvement/knowledge management/information technology systems. The integration and implementation of these tools is complex, and has resulted in uncertainty with respect to both regulation and validation. The paucity of staff knowledgeable in this area may complicate adoption. Studies to quantitate the benefits resulting from the adoption of PAT within the pharmaceutical industry would be a valuable addition to the qualitative studies that are currently available.

Strengthening the management of ESA - the Inter-Directorate Reform of Corporate and Risk Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feustel-Büechl, Jörg; Arend, Harald; Derio, Eric; Infante, Giovanni; Kreiner, Gerhard; Phaler, Jesse; Tabbert, Michael

2007-02-01

ESA has undertaken the Inter-Directorate Reform of Corporate and Risk Management to strengthen the Agency's internal operations. The reform was completed at the end of 2006, encompassing five dedicated projects on Risk Management, Agency-Wide Controlling System, Project Plan and Integrated Project Review, General Budget Structure and Charging Policy, and Corporate Information Systems. It has contributed to improved management of the Agency's internal operations by engaging all internal stakeholders in a common objective, introducing improvements to planning and management methods, elaborating consolidated information structures and tools, contributing to enhanced transparency and accountability, and by providing qualified new policies, processes and tools.

GIS Tools For Improving Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-07-01

Geographic Information System (GIS) software turns statistical data, such as accidents, and geographic data, such as roads and crash locations, into meaningful information for spatial analysis and mapping. In this project, GIS-based analytical techni...

Interface methods for using intranet portal organizational memory information system.

PubMed

Ji, Yong Gu; Salvendy, Gavriel

2004-12-01

In this paper, an intranet portal is considered as an information infrastructure (organizational memory information system, OMIS) supporting organizational learning. The properties and the hierarchical structure of information and knowledge in an intranet portal OMIS was identified as a problem for navigation tools of an intranet portal interface. The problem relates to navigation and retrieval functions of intranet portal OMIS and is expected to adversely affect user performance, satisfaction, and usefulness. To solve the problem, a conceptual model for navigation tools of an intranet portal interface was proposed and an experiment using a crossover design was conducted with 10 participants. In the experiment, a separate access method (tabbed tree tool) was compared to an unified access method (single tree tool). The results indicate that each information/knowledge repository for which a user has a different structural knowledge should be handled separately with a separate access to increase user satisfaction and the usefulness of the OMIS and to improve user performance in navigation.

An information retrieval system for computerized patient records in the context of a daily hospital practice: the example of the Léon Bérard Cancer Center (France).

PubMed

Biron, P; Metzger, M H; Pezet, C; Sebban, C; Barthuet, E; Durand, T

2014-01-01

A full-text search tool was introduced into the daily practice of Léon Bérard Center (France), a health care facility devoted to treatment of cancer. This tool was integrated into the hospital information system by the IT department having been granted full autonomy to improve the system. To describe the development and various uses of a tool for full-text search of computerized patient records. The technology is based on Solr, an open-source search engine. It is a web-based application that processes HTTP requests and returns HTTP responses. A data processing pipeline that retrieves data from different repositories, normalizes, cleans and publishes it to Solr, was integrated in the information system of the Leon Bérard center. The IT department developed also user interfaces to allow users to access the search engine within the computerized medical record of the patient. From January to May 2013, 500 queries were launched per month by an average of 140 different users. Several usages of the tool were described, as follows: medical management of patients, medical research, and improving the traceability of medical care in medical records. The sensitivity of the tool for detecting the medical records of patients diagnosed with both breast cancer and diabetes was 83.0%, and its positive predictive value was 48.7% (gold standard: manual screening by a clinical research assistant). The project demonstrates that the introduction of full-text-search tools allowed practitioners to use unstructured medical information for various purposes.

Mobile Technology for Empowering Health Workers in Underserved Communities: New Approaches to Facilitate the Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

PubMed

Stanton, Michelle; Molineux, Andrew; Mackenzie, Charles; Kelly-Hope, Louise

2016-01-01

As global mobile phone penetration increases, direct health information communication from hard-to-reach communities is becoming commonplace. Mobile health (mHealth) tools that enable disease control programs to benefit from this information, while simultaneously empowering community members to take control of their own health, are vital to the goal of universal health care. Our aim was to highlight the development of the Liverpool mHealth Suite (LMS), which has been designed to address this need and improve health services for neglected tropical diseases being targeted for global elimination, such as lymphatic filariasis. The LMS has two main communication approaches-short message service and mobile phone apps-to facilitate real-time mass drug administration (MDA) coverage, reporting patient numbers, managing stock levels of treatment supplies, and exchanging health information to improve the quality of care of those affected. The LMS includes the MeasureSMS-MDA tool to improve drug supplies and MDA coverage rates in real-time (currently being trialed in urban Tanzania); the MeasureSMS-Morbidity tool to map morbidity, including lymphedema and hydrocele cases (initially piloted in rural Malawi and Ghana, then extended to Ethiopia, and scaled up to large urban areas in Bangladesh and Tanzania); the LyMSS-lymphedema management supply system app to improve distribution of treatments (trialed for 6 months in Malawi with positive impacts on health workers and patients); and the HealthFront app to improve education and training (in development with field trials planned). The current success and scale-up of the LMS by many community health workers in rural and urban settings across Africa and Asia highlights the value of this simple and practical suite of tools that empowers local health care workers to contribute to local, national, and global elimination of disease.

Facilitating adaptive management in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed through the use of online decision support tools

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mullinx, Cassandra; Phillips, Scott; Shenk, Kelly; Hearn, Paul; Devereux, Olivia

2009-01-01

The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is attempting to more strategically implement management actions to improve the health of the Nation’s largest estuary. In 2007 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) CBP office began a joint effort to develop a suite of Internetaccessible decision-support tools and to help meet the needs of CBP partners to improve water quality and habitat conditions in the Chesapeake Bay and its watersheds. An adaptive management framework is being used to provide a structured decision process for information and individual tools needed to implement and assess practices to improve the condition of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The Chesapeake Online Adaptive Support Toolkit (COAST) is a collection of web-based analytical tools and information, organized in an adaptive management framework, intended to aid decisionmakers in protecting and restoring the integrity of the Bay ecosystem. The initial version of COAST is focused on water quality issues. During early and mid- 2008, initial ideas for COAST were shared and discussed with various CBP partners and other potential user groups. At these meetings, test cases were selected to help improve understanding of the types of information and analytical functionality that would be most useful for specific partners’ needs. These discussions added considerable knowledge about the nature of decisionmaking for Federal, State, local and nongovernmental partners. Version 1.0 of COAST, released in early winter of 2008, will be further reviewed to determine improvements needed to address implementation and assessment of water quality practices. Future versions of COAST may address other aspects of ecosystem restoration, including restoration of habitat and living resources and maintaining watershed health.

MO/DSD online information server and global information repository access

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Diem; Ghaffarian, Kam; Hogie, Keith; Mackey, William

1994-01-01

Often in the past, standards and new technology information have been available only in hardcopy form, with reproduction and mailing costs proving rather significant. In light of NASA's current budget constraints and in the interest of efficient communications, the Mission Operations and Data Systems Directorate (MO&DSD) New Technology and Data Standards Office recognizes the need for an online information server (OLIS). This server would allow: (1) dissemination of standards and new technology information throughout the Directorate more quickly and economically; (2) online browsing and retrieval of documents that have been published for and by MO&DSD; and (3) searching for current and past study activities on related topics within NASA before issuing a task. This paper explores a variety of available information servers and searching tools, their current capabilities and limitations, and the application of these tools to MO&DSD. Most importantly, the discussion focuses on the way this concept could be easily applied toward improving dissemination of standards and new technologies and improving documentation processes.

Novel combined patient instruction and discharge summary tool improves timeliness of documentation and outpatient provider satisfaction

PubMed Central

Gilliam, Meredith; Krein, Sarah L; Belanger, Karen; Fowler, Karen E; Dimcheff, Derek E; Solomon, Gabriel

2017-01-01

Background: Incomplete or delayed access to discharge information by outpatient providers and patients contributes to discontinuity of care and poor outcomes. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a new electronic discharge summary tool on the timeliness of documentation and communication with outpatient providers. Methods: In June 2012, we implemented an electronic discharge summary tool at our 145-bed university-affiliated Veterans Affairs hospital. The tool facilitates completion of a comprehensive discharge summary note that is available for patients and outpatient medical providers at the time of hospital discharge. Discharge summary note availability, outpatient provider satisfaction, and time between the decision to discharge a patient and discharge note completion were all evaluated before and after implementation of the tool. Results: The percentage of discharge summary notes completed by the time of first post-discharge clinical contact improved from 43% in February 2012 to 100% in September 2012 and was maintained at 100% in 2014. A survey of 22 outpatient providers showed that 90% preferred the new summary and 86% found it comprehensive. Despite increasing required documentation, the time required to discharge a patient, from physician decision to discharge note completion, improved from 5.6 h in 2010 to 4.1 h in 2012 (p = 0.04), and to 2.8 h in 2015 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The implementation of a novel discharge summary tool improved the timeliness and comprehensiveness of discharge information as needed for the delivery of appropriate, high-quality follow-up care, without adversely affecting the efficiency of the discharge process. PMID:28491308

Novel combined patient instruction and discharge summary tool improves timeliness of documentation and outpatient provider satisfaction.

PubMed

Gilliam, Meredith; Krein, Sarah L; Belanger, Karen; Fowler, Karen E; Dimcheff, Derek E; Solomon, Gabriel

2017-01-01

Incomplete or delayed access to discharge information by outpatient providers and patients contributes to discontinuity of care and poor outcomes. To evaluate the effect of a new electronic discharge summary tool on the timeliness of documentation and communication with outpatient providers. In June 2012, we implemented an electronic discharge summary tool at our 145-bed university-affiliated Veterans Affairs hospital. The tool facilitates completion of a comprehensive discharge summary note that is available for patients and outpatient medical providers at the time of hospital discharge. Discharge summary note availability, outpatient provider satisfaction, and time between the decision to discharge a patient and discharge note completion were all evaluated before and after implementation of the tool. The percentage of discharge summary notes completed by the time of first post-discharge clinical contact improved from 43% in February 2012 to 100% in September 2012 and was maintained at 100% in 2014. A survey of 22 outpatient providers showed that 90% preferred the new summary and 86% found it comprehensive. Despite increasing required documentation, the time required to discharge a patient, from physician decision to discharge note completion, improved from 5.6 h in 2010 to 4.1 h in 2012 (p = 0.04), and to 2.8 h in 2015 (p < 0.001). The implementation of a novel discharge summary tool improved the timeliness and comprehensiveness of discharge information as needed for the delivery of appropriate, high-quality follow-up care, without adversely affecting the efficiency of the discharge process.

Developing a Web-based Tool Using Information and Communication Technologies to Expand the Reach and Impact of Photovoice.

PubMed

Strack, Robert W; Orsini, Muhsin Michael; Fearnow-Kenney, Melodie; Herget, Jennifer; Milroy, Jeffrey J; Wyrick, David L

Information and communication technologies are opening up vast new arenas for conducting the work of health promotion. Technology-based health promotions expand reach, standardize information and its delivery, provide opportunities for tailoring, create engaging interactivity within content delivery, provide for privacy and autonomy, improve portability, and lower delivery costs. This commentary describes the ongoing exploration and development of a web-based tool for enhancing the reach and impact of photovoice as a community change intervention. Features of the tool use information and communication technologies that integrate the use of an online learning management system, tailored messaging, gaming technology, interactive features, and the application of social media's power to increase the capacity of communities to employ comprehensive strategies to improve the health of their communities. It will enable individuals and groups to use photos and captions to assess the physical environment, social norms and behaviors of communities; raise community awareness of the factors contributing to ill-health in their communities, mobilize stakeholders, and inform environmental strategies and policy changes. We believe it will enhance the delivery of educational content about conducting photovoice projects, provide features unavailable without the application of information and communication technologies, and will be substantive advancement over existing photovoice resources.

A new approach to road accident rescue.

PubMed

Morales, Alejandro; González-Aguilera, Diego; López, Alfonso I; Gutiérrez, Miguel A

2016-01-01

This article develops and validates a new methodology and tool for rescue assistance in traffic accidents, with the aim of improving its efficiency and safety in the evacuation of people, reducing the number of victims in road accidents. Different tests supported by professionals and experts have been designed under different circumstances and with different categories of damaged vehicles coming from real accidents and simulated trapped victims in order to calibrate and refine the proposed methodology and tool. To validate this new approach, a tool called App_Rescue has been developed. This tool is based on the use of a computer system that allows an efficient access to the technical information of the vehicle and sanitary information of the common passengers. The time spent during rescue using the standard protocol and the proposed method was compared. This rescue assistance system allows us to make vital information accessible in posttrauma care services, improving the effectiveness of interventions by the emergency services, reducing the rescue time and therefore minimizing the consequences involved and the number of victims. This could often mean saving lives. In the different simulated rescue operations, the rescue time has been reduced an average of 14%.

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY: Information on the Office of Enforcement’s Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-03-01

major law enforcement tool and tool for informing the public, on a city by city and national basis, of crime gun trends. Unlike many crime reports...investment in illegal market research (by NIJ) and improved joint understanding of the need to balance prosecution of armed offenders with prosecution of...Workforce Retention and Workload Balancing , which was overseen by an Executive Committee of Assistant Secretary (Enforcement), Assistant Secretary

The Healthcare Administrator's Associate: an experiment in distributed healthcare information systems.

PubMed Central

Fowler, J.; Martin, G.

1997-01-01

The Healthcare Administrator's Associate is a collection of portable tools designed to support analysis of data retrieved via the Internet from diverse distributed healthcare information systems by means of the InfoSleuth system of distributed software agents. Development of these tools is part of an effort to enhance access to diverse and geographically distributed healthcare data in order to improve the basis upon which administrative and clinical decisions are made. PMID:9357686

Using iterative learning to improve understanding during the informed consent process in a South African psychiatric genomics study.

PubMed

Campbell, Megan M; Susser, Ezra; Mall, Sumaya; Mqulwana, Sibonile G; Mndini, Michael M; Ntola, Odwa A; Nagdee, Mohamed; Zingela, Zukiswa; Van Wyk, Stephanus; Stein, Dan J

2017-01-01

Obtaining informed consent is a great challenge in global health research. There is a need for tools that can screen for and improve potential research participants' understanding of the research study at the time of recruitment. Limited empirical research has been conducted in low and middle income countries, evaluating informed consent processes in genomics research. We sought to investigate the quality of informed consent obtained in a South African psychiatric genomics study. A Xhosa language version of the University of California, San Diego Brief Assessment of Capacity to Consent Questionnaire (UBACC) was used to screen for capacity to consent and improve understanding through iterative learning in a sample of 528 Xhosa people with schizophrenia and 528 controls. We address two questions: firstly, whether research participants' understanding of the research study improved through iterative learning; and secondly, what were predictors for better understanding of the research study at the initial screening? During screening 290 (55%) cases and 172 (33%) controls scored below the 14.5 cut-off for acceptable understanding of the research study elements, however after iterative learning only 38 (7%) cases and 13 (2.5%) controls continued to score below this cut-off. Significant variables associated with increased understanding of the consent included the psychiatric nurse recruiter conducting the consent screening, higher participant level of education, and being a control. The UBACC proved an effective tool to improve understanding of research study elements during consent, for both cases and controls. The tool holds utility for complex studies such as those involving genomics, where iterative learning can be used to make significant improvements in understanding of research study elements. The UBACC may be particularly important in groups with severe mental illness and lower education levels. Study recruiters play a significant role in managing the quality of the informed consent process.

S.O.S. for Information Literacy: A Tool for Improving Research and Information Skills Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnone, Marilyn P.; Small, Ruth V.

At no time in history has the ability to locate, organize, evaluate, manage and use information, skills collectively referred to as information literacy, been more important to today's learners. Classroom and technology teachers and library media specialists are challenged to find effective, innovative techniques for teaching research and…

Development of an in-house hospital information system in a hospital in Pakistan.

PubMed

Sultan, Faisal; Aziz, Muhammad Tahir; Khokhar, Idrees; Qadri, Hussain; Abbas, Manzar; Mukhtar, Amir; Manzoor, Waqar; Yusuf, Muhammed Aasim

2014-03-01

To review our experience of development and implementation of an electronic hospital information system, its costs and return on investment as well as incorporation of some key quality standards. Cost and saving trends of the project were calculated using different tools including project expense, cost saving through cessation of printing radiology films and paper. Net present value with payback period was utilized to evaluate the efficiency of the health information systems. Qualitative improvements in different healthcare functions were also analyzed. The total saving of the project was approximately US$ 5.1 million with net saving of US$ 3.5 million for the period from 2001 to 2011. The net present value of the project is US$ 3.2 million with a payback period of 3.4 years. Electronic hospital information systems and health records hold the potential to be useful tools for quality improvement and error reduction. Adoption of such systems, however, has been slow and erratic, worldwide. Utilizing the concept of net present value, development of such a system may be financially viable for some institutions. Instead of simply replacing paper, these systems may also be used to improve information management and improve quality of patient care. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Promise of Information and Communication Technology in Healthcare: Extracting Value From the Chaos.

PubMed

Mamlin, Burke W; Tierney, William M

2016-01-01

Healthcare is an information business with expanding use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Current ICT tools are immature, but a brighter future looms. We examine 7 areas of ICT in healthcare: electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchange (HIE), patient portals, telemedicine, social media, mobile devices and wearable sensors and monitors, and privacy and security. In each of these areas, we examine the current status and future promise, highlighting how each might reach its promise. Steps to better EHRs include a universal programming interface, universal patient identifiers, improved documentation and improved data analysis. HIEs require federal subsidies for sustainability and support from EHR vendors, targeting seamless sharing of EHR data. Patient portals must bring patients into the EHR with better design and training, greater provider engagement and leveraging HIEs. Telemedicine needs sustainable payment models, clear rules of engagement, quality measures and monitoring. Social media needs consensus on rules of engagement for providers, better data mining tools and approaches to counter disinformation. Mobile and wearable devices benefit from a universal programming interface, improved infrastructure, more rigorous research and integration with EHRs and HIEs. Laws for privacy and security need updating to match current technologies, and data stewards should share information on breaches and standardize best practices. ICT tools are evolving quickly in healthcare and require a rational and well-funded national agenda for development, use and assessment. Copyright © 2016 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

Evaluation of the Quality of Online Information for Patients with Rare Cancers: Thyroid Cancer.

PubMed

Kuenzel, Ulrike; Monga Sindeu, Tabea; Schroth, Sarah; Huebner, Jutta; Herth, Natalie

2017-01-24

The Internet offers an easy and quick access to a vast amount of patient information. However, several studies point to the poor quality of many websites and the resulting hazards of false information. The aim of this study was to assess quality of information on thyroid cancer. A patients' search for information about thyroid cancer on German websites was simulated using the search engine Google and the patient portal "Patienten-Information.de". The websites were assessed using a standardized instrument with formal and content aspects from the German Cancer Society. Supporting the results of prior studies that analysed patient information on the Internet, the data showed that the quality of patient information on thyroid cancer is highly heterogeneous depending on the website providers. The majority of website providers are represented by media and health providers other than health insurances, practices and professionals offering patient information of relatively poor quality. Moreover, most websites offer patient information of low-quality content. Only a few trustworthy, high-quality websites exist. Especially Google, a common search engine, focuses more on the dissemination of information than on quality aspects. In order to improve the patient information from the Internet, the visibility of high-quality websites must be improved. For that, education programs to improve patients' eHealth literacy are needed. A quick and easy evaluation tool for online information suited for patients should be implemented, and patients should be taught to integrate such a tool into their research process.

Improving Consumer Information for Higher Education Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herndon, M. Craig

2012-01-01

It is a historically held principle of microeconomics that in the presence of better information, consumers make better decisions. This chapter focuses on information to guide consumers in making decisions about higher education. It examines the development and implementation of a one-stop career and college planning tool that leverages existing…

Benchmarks: WICHE Region 2012

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, 2013

2013-01-01

Benchmarks: WICHE Region 2012 presents information on the West's progress in improving access to, success in, and financing of higher education. The information is updated annually to monitor change over time and encourage its use as a tool for informed discussion in policy and education communities. To establish a general context for the…

Can Visualizing Document Space Improve Users' Information Foraging?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Min

1998-01-01

This study shows how users access relevant information in a visualized document space and determine whether BiblioMapper, a visualization tool, strengthens an information retrieval (IR) system and makes it more usable. BiblioMapper, developed for a CISI collection, was evaluated by accuracy, time, and user satisfaction. Users' navigation…

TRI P2 and Automotive Suppliers: Supplier information specific to the automotive industry sector

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

TRI’s Pollution Prevention (P2) Search Tool is one source of information to identify how facilities work with their suppliers and how suppliers work with their customers to achieve environmental improvement.

A case-based reasoning tool for breast cancer knowledge management with data mining concepts and techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demigha, Souâd.

2016-03-01

The paper presents a Case-Based Reasoning Tool for Breast Cancer Knowledge Management to improve breast cancer screening. To develop this tool, we combine both concepts and techniques of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Data Mining (DM). Physicians and radiologists ground their diagnosis on their expertise (past experience) based on clinical cases. Case-Based Reasoning is the process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems and structured as cases. CBR is suitable for medical use. On the other hand, existing traditional hospital information systems (HIS), Radiological Information Systems (RIS) and Picture Archiving Information Systems (PACS) don't allow managing efficiently medical information because of its complexity and heterogeneity. Data Mining is the process of mining information from a data set and transform it into an understandable structure for further use. Combining CBR to Data Mining techniques will facilitate diagnosis and decision-making of medical experts.

Evaluating new health information technologies: expanding the frontiers of health care delivery and health promotion.

PubMed

Kreps, Gary L

2002-01-01

The modern health care system is being irrevocably changed by the development and introduction of new health information technologies (such as health information systems, decision-support tools, specialized websites, and innovative communication devices). While many of these new technologies hold the promise of revolutionizing the modern health system and facilitating improvements in health care delivery, health education, and health promotion, it is imperative to carefully examine and assess the effectiveness of these technological tools to determine which products are most useful to apply in specific contexts, as well as to learn how to best utilize these products and processes. Without good evaluative information about new technologies, we are unlikely to reap the greatest benefits from these powerful new tools. This chapter examines the demand for evaluating health information technologies and suggests several strategies for conducting rigorous and relevant evaluation research.

Improving Awareness of Health Hazards Associated with Air Pollution in Primary School Children: Design and Test of Didactic Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carducci, Annalaura; Casini, Beatrice; Donzelli, Gabriele; Verani, Marco; Bruni, Beatrice; Ceretti, Elisabetta; Zani, Claudia; Carraro, Elisabetta; Bonetta, Sara; Bagordo, Francesco; Grassi, Tiziana; Villarini, Milena; Bonizzoni, Silvia; Zagni, Licia; Gelatti, Umberto

2016-01-01

One of the objectives of the MAPEC-Life project is raising children's awareness on air quality and its health effects. To achieve this goal, we designed didactic tools for primary school students, including leaflets with more information for teachers, a cartoon, and three educational videogames. The tools were then tested with 266 children who…

Handling Internet-Based Health Information: Improving Health Information Web Site Literacy Among Undergraduate Nursing Students.

PubMed

Wang, Weiwen; Sun, Ran; Mulvehill, Alice M; Gilson, Courtney C; Huang, Linda L

2017-02-01

Patient care problems arise when health care consumers and professionals find health information on the Internet because that information is often inaccurate. To mitigate this problem, nurses can develop Web literacy and share that skill with health care consumers. This study evaluated a Web-literacy intervention for undergraduate nursing students to find reliable Web-based health information. A pre- and postsurvey queried undergraduate nursing students in an informatics course; the intervention comprised lecture, in-class practice, and assignments about health Web site evaluation tools. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon and ANOVA signed-rank tests. Pre-intervention, 75.9% of participants reported using Web sites to obtain health information. Postintervention, 87.9% displayed confidence in using an evaluation tool. Both the ability to critique health Web sites (p = .005) and confidence in finding reliable Internet-based health information (p = .058) increased. Web-literacy education guides nursing students to find, evaluate, and use reliable Web sites, which improves their ability to deliver safer patient care. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(2):110-114.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

Safe teleradiology: information assurance as project planning methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collmann, Jeff R.; Alaoui, Adil; Nguyen, Dan; Lindisch, David

2003-05-01

This project demonstrates use of OCTAVE, an information security risk assessment method, as an approach to the safe design and planning of a teleradiology system. By adopting this approach to project planning, we intended to provide evidence that including information security as an intrinsic component of project planning improves information assurance and that using information assurance as a planning tool produces and improves the general system management plan. Several considerations justify this approach to planning a safe teleradiology system. First, because OCTAVE was designed as a method for retrospectively assessing and proposing enhancements for the security of existing information management systems, it should function well as a guide to prospectively designing and deploying a secure information system such as teleradiology. Second, because OCTAVE provides assessment and planning tools for use primarily by interdisciplinary teams from user organizations, not consultants, it should enhance the ability of such teams at the local level to plan safe information systems. Third, from the perspective of sociological theory, OCTAVE explicitly attempts to enhance organizational conditions identified as necessary to safely manage complex technologies. Approaching information system design from the perspective of information security risk management proactively integrates health information assurance into a project"s core. This contrasts with typical approaches that perceive "security" as a secondary attribute to be "added" after designing the system and with approaches that identify information assurance only with security devices and user training. The perspective of health information assurance embraces so many dimensions of a computerized health information system"s design that one may successfully deploy a method for retrospectively assessing information security risk as a prospective planning tool. From a sociological perspective, this approach enhances the general conditions as well as establishes specific policies and procedures for reliable performance of health information assurance.

Economic Benefits of Predictive Models for Pest Control in Agricultural Crops

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Various forms of crop models or decision making tools for managing crops have existed for many years. The potential advantage of all of these decision making tools is that more informed and economically improved crop management or decision making is accomplished. However, examination of some of thes...

Employing the clinical service unit model.

PubMed

Harger, J; Gualtieri-Reed, T; Burton, W

2001-01-01

Duke University Hospital has instituted a decision tool that enables administrators and medical directors to manage from both the operational (departmental) perspective as well as from the patient population perspective. The tool automates routine reporting, aligns business information with a new, cross-functional management structure, and provides a focus for improvement opportunities.

Improvement of sand filter and constructed wetland design using an environmental decision support system.

PubMed

Turon, Clàudia; Comas, Joaquim; Torrens, Antonina; Molle, Pascal; Poch, Manel

2008-01-01

With the aim of improving effluent quality of waste stabilization ponds, different designs of vertical flow constructed wetlands and intermittent sand filters were tested on an experimental full-scale plant within the framework of a European project. The information extracted from this study was completed and updated with heuristic and bibliographic knowledge. The data and knowledge acquired were difficult to integrate into mathematical models because they involve qualitative information and expert reasoning. Therefore, it was decided to develop an environmental decision support system (EDSS-Filter-Design) as a tool to integrate mathematical models and knowledge-based techniques. This paper describes the development of this support tool, emphasizing the collection of data and knowledge and representation of this information by means of mathematical equations and a rule-based system. The developed support tool provides the main design characteristics of filters: (i) required surface, (ii) media type, and (iii) media depth. These design recommendations are based on wastewater characteristics, applied load, and required treatment level data provided by the user. The results of the EDSS-Filter-Design provide appropriate and useful information and guidelines on how to design filters, according to the expert criteria. The encapsulation of the information into a decision support system reduces the design period and provides a feasible, reasoned, and positively evaluated proposal.

A database for coconut crop improvement.

PubMed

Rajagopal, Velamoor; Manimekalai, Ramaswamy; Devakumar, Krishnamurthy; Rajesh; Karun, Anitha; Niral, Vittal; Gopal, Murali; Aziz, Shamina; Gunasekaran, Marimuthu; Kumar, Mundappurathe Ramesh; Chandrasekar, Arumugam

2005-12-08

Coconut crop improvement requires a number of biotechnology and bioinformatics tools. A database containing information on CG (coconut germplasm), CCI (coconut cultivar identification), CD (coconut disease), MIFSPC (microbial information systems in plantation crops) and VO (vegetable oils) is described. The database was developed using MySQL and PostgreSQL running in Linux operating system. The database interface is developed in PHP, HTML and JAVA. http://www.bioinfcpcri.org.

Information systems as a tool to improve legal metrology activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodrigues Filho, B. A.; Soratto, A. N. R.; Gonçalves, R. F.

2016-07-01

This study explores the importance of information systems applied to legal metrology as a tool to improve the control of measuring instruments used in trade. The information system implanted in Brazil has also helped to understand and appraise the control of the measurements due to the behavior of the errors and deviations of instruments used in trade, allowing the allocation of resources wisely, leading to a more effective planning and control on the legal metrology field. A study case analyzing the fuel sector is carried out in order to show the conformity of fuel dispersers according to maximum permissible errors. The statistics of measurement errors of 167,310 fuel dispensers of gasoline, ethanol and diesel used in the field were analyzed demonstrating the accordance of the fuel market in Brazil to the legal requirements.

Optimal SSN Tasking to Enhance Real-time Space Situational Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, J., III; Hussein, I.; Gerber, J.; Sivilli, R.

2016-09-01

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is currently constrained by an overwhelming number of resident space objects (RSOs) that need to be tracked and the amount of data these observations produce. The Joint Centralized Autonomous Tasking System (JCATS) is an autonomous, net-centric tool that approaches these SSA concerns from an agile, information-based stance. Finite set statistics and stochastic optimization are used to maintain an RSO catalog and develop sensor tasking schedules based on operator configured, state information-gain metrics to determine observation priorities. This improves the efficiency of sensors to target objects as awareness changes and new information is needed, not at predefined frequencies solely. A net-centric, service-oriented architecture (SOA) allows for JCATS integration into existing SSA systems. Testing has shown operationally-relevant performance improvements and scalability across multiple types of scenarios and against current sensor tasking tools.

Benefits and limitations of using decision analytic tools to assess uncertainty and prioritize Landscape Conservation Cooperative information needs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Post van der Burg, Max; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Holcombe, Tracy R.; Nelson, Richard D.

2016-01-01

The Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are a network of partnerships throughout North America that are tasked with integrating science and management to support more effective delivery of conservation at a landscape scale. In order to achieve this integration, some LCCs have adopted the approach of providing their partners with better scientific information in an effort to facilitate more effective and coordinated conservation decisions. Taking this approach has led many LCCs to begin funding research to provide the information for improved decision making. To ensure that funding goes to research projects with the highest likelihood of leading to more integrated broad scale conservation, some LCCs have also developed approaches for prioritizing which information needs will be of most benefit to their partnerships. We describe two case studies in which decision analytic tools were used to quantitatively assess the relative importance of information for decisions made by partners in the Plains and Prairie Potholes LCC. The results of the case studies point toward a few valuable lessons in terms of using these tools with LCCs. Decision analytic tools tend to help shift focus away from research oriented discussions and toward discussions about how information is used in making better decisions. However, many technical experts do not have enough knowledge about decision making contexts to fully inform the latter type of discussion. When assessed in the right decision context, however, decision analyses can point out where uncertainties actually affect optimal decisions and where they do not. This helps technical experts understand that not all research is valuable in improving decision making. But perhaps most importantly, our results suggest that decision analytic tools may be more useful for LCCs as way of developing integrated objectives for coordinating partner decisions across the landscape, rather than simply ranking research priorities.

Information technology as a tool to improve the quality of American Indian health care.

PubMed

Sequist, Thomas D; Cullen, Theresa; Ayanian, John Z

2005-12-01

The American Indian/Alaska Native population experiences a disproportionate burden of disease across a spectrum of conditions. While the recent National Healthcare Disparities Report highlighted differences in quality of care among racial and ethnic groups, there was only very limited information available for American Indians. The Indian Health Service (IHS) is currently enhancing its information systems to improve the measurement of health care quality as well as to support quality improvement initiatives. We summarize current knowledge regarding health care quality for American Indians, highlighting the variation in reported measures in the existing literature. We then discuss how the IHS is using information systems to produce standardized performance measures and present future directions for improving American Indian health care quality.

Dynamic Hurricane Data Analysis Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knosp, Brian W.; Li, Peggy; Vu, Quoc A.

2009-01-01

A dynamic hurricane data analysis tool allows users of the JPL Tropical Cyclone Information System (TCIS) to analyze data over a Web medium. The TCIS software is described in the previous article, Tropical Cyclone Information System (TCIS) (NPO-45748). This tool interfaces with the TCIS database to pull in data from several different atmospheric and oceanic data sets, both observed by instruments. Users can use this information to generate histograms, maps, and profile plots for specific storms. The tool also displays statistical values for the user-selected parameter for the mean, standard deviation, median, minimum, and maximum values. There is little wait time, allowing for fast data plots over date and spatial ranges. Users may also zoom-in for a closer look at a particular spatial range. This is version 1 of the software. Researchers will use the data and tools on the TCIS to understand hurricane processes, improve hurricane forecast models and identify what types of measurements the next generation of instruments will need to collect.

Ensuring Patient Safety in Care Transitions: An Empirical Evaluation of a Handoff Intervention Tool

PubMed Central

Abraham, Joanna; Kannampallil, Thomas; Patel, Bela; Almoosa, Khalid; Patel, Vimla L.

2012-01-01

Successful handoffs ensure smooth, efficient and safe patient care transitions. Tools and systems designed for standardization of clinician handoffs often focuses on ensuring the communication activity during transitions, with limited support for preparatory activities such as information seeking and organization. We designed and evaluated a Handoff Intervention Tool (HAND-IT) based on a checklist-inspired, body system format allowing structured information organization, and a problem-case narrative format allowing temporal description of patient care events. Based on a pre-post prospective study using a multi-method analysis we evaluated the effectiveness of HAND-IT as a documentation tool. We found that the use of HAND-IT led to fewer transition breakdowns, greater tool resilience, and likely led to better learning outcomes for less-experienced clinicians when compared to the current tool. We discuss the implications of our results for improving patient safety with a continuity of care-based approach. PMID:23304268

Development of a Web-based Resident Profiling Tool to Support Training in Practice-based Learning and Improvement

PubMed Central

Schorling, John; Nadkarni, Mohan; May, Natalie; Scully, Ken; Voss, John

2008-01-01

Multiple factors are driving residency programs to explicitly address practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI), yet few information systems exist to facilitate such training. We developed, implemented, and evaluated a Web-based tool that provides Internal Medicine residents at the University of Virginia Health System with population-based reports about their ambulatory clinical experiences. Residents use Systems and Practice Analysis for Resident Competencies (SPARC) to identify potential areas for practice improvement. Thirty-three (65%) of 51 residents completed a survey assessing SPARC’s usefulness, with 94% agreeing that it was a useful educational tool. Twenty-six residents (51%) completed a before–after study indicating increased agreement (5-point Likert scale, with 5=strongly agree) with statements regarding confidence in ability to access population-based data about chronic disease management (mean [SD] 2.5 [1.2] vs. 4.5 [0.5], p < .001, sign test) and information comparing their practice style to that of their peers (2.2 [1.2] vs. 4.6 [0.5], p < .001). PMID:18373150

Toward improved simulation of river operations through integration with a hydrologic model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morway, Eric D.; Niswonger, Richard G.; Triana, Enrique

2016-01-01

Advanced modeling tools are needed for informed water resources planning and management. Two classes of modeling tools are often used to this end–(1) distributed-parameter hydrologic models for quantifying supply and (2) river-operation models for sorting out demands under rule-based systems such as the prior-appropriation doctrine. Within each of these two broad classes of models, there are many software tools that excel at simulating the processes specific to each discipline, but have historically over-simplified, or at worse completely neglected, aspects of the other. As a result, water managers reliant on river-operation models for administering water resources need improved tools for representing spatially and temporally varying groundwater resources in conjunctive-use systems. A new tool is described that improves the representation of groundwater/surface-water (GW-SW) interaction within a river-operations modeling context and, in so doing, advances evaluation of system-wide hydrologic consequences of new or altered management regimes.

Improving hydropower choices via an online and open access tool.

PubMed

Vilela, Thais; Reid, John

2017-01-01

This paper describes and validates the HydroCalculator Tool developed by Conservation Strategy Fund. The HydroCalculator Tool allows researchers, policy-makers and citizens to easily assess hydropower feasibility, by calculating traditional financial indicators, such as the levelized cost of energy, as well as greenhouse gas emissions and the economic net present value including emissions costs. Currently, people other than project developers have limited or no access to such information, which stifles informed public debate on electric energy options. Within this context, the use of the HydroCalculator Tool may contribute to the debate, by facilitating access to information. To validate the tool's greenhouse gas calculations, we replicate two peer-reviewed articles that estimate greenhouse gas emissions from different hydropower plants in the Amazon basin. The estimates calculated by the HydroCalculator Tool are similar to the ones found in both peer-reviewed articles. The results show that hydropower plants can lead to greenhouse gas emissions and that, in some cases, these emissions can be larger than those of alternative energy sources producing the same amount of electricity.

Building an Electronic Handover Tool for Physicians Using a Collaborative Approach between Clinicians and the Development Team.

PubMed

Guilbeault, Peggy; Momtahan, Kathryn; Hudson, Jordan

2015-01-01

In an effort by The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) to become one of the top 10% performers in patient safety and quality of care, the hospital embarked on improving the communication process during handover between physicians by building an electronic handover tool. It is expected that this tool will decrease information loss during handover. The Information Systems (IS) department engaged a workgroup of physicians to become involved in defining requirements to build an electronic handover tool that suited their clinical handover needs. This group became ultimately responsible for defining the graphical user interface (GUI) and all functionality related to the tool. Prior to the pilot, the Information Systems team will run a usability testing session to ensure the application is user friendly and has met the goals and objectives of the workgroup. As a result, The Ottawa Hospital has developed a fully integrated electronic handover tool built on the Clinical Mobile Application (CMA) which allows clinicians to enter patient problems, notes and tasks available to all physicians to facilitate the handover process.

[Management of pre-analytical nonconformities].

PubMed

Berkane, Z; Dhondt, J L; Drouillard, I; Flourié, F; Giannoli, J M; Houlbert, C; Surgat, P; Szymanowicz, A

2010-12-01

The main nonconformities enumerated to facilitate consensual codification. In each case, an action is defined: refusal to realize the examination with request of a new sample, request of information or correction, results cancellation, nurse or physician information. A traceability of the curative, corrective and preventive actions is needed. Then, methodology and indicators are proposed to assess nonconformity and to follow the quality improvements. The laboratory information system can be used instead of dedicated software. Tools for the follow-up of nonconformities scores are proposed. Finally, we propose an organization and some tools allowing the management and control of the nonconformities occurring during the pre-examination phase.

Using the Department of Labor's "My Next Move" to Improve Career Preparedness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koys, Daniel J.

2017-01-01

The Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network can help students prepare for their careers because it contains information on over 900 occupations. Occupational Information Network includes a tool called My Next Move that is designed to help people learn about those occupations. This research uses a pretest/posttest design with a…

Asking the Right Questions: How to Select an Informal Reading Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flippo, Rona F.; Holland, Dari-Ann D.; McCarthy, Mary T.; Swinning, Elizabeth A.

2009-01-01

Informal classroom assessments remain essential tools for improving the instruction of students, even in an age of accountability testing. This article focuses specifically on Informal Reading Inventories (IRIs). Even though the growing number of commercially available IRIs has made choosing the ones most suitable for students' and teachers' needs…

Examining Health Information Technology Implementation Success Factors in Critical Access Hospitals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monkman, Blake D.

2016-01-01

As the role of information technology increases throughout the world, healthcare providers in the United States face industry and governmental pressures to implement health information technology (HIT) as a tool to improve healthcare costs, quality, and safety. The problem addressed in this study was the relatively low HIT implementation success…

Further Clarification Requested by States around the Application of FERPA to State Longitudinal Data Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data Quality Campaign, 2011

2011-01-01

Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) provide the information and tools needed to inform policies, practices and decisions at every level to improve student achievement and system performance. It is equally important that there are policies and practices to protect personally identifiable information and to ensure the confidentiality and…

The Information Impact: Ensuring New Product Winners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trubkin, Loene

Despite investment in new research tools and techniques, the product development success rate has not improved within the last 25 years. One way to increase the success rate is to have the right information at each stage of the process. Today, a relatively new method of gathering information--online access to electronic files called…

MatSeis and the GNEM R&E regional seismic anaylsis tools.

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

Chael, Eric Paul; Hart, Darren M.; Young, Christopher John

2003-08-01

To improve the nuclear event monitoring capability of the U.S., the NNSA Ground-based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research & Engineering (GNEM R&E) program has been developing a collection of products known as the Knowledge Base (KB). Though much of the focus for the KB has been on the development of calibration data, we have also developed numerous software tools for various purposes. The Matlab-based MatSeis package and the associated suite of regional seismic analysis tools were developed to aid in the testing and evaluation of some Knowledge Base products for which existing applications were either not available or ill-suited. This presentationmore » will provide brief overviews of MatSeis and each of the tools, emphasizing features added in the last year. MatSeis was begun in 1996 and is now a fairly mature product. It is a highly flexible seismic analysis package that provides interfaces to read data from either flatfiles or an Oracle database. All of the standard seismic analysis tasks are supported (e.g. filtering, 3 component rotation, phase picking, event location, magnitude calculation), as well as a variety of array processing algorithms (beaming, FK, coherency analysis, vespagrams). The simplicity of Matlab coding and the tremendous number of available functions make MatSeis/Matlab an ideal environment for developing new monitoring research tools (see the regional seismic analysis tools below). New MatSeis features include: addition of evid information to events in MatSeis, options to screen picks by author, input and output of origerr information, improved performance in reading flatfiles, improved speed in FK calculations, and significant improvements to Measure Tool (filtering, multiple phase display), Free Plot (filtering, phase display and alignment), Mag Tool (maximum likelihood options), and Infra Tool (improved calculation speed, display of an F statistic stream). Work on the regional seismic analysis tools (CodaMag, EventID, PhaseMatch, and Dendro) began in 1999 and the tools vary in their level of maturity. All rely on MatSeis to provide necessary data (waveforms, arrivals, origins, and travel time curves). CodaMag Tool implements magnitude calculation by scaling to fit the envelope shape of the coda for a selected phase type (Mayeda, 1993; Mayeda and Walter, 1996). New tool features include: calculation of a yield estimate based on the source spectrum, display of a filtered version of the seismogram based on the selected band, and the output of codamag data records for processed events. EventID Tool implements event discrimination using phase ratios of regional arrivals (Hartse et al., 1997; Walter et al., 1999). New features include: bandpass filtering of displayed waveforms, screening of reference events based on SNR, multivariate discriminants, use of libcgi to access correction surfaces, and the output of discrim{_}data records for processed events. PhaseMatch Tool implements match filtering to isolate surface waves (Herrin and Goforth, 1977). New features include: display of the signal's observed dispersion and an option to use a station-based dispersion surface. Dendro Tool implements agglomerative hierarchical clustering using dendrograms to identify similar events based on waveform correlation (Everitt, 1993). New features include: modifications to include arrival information within the tool, and the capability to automatically add/re-pick arrivals based on the picked arrivals for similar events.« less

Information Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Follen, Gregory J.; Naiman, Cynthia

2003-01-01

The objective of GRC CNIS/IE work is to build a plug-n-play infrastructure that provides the Grand Challenge Applications with a suite of tools for coupling codes together, numerical zooming between fidelity of codes and gaining deployment of these simulations onto the Information Power Grid. The GRC CNIS/IE work will streamline and improve this process by providing tighter integration of various tools through the use of object oriented design of component models and data objects and through the use of CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture).

Assess, Map and Predict the Integrity, Resilience, and ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This project will provide knowledge and adaptive management techniques to both maintain healthy waters and to improve degraded systems. It will provide scientific support for the National Aquatic Resource Surveys. Results will provide a basis for informed decision making and tools applicable to EPA program office and regional needs at national regional, and local scales. The research products, tools, models, and maps produced will be an excellent means to communicate management options with stakeholders. To share information about SSWR research projects

A clustering approach to segmenting users of internet-based risk calculators.

PubMed

Harle, C A; Downs, J S; Padman, R

2011-01-01

Risk calculators are widely available Internet applications that deliver quantitative health risk estimates to consumers. Although these tools are known to have varying effects on risk perceptions, little is known about who will be more likely to accept objective risk estimates. To identify clusters of online health consumers that help explain variation in individual improvement in risk perceptions from web-based quantitative disease risk information. A secondary analysis was performed on data collected in a field experiment that measured people's pre-diabetes risk perceptions before and after visiting a realistic health promotion website that provided quantitative risk information. K-means clustering was performed on numerous candidate variable sets, and the different segmentations were evaluated based on between-cluster variation in risk perception improvement. Variation in responses to risk information was best explained by clustering on pre-intervention absolute pre-diabetes risk perceptions and an objective estimate of personal risk. Members of a high-risk overestimater cluster showed large improvements in their risk perceptions, but clusters of both moderate-risk and high-risk underestimaters were much more muted in improving their optimistically biased perceptions. Cluster analysis provided a unique approach for segmenting health consumers and predicting their acceptance of quantitative disease risk information. These clusters suggest that health consumers were very responsive to good news, but tended not to incorporate bad news into their self-perceptions much. These findings help to quantify variation among online health consumers and may inform the targeted marketing of and improvements to risk communication tools on the Internet.

Diagnosis, Dogmatism, and Rationality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rabinowitz, Jonathan; Efron, Noah J.

1997-01-01

Presents findings suggesting that misdiagnoses frequently stem from flaws in human information processing, particularly in collecting and using information. Claims that improved diagnostic tools will not remedy the problem. Drawing on the work of Karl Popper and Robin Collingwood, proposes operational principles to ensure a rational diagnostic…

Impacts of e-health on the outcomes of care in low- and middle-income countries: where do we go from here?

PubMed

Piette, John D; Lun, K C; Moura, Lincoln A; Fraser, Hamish S F; Mechael, Patricia N; Powell, John; Khoja, Shariq R

2012-05-01

E-health encompasses a diverse set of informatics tools that have been designed to improve public health and health care. Little information is available on the impacts of e-health programmes, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We therefore conducted a scoping review of the published and non-published literature to identify data on the effects of e-health on health outcomes and costs. The emphasis was on the identification of unanswered questions for future research, particularly on topics relevant to low- and middle-income countries. Although e-health tools supporting clinical practice have growing penetration globally, there is more evidence of benefits for tools that support clinical decisions and laboratory information systems than for those that support picture archiving and communication systems. Community information systems for disease surveillance have been implemented successfully in several low- and middle-income countries. Although information on outcomes is generally lacking, a large project in Brazil has documented notable impacts on health-system efficiency. Meta-analyses and rigorous trials have documented the benefits of text messaging for improving outcomes such as patients' self-care. Automated telephone monitoring and self-care support calls have been shown to improve some outcomes of chronic disease management, such as glycaemia and blood pressure control, in low- and middle-income countries. Although large programmes for e-health implementation and research are being conducted in many low- and middle-income countries, more information on the impacts of e-health on outcomes and costs in these settings is still needed.

Impacts of e-health on the outcomes of care in low- and middle-income countries: where do we go from here?

PubMed Central

Lun, KC; Moura, Lincoln A; Fraser, Hamish SF; Mechael, Patricia N; Powell, John; Khoja, Shariq R

2012-01-01

Abstract E-health encompasses a diverse set of informatics tools that have been designed to improve public health and health care. Little information is available on the impacts of e-health programmes, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We therefore conducted a scoping review of the published and non-published literature to identify data on the effects of e-health on health outcomes and costs. The emphasis was on the identification of unanswered questions for future research, particularly on topics relevant to low- and middle-income countries. Although e-health tools supporting clinical practice have growing penetration globally, there is more evidence of benefits for tools that support clinical decisions and laboratory information systems than for those that support picture archiving and communication systems. Community information systems for disease surveillance have been implemented successfully in several low- and middle-income countries. Although information on outcomes is generally lacking, a large project in Brazil has documented notable impacts on health-system efficiency. Meta-analyses and rigorous trials have documented the benefits of text messaging for improving outcomes such as patients’ self-care. Automated telephone monitoring and self-care support calls have been shown to improve some outcomes of chronic disease management, such as glycaemia and blood pressure control, in low- and middle-income countries. Although large programmes for e-health implementation and research are being conducted in many low- and middle-income countries, more information on the impacts of e-health on outcomes and costs in these settings is still needed. PMID:22589570

A database for coconut crop improvement

PubMed Central

Rajagopal, Velamoor; Manimekalai, Ramaswamy; Devakumar, Krishnamurthy; Rajesh; Karun, Anitha; Niral, Vittal; Gopal, Murali; Aziz, Shamina; Gunasekaran, Marimuthu; Kumar, Mundappurathe Ramesh; Chandrasekar, Arumugam

2005-01-01

Coconut crop improvement requires a number of biotechnology and bioinformatics tools. A database containing information on CG (coconut germplasm), CCI (coconut cultivar identification), CD (coconut disease), MIFSPC (microbial information systems in plantation crops) and VO (vegetable oils) is described. The database was developed using MySQL and PostgreSQL running in Linux operating system. The database interface is developed in PHP, HTML and JAVA. Availability http://www.bioinfcpcri.org PMID:17597858

A Web-Based Learning Tool Improves Student Performance in Statistics: A Randomized Masked Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Jose A.; Jover, Lluis; Cobo, Erik; Munoz, Pilar

2010-01-01

Background: e-status is a web-based tool able to generate different statistical exercises and to provide immediate feedback to students' answers. Although the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is becoming widespread in undergraduate education, there are few experimental studies evaluating its effects on learning. Method: All…

78 FR 28111 - Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-14

... warning systems, location-based applications, precision farming tools, and much more, improving Americans... repository of tools and best practices to assist agencies in integrating the Open Data Policy into their... needed to ensure it remains a resource to facilitate the adoption of open data practices. (b) Within 90...

Perspectives on Literacy as a Tool for Sustainable Social Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osalusi, F. M.; Oluwagbohunmi, M. F.

2014-01-01

This study investigated perspectives on literacy as a tool for sustainable relationship among people. The study was conducted due to the significant role of literacy as an instrument of empowerment to improve relationship with other people by sharing information, ideas and knowledge to meet variety of purposes. The study adopted descriptive…

A geographic information system screening tool to tackle diffuse pollution through the use of sustainable drainage systems.

PubMed

Todorovic, Zorica; Breton, Neil P

2014-01-01

Sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) offer many benefits that traditional solutions do not. Traditional approaches are unable to offer a solution to problems of flood management and water quality. Holistic consideration of the wide range of benefits from SUDS can result in advantages such as improved flood resilience and water quality enhancement through consideration of diffuse pollution sources. Using a geographical information system (GIS) approach, diffuse pollutant sources and opportunities for SUDS are easily identified. Consideration of potential SUDS locations results in source, site and regional controls, leading to improved water quality (to meet Water Framework Directive targets). The paper will discuss two different applications of the tool, the first of which is where the pollutant of interest is known. In this case the outputs of the tool highlight and isolate the areas contributing the pollutants and suggest the adequate SUDS measures to meet the required criteria. The second application is where the tool identifies likely pollutants at a receiving location, and SUDS measures are proposed to reduce pollution with assessed efficiencies.

Modelling the impacts of new diagnostic tools for tuberculosis in developing countries to enhance policy decisions.

PubMed

Langley, Ivor; Doulla, Basra; Lin, Hsien-Ho; Millington, Kerry; Squire, Bertie

2012-09-01

The introduction and scale-up of new tools for the diagnosis of Tuberculosis (TB) in developing countries has the potential to make a huge difference to the lives of millions of people living in poverty. To achieve this, policy makers need the information to make the right decisions about which new tools to implement and where in the diagnostic algorithm to apply them most effectively. These decisions are difficult as the new tools are often expensive to implement and use, and the health system and patient impacts uncertain, particularly in developing countries where there is a high burden of TB. The authors demonstrate that a discrete event simulation model could play a significant part in improving and informing these decisions. The feasibility of linking the discrete event simulation to a dynamic epidemiology model is also explored in order to take account of longer term impacts on the incidence of TB. Results from two diagnostic districts in Tanzania are used to illustrate how the approach could be used to improve decisions.

Microgrid Analysis Tools Summary

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

Jimenez, Antonio; Haase, Scott G; Mathur, Shivani

2018-03-05

The over-arching goal of the Alaska Microgrid Partnership is to reduce the use of total imported fuel into communities to secure all energy services by at least 50% in Alaska's remote microgrids without increasing system life cycle costs while also improving overall system reliability, security, and resilience. One goal of the Alaska Microgrid Partnership is to investigate whether a combination of energy efficiency and high-contribution (from renewable energy) power systems can reduce total imported energy usage by 50% while reducing life cycle costs and improving reliability and resiliency. This presentation provides an overview of the following four renewable energy optimizationmore » tools. Information is from respective tool websites, tool developers, and author experience. Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM) Microgrid Design Toolkit (MDT) Renewable Energy Optimization (REopt) Tool Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER).« less

Rates of detection of developmental problems at the 18-month well-baby visit by family physicians' using four evidence-based screening tools compared to usual care: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Thomas, R E; Spragins, W; Mazloum, G; Cronkhite, M; Maru, G

2016-05-01

Early and regular developmental screening can improve children's development through early intervention but is insufficiently used. Most developmental problems are readily evident at the 18-month well-baby visit. This trial's purpose is to: (1) compare identification rates of developmental problems by GPs/family physicians using four evidence-based tools with non-evidence based screening, and (2) ascertain whether the four tools can be completed in 10-min pre-visit on a computer. We compared two approaches to early identification via random assignment of 54 families to either: 'usual care' (informal judgment including ad-hoc milestones, n = 25); or (2) 'Evidence-based' care (use of four validated, accurate screening tools, n = 29), including: the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), the PEDS-Developmental Milestones (PEDS-DM), the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) and PHQ9 (maternal depression). In the 'usual care' group four (16%) and in the evidence-based tools group 18 (62%) were identified as having a possible developmental problem. In the evidence-based tools group three infants were to be recalled at 24 months for language checks (no specialist referrals made). In the 'usual care' group four problems were identified: one child was referred for speech therapy, two to return to check language at 24 months and a mother to discuss depression. All forms were completed on-line within 10 min. Despite higher early detection rates in the evidence-based care group, there were no differences in referral rates between evidence-based and usual-care groups. This suggests that clinicians: (1) override evidence-based screening results with informal judgment; and/or (2) need assistance understanding test results and making referrals. Possible solutions are improve the quality of information obtained from the screening process, improved training of physicians, improved support for individual practices and acceptance by the regional health authority for overall responsibility for screening and creation of a comprehensive network. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Practical tools and methods for health technology assessment in Europe: structures, methodologies, and tools developed by the European Network for Health Technology Assessment, EUnetHTA.

PubMed

Kristensen, Finn Børlum; Lampe, Kristian; Chase, Deborah L; Lee-Robin, Sun Hae; Wild, Claudia; Moharra, Montse; Garrido, Marcial Velasco; Nielsen, Camilla Palmhøj; Røttingen, John-Arne; Neikter, Susanna Allgurin; Bistrup, Marie Louise

2009-12-01

This article presents an overview of the practical methods and tools to support transnational Health Technology Assessment (HTA) that were developed and pilot tested by the European network for HTA (EUnetHTA), which involved a total of sixty-four Partner organizations. The methods differ according to scope and purpose of each of the tools developed. They included, for example, literature reviews, surveys, Delphi and consensus methods, workshops, pilot tests, and internal/public consultation. Practical results include an HTA Core Model and a Handbook on the use of the model, two pilot examples of HTA core information, an HTA Adaptation Toolkit for taking existing reports into new settings, a book about HTA and health policy making in Europe, a newsletter providing structured information about emerging/new technologies, an interactive Web-based tool to share information about monitoring activities for emerging/new technologies, and a Handbook on HTA capacity building for Member States with limited institutionalization of HTA. The tools provide high-quality information and methodological frameworks for HTA that facilitate preparation of HTA documentation, and sharing of information in and across national or regional systems. The tools will be used and further tested by partners in the EUnetHTA Collaboration aiming to (i) help reduce unnecessary duplication of HTA activities, (ii) develop and promote good practice in HTA methods and processes, (iii) share what can be shared, (iv) facilitate local adaptation of HTA information, (v) improve the links between health policy and HTA.

Cardiovascular point of care initiative: enhancements in clinical data management.

PubMed

Robertson, Jane

2003-01-01

The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC) initiated a program in 1996 to improve the quality and usefulness of clinical outcomes data. After years of using a commercial vendor product and enduring a tedious collection process, the department decided to develop its own tools to support quality improvement efforts. Using a hand-held personal data assistant (PDA), the team developed tools that allowed ongoing data collection at the point of care delivery. The tools and methods facilitated the collection of real time, accurate information that allowed EAMC to participate in multiple clinical quality initiatives. The ability to conduct rapid-cycle performance improvement studies propelled EAMC's Cardiovascular Surgery Program into the Top 100 as recognized by HCIA, now Solucient, for 3 consecutive years (1999-2001). This report will describe the evolution of the data collection process as well as the quality improvements that resulted.

What makes a sustainability tool valuable, practical and useful in real-world healthcare practice? A mixed-methods study on the development of the Long Term Success Tool in Northwest London

PubMed Central

Lennox, Laura; Doyle, Cathal; Reed, Julie E

2017-01-01

Objectives Although improvement initiatives show benefits to patient care, they often fail to sustain. Models and frameworks exist to address this challenge, but issues with design, clarity and usability have been barriers to use in healthcare settings. This work aimed to collaborate with stakeholders to develop a sustainability tool relevant to people in healthcare settings and practical for use in improvement initiatives. Design Tool development was conducted in six stages. A scoping literature review, group discussions and a stakeholder engagement event explored literature findings and their resonance with stakeholders in healthcare settings. Interviews, small-scale trialling and piloting explored the design and tested the practicality of the tool in improvement initiatives. Setting National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London (CLAHRC NWL). Participants CLAHRC NWL improvement initiative teams and staff. Results The iterative design process and engagement of stakeholders informed the articulation of the sustainability factors identified from the literature and guided tool design for practical application. Key iterations of factors and tool design are discussed. From the development process, the Long Term Success Tool (LTST) has been designed. The Tool supports those implementing improvements to reflect on 12 sustainability factors to identify risks to increase chances of achieving sustainability over time. The Tool is designed to provide a platform for improvement teams to share their own views on sustainability as well as learn about the different views held within their team to prompt discussion and actions. Conclusion The development of the LTST has reinforced the importance of working with stakeholders to design strategies which respond to their needs and preferences and can practically be implemented in real-world settings. Further research is required to study the use and effectiveness of the tool in practice and assess engagement with the method over time. PMID:28947436

Impact of the World Health Organization's Decision-Making Tool for Family Planning Clients and Providers on the quality of family planning services in Iran.

PubMed

Farrokh-Eslamlou, Hamidreza; Aghlmand, Siamak; Eslami, Mohammad; Homer, Caroline S E

2014-04-01

We investigated whether use of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Decision-Making Tool (DMT) for Family Planning Clients and Providers would improve the process and outcome quality indicators of family planning (FP) services in Iran. The DMT was adapted for the Iranian setting. The study evaluated 24 FP quality key indicators grouped into two main areas, namely process and outcome. The tool was implemented in 52 urban and rural public health facilities in four selected and representative provinces of Iran. A pre-post methodology was undertaken to examine whether use of the tool improved the quality of FP services and client satisfaction with the services. Quantitative data were collected through observations of counselling and exit interviews with clients using structured questionnaires. Different numbers of FP clients were recruited during the baseline and the post-intervention rounds (n=448 vs 547, respectively). The DMT improved many client-provider interaction indicators, including verbal and non-verbal communication (p<0.05). The tool also impacted positively on the client's choice of contraceptive method, providers' technical competence, and quality of information provided to clients (p<0.05). Use of the tool improved the clients' satisfaction with FP services (from 72% to 99%; p<0.05). The adapted WHO's DMT has the potential to improve the quality of FP services.

Towards a National Space Weather Predictive Capability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, N. J.; Ryschkewitsch, M. G.; Merkin, V. G.; Stephens, G. K.; Gjerloev, J. W.; Barnes, R. J.; Anderson, B. J.; Paxton, L. J.; Ukhorskiy, A. Y.; Kelly, M. A.; Berger, T. E.; Bonadonna, L. C. M. F.; Hesse, M.; Sharma, S.

2015-12-01

National needs in the area of space weather informational and predictive tools are growing rapidly. Adverse conditions in the space environment can cause disruption of satellite operations, communications, navigation, and electric power distribution grids, leading to a variety of socio-economic losses and impacts on our security. Future space exploration and most modern human endeavors will require major advances in physical understanding and improved transition of space research to operations. At present, only a small fraction of the latest research and development results from NASA, NOAA, NSF and DoD investments are being used to improve space weather forecasting and to develop operational tools. The power of modern research and space weather model development needs to be better utilized to enable comprehensive, timely, and accurate operational space weather tools. The mere production of space weather information is not sufficient to address the needs of those who are affected by space weather. A coordinated effort is required to support research-to-applications transition efforts and to develop the tools required those who rely on this information. In this presentation we will review the space weather system developed for the Van Allen Probes mission, together with other datasets, tools and models that have resulted from research by scientists at JHU/APL. We will look at how these, and results from future missions such as Solar Probe Plus, could be applied to support space weather applications in coordination with other community assets and capabilities.

A National Framework for Energy Audit Ordinances

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

Taylor, Cody; Costa, Marc; Long, Nicholas

A handful of U.S. cities have begun to incorporate energy audits into their building energy performance policies. Cities are beginning to recognize an opportunity to use several information tools to bring to real estate markets both motivation to improve efficiency and actionable pointers on how to improve. Care is necessary to combine such tools as operational ratings, energy audits, asset ratings, and building retro-commissioning in an effective policy regime that maximizes market impact. In this paper, the authors focus on energy audits and consider both the needs of the policies' implementers in local governments and the emerging standards and federalmore » tools to improve data collection and practitioner engagement. Over the past two years, we have compared several related data formats such as New York City's existing audit reporting spreadsheet, ASHRAE guidance on building energy auditing, and the DOE Building Energy Asset Score, to identify a possible set of required and optional fields for energy audit reporting programs. Doing so revealed tensions between the ease of data collection and the value of more detailed information, which had implications for the effort and qualifications needed to complete the energy audit. The resulting list of data fields is now feeding back into the regulatory process in several cities currently working on implementing or developing audit policies. Using complementary policies and standardized tools for data transmission, the next generation of policies and programs will be tailored to local building stock and can more effectively target improvement opportunities through each building's life.« less

Are consumer surveys valuable as a service improvement tool in health services? A critical appraisal.

PubMed

Patwardhan, Anjali; Patwardhan, Prakash

2009-01-01

In the recent climate of consumerism and consumer focused care, health and social care needs to be more responsive than ever before. Consumer needs and preferences can be elicited with accepted validity and reliability only by strict methodological control, customerisation of the questionnaire and skilled interpretation. To construct, conduct, interpret and implement improved service provision, requires a trained work force and infrastructure. This article aims to appraise various aspects of consumer surveys and to assess their value as effective service improvement tools. The customer is the sole reason organisations exist. Consumer surveys are used worldwide as service and quality of care improvement tools by all types of service providers including health service providers. The article critically appraises the value of consumer surveys as service improvement tools in health services tool and its future applications. No one type of survey is the best or ideal. The key is the selection of the correct survey methodology, unique and customised for the particular type/aspect of care being evaluated. The method used should reflect the importance of the information required. Methodological rigor is essential for the effectiveness of consumer surveys as service improvement tools. Unfortunately so far there is no universal consensus on superiority of one particular methodology over another or any benefit of one specific methodology in a given situation. More training and some dedicated resource allocation is required to develop consumer surveys. More research is needed to develop specific survey methodology and evaluation techniques for improved validity and reliability of the surveys as service improvement tools. Measurement of consumer preferences/priorities, evaluation of services and key performance scores, is not easy. Consumer surveys seem impressive tools as they provide the customer a voice for change or modification. However, from a scientific point-of-view their credibility in service improvement in terms of reproducibility, reliability and validity, has remained debatable. This artcile is a critical appraisal of the value of consumer surveys as a service improvement tool in health services--a lesson which needs to be learnt.

The use of multimedia as an adjunct to the informed consent process for ankle ligament reconstruction surgery.

PubMed

Batuyong, Eldridge; Birks, Christopher; Beischer, Andrew D

2012-06-01

Obtaining "informed consent" is an integral aspect of surgery that can be fraught with difficulty. This study assessed the efficacy of a multimedia education tool in improving patients' understanding when used as an adjunct to the traditional verbal consent process regarding ankle lateral ligament reconstruction surgery. A total of 56 patients (28 males and 28 females) were recruited with a mean age of 36 years. A standardized verbal discussion regarding surgical treatment was provided to each patient. Understanding was then assessed using a knowledge questionnaire. Subsequently, each patient observed a multimedia educational program following which the knowledge questionnaire was repeated. Additional supplementary questions were then given regarding the ease of understanding and satisfaction with the 2 methods of education delivery. The patients answered 75% of the questions correctly before the multimedia module compared with 88% after it (P < .001). Patients rated the ease of understanding and the amount of information provided by the module highly (9.5 cm and 9.0 cm on a 10-cm Visual Analogue Scale scale, respectively), and 61% of patients considered that the multimedia tool performed as well as the treating surgeon. Multimedia tools used in sequence after a verbal consent resulted in improved patient understanding of pertinent information regarding ankle lateral ligament reconstruction surgery. Therapeutic Level II.

Horizontal integration of OMIM across the medical school preclinical curriculum for early reinforcement of clinical genetics principles.

PubMed

Diehl, Adam C; Reader, Lauren; Hamosh, Ada; Bodurtha, Joann N

2015-02-01

With the relentless expansion of genetics into every field of medicine, stronger preclinical and clinical medical student education in genetics is needed. The explosion of genetic information cannot be addressed by simply adding content hours. We proposed that students be provided a tool to access accurate clinical information on genetic conditions and, through this tool, build life-long learning habits to carry them through their medical careers. Surveys conducted at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine revealed that medical students in all years lacked confidence when approaching genetic conditions and lacked a reliable resource for accurate genetic information. In response, the school created a horizontal thread that stretches across the first-year curriculum and is devoted to teaching students how to use Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) (http://omim.org) and the databases to which it links as a starting point for approaching genetic conditions. The thread improved the first-year students' confidence in clinical genetics concepts and encouraged use of OMIM as a primary source for genetic information. Most students showed confidence in OMIM as a learning tool and wanted to see the thread repeated in subsequent years. Incorporating OMIM into the preclinical curriculum improved students' confidence in clinical genetics concepts.

Veterans' experience in using the online Surgeon General's family health history tool.

PubMed

Arar, Nedal; Seo, Joann; Abboud, Hanna E; Parchman, Michael; Noel, Polly

2011-09-01

AIM: To assess veterans' experience and satisfaction in using the Surgeon General's (SG) online family health history (FHH) tool, and determine the perceived facilitators and barriers to using the online SG-FHH tool. MATERIALS #ENTITYSTARTX00026; METHODS: A mixed-method using both qualitative and quantitative approaches was employed in this study. A total of 35 veterans at the VA Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, USA were invited to enter their FHH information using the online SG-FHH tool, complete the study's satisfaction survey and participate in a short semi-structured interview. The goal of the semi-structured interviews was to assess participants perceived facilitators and barriers to using the online SG-FHH tool. All participants were also provided with a printed copy of their pedigree, which was generated by the SG-FHH tool and were encouraged to share it with their relatives and providers. RESULTS: The majority of participants (91%) said that they had access to a computer with internet capability and 77% reported that they knew how to use a computer. More than two-thirds of the participants felt that items on the SG-FHH tool were easy to read and felt that FHH categories were relevant to their family's health. Approximately 94% of participants viewed the SG-FHH tool as useful, and the majority of participants (97%) indicated that they were likely to recommend the tool to others. Content analysis of the semi-structured interviews highlighted several barriers to veterans' use of the SG-FHH tool and their FHH information. These included: lack of patients' knowledge regarding their relatives' FHH, and privacy and confidentiality concerns. CONCLUSION: This study provides information on the performance and functionality of an inexpensive and widely accessible method for FHH collection. Furthermore, our findings highlight several opportunities and challenges facing the utilization of FHH information as a clinical and genomic tool at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The results suggest that strategies that improve veterans' knowledge regarding the importance of their FHH information and that address their concerns about privacy and confidentiality may enhance the successful implementation of FHH information into VHA clinical practice. IMPLICATIONS: identifying a locally accepted method for FHH collection and documentation which can be conducted outside of the patient visit will reduce time burdens for providers and patients and allow for a focus on other important topics during clinic visits. Improvement in familial risk screening and assessment will enable the VHA to be prepared for personalized medicine and focus their resources on promoting critically important health behaviors for populations with the highest risk of developing chronic diseases and their complications.

Practices to prevent venous thromboembolism: a brief review

PubMed Central

Lau, Brandyn D; Haut, Elliott R

2014-01-01

Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common cause of preventable harm for hospitalised patients. Over the past decade, numerous intervention types have been implemented in attempts to improve the prescription of VTE prophylaxis in hospitals, with varying degrees of success. We reviewed key articles to assess the efficacy of different types of interventions to improve prescription of VTE prophylaxis for hospitalised patients. Methods We conducted a search of MEDLINE for key studies published between 2001 and 2012 of interventions employing education, paper based tools, computerised tools, real time audit and feedback, or combinations of intervention types to improve prescription of VTE prophylaxis for patients in hospital settings. Process outcomes of interest were prescription of any VTE prophylaxis and best practice VTE prophylaxis. Clinical outcomes of interest were any VTE and potentially preventable VTE, defined as VTE occurring in patients not prescribed appropriate prophylaxis. Results 16 articles were included in this review. Two studies employed education only, four implemented paper based tools, four used computerised tools, two evaluated audit and feedback strategies, and four studies used combinations of intervention types. Individual modalities result in improved prescription of VTE prophylaxis; however, the greatest and most sustained improvements were those that combined education with computerised tools. Conclusions Many intervention types have proven effective to different degrees in improving VTE prevention. Provider education is likely a required additional component and should be combined with other intervention types. Active mandatory tools are likely more effective than passive ones. Information technology tools that are well integrated into provider workflow, such as alerts and computerised clinical decision support, can improve best practice prophylaxis use and prevent patient harm resulting from VTE. PMID:23708438

Development of an Integrated Human Factors Toolkit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Resnick, Marc L.

2003-01-01

An effective integration of human abilities and limitations is crucial to the success of all NASA missions. The Integrated Human Factors Toolkit facilitates this integration by assisting system designers and analysts to select the human factors tools that are most appropriate for the needs of each project. The HF Toolkit contains information about a broad variety of human factors tools addressing human requirements in the physical, information processing and human reliability domains. Analysis of each tool includes consideration of the most appropriate design stage, the amount of expertise in human factors that is required, the amount of experience with the tool and the target job tasks that are needed, and other factors that are critical for successful use of the tool. The benefits of the Toolkit include improved safety, reliability and effectiveness of NASA systems throughout the agency. This report outlines the initial stages of development for the Integrated Human Factors Toolkit.

Integrating Concept Mapping into Information Systems Education for Meaningful Learning and Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Wei; Yue, Kwok-Bun

2017-01-01

Concept map (CM) is a theoretically sound yet easy to learn tool and can be effectively used to represent knowledge. Even though many disciplines have adopted CM as a teaching and learning tool to improve learning effectiveness, its application in IS curriculum is sparse. Meaningful learning happens when one iteratively integrates new concepts and…

Using exercises to improve public health preparedness in Asia, the Middle East and Africa

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Exercises are increasingly common tools used by the health sector and other sectors to evaluate their preparedness to respond to public health threats. Exercises provide an opportunity for multiple sectors to practice, test and evaluate their response to all types of public health emergencies. The information from these exercises can be used to refine and improve preparedness plans. There is a growing body of literature about the use of exercises among local, state and federal public health agencies in the United States. There is much less information about the use of exercises among public health agencies in other countries and the use of exercises that involve multiple countries. Results We developed and conducted 12 exercises (four sub-national, five national, three sub-regional) from August 2006 through December 2008. These 12 exercises included 558 participants (average 47) and 137 observers (average 11) from 14 countries. Participants consistently rated the overall quality of the exercises as very good or excellent. They rated the exercises lowest on their ability to identifying key gaps in performance. The vast majority of participants noted that they would use the information they gained at the exercise to improve their organization’s preparedness to respond to an influenza pandemic. Participants felt the exercises were particularly good at raising awareness and understanding about public health threats, assisting in evaluating plans and identifying priorities for improvement, and building relationships that strengthen preparedness and response across sectors and across countries. Participants left the exercises with specific ideas about the most important actions that they should engage in after the exercise such as improved planning coordination across sectors and countries and better training of health workers and response personnel. Conclusions These experiences suggest that exercises can be a valuable, low-burden tool to improve emergency preparedness and response in countries around the world. They also demonstrate that countries can work together to develop and conduct successful exercises designed to improve regional preparedness to public health threats. The development of standardized evaluation methods for exercises may be an additional tool to help focus the actions to be taken as a result of the exercise and to improve future exercises. Exercises show great promise as tools to improve public health preparedness across sectors and countries. PMID:25063987

An Evaluator of the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hargreaves, William; Attkisson, C. Clifford

1978-01-01

For the evaluator, future expectations will be more demanding than at present. Operating staff, managers, and funders will be familiar with the program evaluation. Improved information tools will help by keeping the organization visible and manageable. A more fundamental change will be an improved "language of accountability." (Author/CTM)

An Informed Approach to Improving Quantitative Literacy and Mitigating Math Anxiety in Undergraduates Through Introductory Science Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Follette, K.; McCarthy, D.

2012-08-01

Current trends in the teaching of high school and college science avoid numerical engagement because nearly all students lack basic arithmetic skills and experience anxiety when encountering numbers. Nevertheless, such skills are essential to science and vital to becoming savvy consumers, citizens capable of recognizing pseudoscience, and discerning interpreters of statistics in ever-present polls, studies, and surveys in which our society is awash. Can a general-education collegiate course motivate students to value numeracy and to improve their quantitative skills in what may well be their final opportunity in formal education? We present a tool to assess whether skills in numeracy/quantitative literacy can be fostered and improved in college students through the vehicle of non-major introductory courses in astronomy. Initial classroom applications define the magnitude of this problem and indicate that significant improvements are possible. Based on these initial results we offer this tool online and hope to collaborate with other educators, both formal and informal, to develop effective mechanisms for encouraging all students to value and improve their skills in basic numeracy.

Helping solve Georgia's water problems - the USGS Cooperative Water Program

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clarke, John S.

2006-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) addresses a wide variety of water issues in the State of Georgia through the Cooperative Water Program (CWP). As the primary Federal science agency for water-resource information, the USGS monitors the quantity and quality of water in the Nation's rivers and aquifers, assesses the sources and fate of contaminants in aquatic systems, collects and analyzes data on aquatic ecosystems, develops tools to improve the application of hydrologic information, and ensures that its information and tools are available to all potential users. This broad, diverse mission cannot be accomplished effectively without the contributions of the CWP.

Analysis of disulphide bonds found in human hair by Raman spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pina-Ruiz, A. L.; Cordova-Fraga, T.; Plascencia-Castro, A. S.; Hernandez-Rayas, A.; Ruvalcaba, J. M.

2017-04-01

Raman spectroscopy offers information-rich spectra, making it a technique easy to use in areas such as biology, chemistry, and in the field. Human hair spectra has been recorded obtaining interesting information about its composition. Correlating information obtained from these spectra to bone health and determining if Raman spectroscopy could be used as a diagnostic tool of bone health is proposed. Spectra from healthy women were compared to the spectra of women who have suffered a bone fracture, all which were aged 39-60. This technique has potential to become a regular diagnostic tool and further investigation to improve and validate this method are needed.

CTAS and NASA Air Traffic Management Fact Sheets for En Route Descent Advisor and Surface Management System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Katharine

2004-01-01

The Surface Management System (SMS) is a decision support tool that will help controllers, traffic managers, and NAS users manage the movements of aircraft on the surface of busy airports, improving capacity, efficiency, and flexibility. The Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) Project at NASA is developing SMS in cooperation with the FAA's Free Flight Phase 2 (FFP2) pro5ram. SMS consists of three parts: a traffic management tool, a controller tool, and a National Airspace System (NAS) information tool.

Improving hydropower choices via an online and open access tool

PubMed Central

Vilela, Thais; Reid, John

2017-01-01

This paper describes and validates the HydroCalculator Tool developed by Conservation Strategy Fund. The HydroCalculator Tool allows researchers, policy-makers and citizens to easily assess hydropower feasibility, by calculating traditional financial indicators, such as the levelized cost of energy, as well as greenhouse gas emissions and the economic net present value including emissions costs. Currently, people other than project developers have limited or no access to such information, which stifles informed public debate on electric energy options. Within this context, the use of the HydroCalculator Tool may contribute to the debate, by facilitating access to information. To validate the tool’s greenhouse gas calculations, we replicate two peer-reviewed articles that estimate greenhouse gas emissions from different hydropower plants in the Amazon basin. The estimates calculated by the HydroCalculator Tool are similar to the ones found in both peer-reviewed articles. The results show that hydropower plants can lead to greenhouse gas emissions and that, in some cases, these emissions can be larger than those of alternative energy sources producing the same amount of electricity. PMID:28650968

PET/MRI for neurologic applications.

PubMed

Catana, Ciprian; Drzezga, Alexander; Heiss, Wolf-Dieter; Rosen, Bruce R

2012-12-01

PET and MRI provide complementary information in the study of the human brain. Simultaneous PET/MRI data acquisition allows the spatial and temporal correlation of the measured signals, creating opportunities impossible to realize using stand-alone instruments. This paper reviews the methodologic improvements and potential neurologic and psychiatric applications of this novel technology. We first present methods for improving the performance and information content of each modality by using the information provided by the other technique. On the PET side, we discuss methods that use the simultaneously acquired MRI data to improve the PET data quantification. On the MRI side, we present how improved PET quantification can be used to validate several MRI techniques. Finally, we describe promising research, translational, and clinical applications that can benefit from these advanced tools.

Development of a quarterly referral productivity report.

PubMed

Wu, Cai; Sandoval, Alex; Hicks, Katrina N; Edwards, Tim J; Green, Lyle D

2007-10-11

The Office of Physician Relations at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) has developed a dynamic referral productivity reporting tool for its Multidisciplinary Care Centers (MCC). The tool leverages information within the institution's Enterprise Information Warehouse (EIW) using business intelligent software Hyperion Intelligent Explorer Suite 8.3. the referral productivity reports are intended to provide each MCC with detailed referral and registration data outlining how, and from where, patients arrive here for treatment. The reports supports operational and strategic initiatives aimed at improving referral processes and market related program development.

Demonstrating Success: Web Analytics and Continuous Improvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loftus, Wayne

2012-01-01

As free and low-cost Web analytics tools become more sophisticated, libraries' approach to user analysis can become more nuanced and precise. Tracking appropriate metrics with a well-formulated analytics program can inform design decisions, demonstrate the degree to which those decisions have succeeded, and thereby inform the next iteration in the…

Improving Nursing Satisfaction with Bedside-Information, Technology-Enhanced Handoffs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapman, Yvonne L.

2014-01-01

Due to renewed national focus on patient safety and patient outcomes, the advent of the electronic health record (EHR) and standardization of data management has prompted the utilization of information technology (IT) tools to enhance nursing bedside handoff. However, there is limited literature regarding the nurses' satisfaction with the…

Practical Poultry Raising. Appropriate Technologies for Development. Manual M-11.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

French, Kenneth M.

This manual is designed to provide development workers with the information and tools needed to begin or to improve poultry production. Covered in the individual chapters are the following topics: the nature and scope of poultry production, assessment of local poultry selections, basic information about chickens, country chickens, poultry…

Quality assessment of decision-making in colorectal cancer multidisciplinary meetings.

PubMed

Seretis, Charalampos; Mankotia, Rajnish; Goonetilleke, Kolitha; Rawstorne, Edward

2014-01-01

The quality of decision-making in the colorectal multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings can significantly affect the quality of care delivered to patients with colorectal cancer. We performed a prospective study to assess the quality of the MDT meetings in a specialized colorectal unit using an externally observational validated tool. An externally validated observational tool, the Colorectal Multidisciplinary Team Metric for Observation of Decision-Making (cMDT-MODe), was used to assess the quality of clinical decision-making in 64 cases. Although case history information presented by the responsible surgeon was rated high (4.4/5), the quality of radiological and histopathological information regarding each patient's case which was available at the time was less adequate, scoring 3.9/5 and 3.8/5, respectively. Moreover, the precise knowledge of patients' personal views and circumstances was a field requiring further improvement. In a general overview however, the quality and extent of the available information enabled the MDT to provide a clear recommendation regarding the patients' treatment plans in 87.5% of the cases. The cMDT-MODe tool can be used to prospectively audit the quality of clinical decision-making in the colorectal MDT meetings and highlight the fields of potential improvement.

Dashboard systems: implementing pharmacometrics from bench to bedside.

PubMed

Mould, Diane R; Upton, Richard N; Wojciechowski, Jessica

2014-09-01

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the development of medical decision-support tools, including dashboard systems. Dashboard systems are software packages that integrate information and calculations about therapeutics from multiple components into a single interface for use in the clinical environment. Given the high cost of medical care, and the increasing need to demonstrate positive clinical outcomes for reimbursement, dashboard systems may become an important tool for improving patient outcome, improving clinical efficiency and containing healthcare costs. Similarly the costs associated with drug development are also rising. The use of model-based drug development (MBDD) has been proposed as a tool to streamline this process, facilitating the selection of appropriate doses and making informed go/no-go decisions. However, complete implementation of MBDD has not always been successful owing to a variety of factors, including the resources required to provide timely modeling and simulation updates. The application of dashboard systems in drug development reduces the resource requirement and may expedite updating models as new data are collected, allowing modeling results to be available in a timely fashion. In this paper, we present some background information on dashboard systems and propose the use of these systems both in the clinic and during drug development.

Evaluation of the clinical process in a critical care information system using the Lean method: a case study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background There are numerous applications for Health Information Systems (HIS) that support specific tasks in the clinical workflow. The Lean method has been used increasingly to optimize clinical workflows, by removing waste and shortening the delivery cycle time. There are a limited number of studies on Lean applications related to HIS. Therefore, we applied the Lean method to evaluate the clinical processes related to HIS, in order to evaluate its efficiency in removing waste and optimizing the process flow. This paper presents the evaluation findings of these clinical processes, with regards to a critical care information system (CCIS), known as IntelliVue Clinical Information Portfolio (ICIP), and recommends solutions to the problems that were identified during the study. Methods We conducted a case study under actual clinical settings, to investigate how the Lean method can be used to improve the clinical process. We used observations, interviews, and document analysis, to achieve our stated goal. We also applied two tools from the Lean methodology, namely the Value Stream Mapping and the A3 problem-solving tools. We used eVSM software to plot the Value Stream Map and A3 reports. Results We identified a number of problems related to inefficiency and waste in the clinical process, and proposed an improved process model. Conclusions The case study findings show that the Value Stream Mapping and the A3 reports can be used as tools to identify waste and integrate the process steps more efficiently. We also proposed a standardized and improved clinical process model and suggested an integrated information system that combines database and software applications to reduce waste and data redundancy. PMID:23259846

Evaluation of the clinical process in a critical care information system using the Lean method: a case study.

PubMed

Yusof, Maryati Mohd; Khodambashi, Soudabeh; Mokhtar, Ariffin Marzuki

2012-12-21

There are numerous applications for Health Information Systems (HIS) that support specific tasks in the clinical workflow. The Lean method has been used increasingly to optimize clinical workflows, by removing waste and shortening the delivery cycle time. There are a limited number of studies on Lean applications related to HIS. Therefore, we applied the Lean method to evaluate the clinical processes related to HIS, in order to evaluate its efficiency in removing waste and optimizing the process flow. This paper presents the evaluation findings of these clinical processes, with regards to a critical care information system (CCIS), known as IntelliVue Clinical Information Portfolio (ICIP), and recommends solutions to the problems that were identified during the study. We conducted a case study under actual clinical settings, to investigate how the Lean method can be used to improve the clinical process. We used observations, interviews, and document analysis, to achieve our stated goal. We also applied two tools from the Lean methodology, namely the Value Stream Mapping and the A3 problem-solving tools. We used eVSM software to plot the Value Stream Map and A3 reports. We identified a number of problems related to inefficiency and waste in the clinical process, and proposed an improved process model. The case study findings show that the Value Stream Mapping and the A3 reports can be used as tools to identify waste and integrate the process steps more efficiently. We also proposed a standardized and improved clinical process model and suggested an integrated information system that combines database and software applications to reduce waste and data redundancy.

Identification of patient information corruption in the intensive care unit: using a scoring tool to direct quality improvements in handover.

PubMed

Pickering, Brian W; Hurley, Killian; Marsh, Brian

2009-11-01

To use a handover assessment tool for identifying patient information corruption and objectively evaluating interventions designed to reduce handover errors and improve medical decision making. The continuous monitoring, intervention, and evaluation of the patient in modern intensive care unit practice generates large quantities of information, the platform on which medical decisions are made. Information corruption, defined as errors of distortion/omission compared with the medical record, may result in medical judgment errors. Identifying these errors may lead to quality improvements in intensive care unit care delivery and safety. Handover assessment instrument development study divided into two phases by the introduction of a handover intervention. Closed, 17-bed, university-affiliated mixed surgical/medical intensive care unit. Senior and junior medical members of the intensive care unit team. Electronic handover page. Study subjects were asked to recall clinical information commonly discussed at handover on individual patients. The handover score measured the percentage of information correctly retained for each individual doctor-patient interaction. The clinical intention score, a subjective measure of medical judgment, was graded (1-5) by three blinded intensive care unit experts. A total of 137 interactions were scored. Median (interquartile range) handover scores for phases 1 and 2 were 79.07% (67.44-84.50) and 83.72% (76.16-88.37), respectively. Score variance was reduced by the handover intervention (p < .05). Increasing median handover scores, 68.60 to 83.72, were associated with increases in clinical intention scores from 1 to 5 (chi-square = 23.59, df = 4, p < .0001). When asked to recall clinical information discussed at handover, medical members of the intensive care unit team provide data that are significantly corrupted compared with the medical record. Low subjective clinical judgment scores are significant associated with low handover scores. The handover/clinical intention scores may, therefore, be useful screening tools for intensive care unit system vulnerability to medical error. Additionally, handover instruments can identify interventions that reduce system vulnerability to error and may be used to guide quality improvements in handover practice.

Next Generation Electromagnetic Pump Analysis Tools (PLM DOC-0005-2188). Final Report

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

Stregy, Seth; Dasilva, Ana; Yilmaz, Serkan

2015-10-29

This report provides the broad historical review of EM Pump development and details of MATRIX development under this project. This report summarizes the efforts made to modernize the legacy performance models used in previous EM Pump designs and the improvements made to the analysis tools. This report provides information on Tasks 1, 3, and 4 of the entire project. The research for Task 4 builds upon Task 1: Update EM Pump Databank and Task 3: Modernize the Existing EM Pump Analysis Model, which are summarized within this report. Where research for Task 2: Insulation Materials Development and Evaluation identified parametersmore » applicable to the analysis model with Task 4, the analysis code was updated, and analyses were made for additional materials. The important design variables for the manufacture and operation of an EM Pump that the model improvement can evaluate are: space constraints; voltage capability of insulation system; maximum flux density through iron; flow rate and outlet pressure; efficiency and manufacturability. The development of the next-generation EM Pump analysis tools during this two-year program provides information in three broad areas: Status of analysis model development; Improvements made to older simulations; and Comparison to experimental data.« less

The Use of the Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Human Services to Assess and Improve the Job Performance of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.

PubMed

Smith, Madison; Wilder, David A

2018-06-01

The Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Human Services (PDC-HS) is an informant-based tool designed to identify the variables responsible for performance problems. To date, the PDC-HS has not been examined with individuals with intellectual disabilities. In the current study, two supervisors with intellectual disabilities completed the PDC-HS to assess the productivity of two supervisees with disabilities who performed a pricing task in a thrift store. The PDC-HS suggested that performance deficits were due to a lack of training; a PDC-HS-indicated intervention was effective to increase accurate pricing. • The PDC-HS is an informant-based tool designed to identify the variables responsible for employee performance problems in human service settings. • The PDC-HS can be completed by some individuals with intellectual disabilities in a supervisory position to identify the variables responsible for problematic job performance among their supervisees. • A PDC-HS indicated intervention was demonstrated to be effective to improve the job performance of individuals with disabilities. • The PDC-HS may be a useful tool to support performance improvement and job maintenance among individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Improving Project Management Using Formal Models and Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kahn, Theodore; Sturken, Ian

2011-01-01

This talk discusses the advantages formal modeling and architecture brings to project management. These emerging technologies have both great potential and challenges for improving information available for decision-making. The presentation covers standards, tools and cultural issues needing consideration, and includes lessons learned from projects the presenters have worked on.

Factors Associated with Technology Integration to Improve Instructional Abilities: A Path Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uslu, Öner

2018-01-01

Today, students are expected to access, analyse and synthesise information, and work cooperatively. Their learning environment, therefore, should be equipped with appropriate tools and materials, and teachers should have instructional abilities to use them effectively. This study aims to propose a model to improve teachers' instructional abilities…

Earth: Earth Science and Health

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maynard, Nancy G.

2001-01-01

A major new NASA initiative on environmental change and health has been established to promote the application of Earth science remote sensing data, information, observations, and technologies to issues of human health. NASA's Earth Sciences suite of Earth observing instruments are now providing improved observations science, data, and advanced technologies about the Earth's land, atmosphere, and oceans. These new space-based resources are being combined with other agency and university resources, data integration and fusion technologies, geographic information systems (GIS), and the spectrum of tools available from the public health community, making it possible to better understand how the environment and climate are linked to specific diseases, to improve outbreak prediction, and to minimize disease risk. This presentation is an overview of NASA's tools, capabilities, and research advances in this initiative.

Social science informing forest management — bringing new knowledge to fuels managers

Treesearch

Pamela Jakes

2007-01-01

To improve access, interpretability, and use of the full body of research, a pilot project was initiated by the USDA Forest Service to synthesize relevant scientific information and develop publications and decision support tools that managers can use to inform fuels treatment plans. This article provides an overview of the work of the Social Science Core Team. Team...

Crianza Practica de Aves (Practical Poultry Raising). Appropriate Technologies for Development. Peace Corps Information Collection & Exchange Manual Series [No.] M-34.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

French, Kenneth M.

Written in Spanish, this manual is designed to provide development workers with the information and tools needed to begin or to improve poultry production. Covered in the individual chapters are the following topics: the nature and scope of poultry production, assessment of local poultry selections, basic information about chickens, country…

Systematic review and meta-analysis: tools for the information age.

PubMed

Weatherall, Mark

2017-11-01

The amount of available biomedical information is vast and growing. Natural limitations of the way clinicians and researchers approach this treasure trove of information comprise difficulties locating the information, and once located, cognitive biases may lead to inappropriate use of the information. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses represent important tools in the information age to improve knowledge and action. Systematic reviews represent a census approach to identifying literature to avoid non-response bias. They are a necessary prelude to producing combined quantitative summaries of associations or treatment effects. Meta-analysis comprises the arithmetical techniques for producing combined summaries from individual study reports. Careful, thoughtful and rigorous use of these tools is likely to enhance knowledge and action. Use of standard guidelines, such as the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, or embedding these activities within collaborative groups such as the Cochrane Collaboration, are likely to lead to more useful systematic review and meta-analysis reporting. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Patient information leaflets (PILs) for UK randomised controlled trials: a feasibility study exploring whether they contain information to support decision making about trial participation.

PubMed

Gillies, Katie; Huang, Wan; Skea, Zoë; Brehaut, Jamie; Cotton, Seonaidh

2014-02-18

Informed consent is regarded as a cornerstone of ethical healthcare research and is a requirement for most clinical research studies. Guidelines suggest that prospective randomised controlled trial (RCT) participants should understand a basic amount of key information about the RCTs they are being asked to enrol in in order to provide valid informed consent. This information is usually provided to potential participants in a patient information leaflet (PIL). There is evidence that some trial participants fail to understand key components of trial processes or rationale. As such, the existing approach to information provision for potential RCT participants may not be optimal. Decision aids have been used for a variety of treatment and screening decisions to improve knowledge, but focus more on overall decision quality, and may be helpful to those making decisions about participating in an RCT. We investigated the feasibility of using a tool to identify which items recommended for good quality decision making are present in UK PILs. PILs were sampled from UK registered Clinical Trials Unit websites across a range of clinical areas. The evaluation tool, which is based on standards for supporting decision making, was applied to 20 PILs. Two researchers independently rated each PIL using the tool. In addition, word count and readability were assessed. PILs scored poorly on the evaluation tool with the majority of leaflets scoring less than 50%. Specifically, presenting probabilities, clarifying and expressing values and structured guidance in deliberation and communication sub-sections scored consistently poorly. Tool score was associated with word count (r=0.802, P <0.01); there was no association between score and readability (r=-0.372, P=0.106). The tool was feasible to use to evaluate PILs for UK RCTs. PILs did not meet current standards of information to support good quality decision making. Writers of information leaflets could use the evaluation tool as a framework during PIL development to help ensure that items are included which promote and support more informed decisions about trial participation. Further research is required to evaluate the inclusion of such information.

Evaluation of a hand hygiene campaign in outpatient health care clinics.

PubMed

Kukanich, Kate Stenske; Kaur, Ramandeep; Freeman, Lisa C; Powell, Douglas A

2013-03-01

To improve hand hygiene in two outpatient health care clinics through the introduction of a gel sanitizer and an informational poster. In this interventional study, health care workers at two outpatient clinics were observed for frequency of hand hygiene (attempts versus opportunities). Gel sanitizer and informational posters were introduced together as an intervention. Direct observation of the frequency of hand hygiene was performed during baseline, intervention, and follow-up. A poststudy survey of health care workers was also distributed and collected. In both clinics, the frequency of hand hygiene was poor at baseline (11% and 21%) but improved significantly after intervention (36% and 54%) and was maintained through the follow-up period (32% and 51%). Throughout the study, postcontact hand hygiene was observed significantly more often than precontact hand hygiene. In both clinics, health care workers reported a preference for soap and water; yet observations showed that when the intervention made gel sanitizer available, sanitizer use predominated. Fifty percent of the surveyed health care workers considered the introduction of gel sanitizer to be an effective motivating tool for improving hand hygiene. Hand hygiene performance by health care workers in outpatient clinics may be improved through promoting the use of gel sanitizer and using informational posters. Compared with surveys, direct observation by trained observers may provide more accurate information about worker preferences for hand hygiene tools.

ThinkHazard!: an open-source, global tool for understanding hazard information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraser, Stuart; Jongman, Brenden; Simpson, Alanna; Nunez, Ariel; Deparday, Vivien; Saito, Keiko; Murnane, Richard; Balog, Simone

2016-04-01

Rapid and simple access to added-value natural hazard and disaster risk information is a key issue for various stakeholders of the development and disaster risk management (DRM) domains. Accessing available data often requires specialist knowledge of heterogeneous data, which are often highly technical and can be difficult for non-specialists in DRM to find and exploit. Thus, availability, accessibility and processing of these information sources are crucial issues, and an important reason why many development projects suffer significant impacts from natural hazards. The World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is currently developing a new open-source tool to address this knowledge gap: ThinkHazard! The main aim of the ThinkHazard! project is to develop an analytical tool dedicated to facilitating improvements in knowledge and understanding of natural hazards among non-specialists in DRM. It also aims at providing users with relevant guidance and information on handling the threats posed by the natural hazards present in a chosen location. Furthermore, all aspects of this tool will be open and transparent, in order to give users enough information to understand its operational principles. In this presentation, we will explain the technical approach behind the tool, which translates state-of-the-art probabilistic natural hazard data into understandable hazard classifications and practical recommendations. We will also demonstrate the functionality of the tool, and discuss limitations from a scientific as well as an operational perspective.

Development of the public information and communication technology assessment tool.

PubMed

Ripat, Jacquie; Watzke, James; Birch, Gary

2008-09-01

Public information and communication technologies, such as information kiosks, automated banking machines and ticket dispensers, allow people to access services in a convenient and timely manner. However, the development of these technologies has occurred largely without consideration of access by people with disabilities. Inaccessible technical features make operation of a public technology difficult and barriers in the environment create navigational challenges, limiting the opportunity of people with disabilities to use these devices and access the services they provide. This paper describes the development of a tool that individuals, disability advocacy groups, business owners, healthcare providers, and urban planners can use to evaluate the accessibility of public technologies and the surrounding environment. Evaluation results can then be used to develop recommendations and advocate for technical and environmental changes to improve access. Tool development consisted of a review of the literature and key Canadian Standards Association documents, task analysis, and consultation with accessibility experts. Studies of content validity, tool usability, inter-rater and test-retest reliability were conducted in sites across Canada. Accessibility experts verified the content validity of the tool. The current version of the tool has incorporated the findings of a usability study. Initial testing indicated excellent agreement for inter-rater and test-retest reliability scores. Social exclusion can arise when public technologies are not accessible. This newly developed instrument provides detailed information that can be used to advocate for more accessible and inclusive public information and communication technologies.

A multimedia consent tool for research participants in the Gambia: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Afolabi, Muhammed Olanrewaju; McGrath, Nuala; D'Alessandro, Umberto; Kampmann, Beate; Imoukhuede, Egeruan B; Ravinetto, Raffaella M; Alexander, Neal; Larson, Heidi J; Chandramohan, Daniel; Bojang, Kalifa

2015-05-01

To assess the effectiveness of a multimedia informed consent tool for adults participating in a clinical trial in the Gambia. Adults eligible for inclusion in a malaria treatment trial (n = 311) were randomized to receive information needed for informed consent using either a multimedia tool (intervention arm) or a standard procedure (control arm). A computerized, audio questionnaire was used to assess participants' comprehension of informed consent. This was done immediately after consent had been obtained (at day 0) and at subsequent follow-up visits (days 7, 14, 21 and 28). The acceptability and ease of use of the multimedia tool were assessed in focus groups. On day 0, the median comprehension score in the intervention arm was 64% compared with 40% in the control arm (P = 0.042). The difference remained significant at all follow-up visits. Poorer comprehension was independently associated with female sex (odds ratio, OR: 0.29; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.12-0.70) and residing in Jahaly rather than Basse province (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.13-0.82). There was no significant independent association with educational level. The risk that a participant's comprehension score would drop to half of the initial value was lower in the intervention arm (hazard ratio 0.22, 95% CI: 0.16-0.31). Overall, 70% (42/60) of focus group participants from the intervention arm found the multimedia tool clear and easy to understand. A multimedia informed consent tool significantly improved comprehension and retention of consent information by research participants with low levels of literacy.

ICT use for information management in healthcare system for chronic disease patient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wawrzyniak, Zbigniew M.; Lisiecka-Biełanowicz, Mira

2013-10-01

Modern healthcare systems are designed to fulfill needs of the patient, his system environment and other determinants of the treatment with proper support of technical aids. A whole system of care is compatible to the technical solutions and organizational framework based on legal rules. The purpose of this study is to present how can we use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systemic tools in a new model of patient-oriented care, improving the effectiveness of healthcare for patients with chronic diseases. The study material is the long-term process of healthcare for patients with chronic illness. Basing on the knowledge of the whole circumstances of patient's ecosystem and his needs allow us to build a new ICT model of long term care. The method used is construction, modeling and constant improvement the efficient ICT layer for the patient-centered healthcare model. We present a new constructive approach to systemic process how to use ICT for information management in healthcare system for chronic disease patient. The use of ICT tools in the model for chronic disease can improve all aspects of data management and communication, and the effectiveness of long-term complex healthcare. In conclusion: ICT based model of healthcare can be constructed basing on the interactions of ecosystem's functional parts through information feedback and the provision of services and models as well as the knowledge of the patient itself. Systematic approach to the model of long term healthcare assisted functionally by ICT tools and data management methods will increase the effectiveness of patient care and organizational efficiency.

The Value of Information in Decision-Analytic Modeling for Malaria Vector Control in East Africa.

PubMed

Kim, Dohyeong; Brown, Zachary; Anderson, Richard; Mutero, Clifford; Miranda, Marie Lynn; Wiener, Jonathan; Kramer, Randall

2017-02-01

Decision analysis tools and mathematical modeling are increasingly emphasized in malaria control programs worldwide to improve resource allocation and address ongoing challenges with sustainability. However, such tools require substantial scientific evidence, which is costly to acquire. The value of information (VOI) has been proposed as a metric for gauging the value of reduced model uncertainty. We apply this concept to an evidenced-based Malaria Decision Analysis Support Tool (MDAST) designed for application in East Africa. In developing MDAST, substantial gaps in the scientific evidence base were identified regarding insecticide resistance in malaria vector control and the effectiveness of alternative mosquito control approaches, including larviciding. We identify four entomological parameters in the model (two for insecticide resistance and two for larviciding) that involve high levels of uncertainty and to which outputs in MDAST are sensitive. We estimate and compare a VOI for combinations of these parameters in evaluating three policy alternatives relative to a status quo policy. We find having perfect information on the uncertain parameters could improve program net benefits by up to 5-21%, with the highest VOI associated with jointly eliminating uncertainty about reproductive speed of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes and initial efficacy of larviciding at reducing the emergence of new adult mosquitoes. Future research on parameter uncertainty in decision analysis of malaria control policy should investigate the VOI with respect to other aspects of malaria transmission (such as antimalarial resistance), the costs of reducing uncertainty in these parameters, and the extent to which imperfect information about these parameters can improve payoffs. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Improving Earth Science Metadata: Modernizing ncISO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Brien, K.; Schweitzer, R.; Neufeld, D.; Burger, E. F.; Signell, R. P.; Arms, S. C.; Wilcox, K.

2016-12-01

ncISO is a package of tools developed at NOAA's National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) that facilitates the generation of ISO 19115-2 metadata from NetCDF data sources. The tool currently exists in two iterations: a command line utility and a web-accessible service within the THREDDS Data Server (TDS). Several projects, including NOAA's Unified Access Framework (UAF), depend upon ncISO to generate the ISO-compliant metadata from their data holdings and use the resulting information to populate discovery tools such as NCEI's ESRI Geoportal and NOAA's data.noaa.gov CKAN system. In addition to generating ISO 19115-2 metadata, the tool calculates a rubric score based on how well the dataset follows the Attribute Conventions for Dataset Discovery (ACDD). The result of this rubric calculation, along with information about what has been included and what is missing is displayed in an HTML document generated by the ncISO software package. Recently ncISO has fallen behind in terms of supporting updates to conventions such updates to the ACDD. With the blessing of the original programmer, NOAA's UAF has been working to modernize the ncISO software base. In addition to upgrading ncISO to utilize version1.3 of the ACDD, we have been working with partners at Unidata and IOOS to unify the tool's code base. In essence, we are merging the command line capabilities into the same software that will now be used by the TDS service, allowing easier updates when conventions such as ACDD are updated in the future. In this presentation, we will discuss the work the UAF project has done to support updated conventions within ncISO, as well as describe how the updated tool is helping to improve metadata throughout the earth and ocean sciences.

DNA-informed breeding of rosaceous crops: promises, progress and prospects

PubMed Central

Peace, Cameron P

2017-01-01

Crops of the Rosaceae family provide valuable contributions to rural economies and human health and enjoyment. Sustained solutions to production challenges and market demands can be met with genetically improved new cultivars. Traditional rosaceous crop breeding is expensive and time-consuming and would benefit from improvements in efficiency and accuracy. Use of DNA information is becoming conventional in rosaceous crop breeding, contributing to many decisions and operations, but only after past decades of solved challenges and generation of sufficient resources. Successes in deployment of DNA-based knowledge and tools have arisen when the ‘chasm’ between genomics discoveries and practical application is bridged systematically. Key steps are establishing breeder desire for use of DNA information, adapting tools to local breeding utility, identifying efficient application schemes, accessing effective services in DNA-based diagnostics and gaining experience in integrating DNA information into breeding operations and decisions. DNA-informed germplasm characterization for revealing identity and relatedness has benefitted many programs and provides a compelling entry point to reaping benefits of genomics research. DNA-informed germplasm evaluation for predicting trait performance has enabled effective reallocation of breeding resources when applied in pioneering programs. DNA-based diagnostics is now expanding from specific loci to genome-wide considerations. Realizing the full potential of this expansion will require improved accuracy of predictions, multi-trait DNA profiling capabilities, streamlined breeding information management systems, strategies that overcome plant-based features that limit breeding progress and widespread training of current and future breeding personnel and allied scientists. PMID:28326185

Practice as a Marketing Tool: Four Case Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Duncan

1995-01-01

Discusses the experiences of four librarians who adopted marketing strategies to improve their practice and their institution's services, and examines the role of marketing in today's information society. (AEF)

Validation of an explanatory tool for data-fused displays for high-technology future aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fletcher, Georgina C. L.; Shanks, Craig R.; Selcon, Stephen J.

1996-05-01

As the number of sensor and data sources in the military cockpit increases, pilots will suffer high levels of workload which could result in reduced performance and the loss of situational awareness. A DRA research program has been investigating the use of data-fused displays in decision support and has developed and laboratory-tested an explanatory tool for displaying information in air combat scenarios. The tool has been designed to provide pictorial explanations of data that maintain situational awareness by involving the pilot in the hostile aircraft threat assessment task. This paper reports a study carried out to validate the success of the explanatory tool in a realistic flight simulation facility. Aircrew were asked to perform a threat assessment task, either with or without the explanatory tool providing information in the form of missile launch success zone envelopes, while concurrently flying a waypoint course within set flight parameters. The results showed that there was a significant improvement (p less than 0.01) in threat assessment accuracy of 30% when using the explanatory tool. This threat assessment performance advantage was achieved without a trade-off with flying task performance. Situational awareness measures showed no general differences between the explanatory and control conditions, but significant learning effects suggested that the explanatory tool makes the task initially more intuitive and hence less demanding on the pilots' attentional resources. The paper concludes that DRA's data-fused explanatory tool is successful at improving threat assessment accuracy in a realistic simulated flying environment, and briefly discusses the requirements for further research in the area.

WetDATA Hub: Democratizing Access to Water Data to Accelerate Innovation through Data Visualization, Predictive Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarni, W.

2017-12-01

Water scarcity and poor quality impacts economic development, business growth, and social well-being. Water has become, in our generation, the foremost critical local, regional, and global issue of our time. Despite these needs, there is no water hub or water technology accelerator solely dedicated to water data and tools. There is a need by the public and private sectors for vastly improved data management and visualization tools. This is the WetDATA opportunity - to develop a water data tech hub dedicated to water data acquisition, analytics, and visualization tools for informed policy and business decisions. WetDATA's tools will help incubate disruptive water data technologies and accelerate adoption of current water data solutions. WetDATA is a Colorado-based (501c3), global hub for water data analytics and technology innovation. WetDATA's vision is to be a global leader in water information, data technology innovation and collaborate with other US and global water technology hubs. ROADMAP * Portal (www.wetdata.org) to provide stakeholders with tools/resources to understand related water risks. * The initial activities will provide education, awareness and tools to stakeholders to support the implementation of the Colorado State Water Plan. * Leverage the Western States Water Council Water Data Exchange database. * Development of visualization, predictive analytics and AI tools to engage with stakeholders and provide actionable data and information. TOOLS Education: Provide information on water issues and risks at the local, state, national and global scale. Visualizations: Development of data analytics and visualization tools based upon the 2030 Water Resources Group methodology to support the implementation of the Colorado State Water Plan. Predictive Analytics: Accessing publically available water databases and using machine learning to develop water availability forecasting tools, and time lapse images to support city / urban planning.

Integrating Popular Web Applications in Classroom Learning Environments and Its Effects on Teaching, Student Learning Motivation and Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Yen-Ting; Jou, Min

2013-01-01

Advancements in information and communication technology (ICT) allowed several tools and systems to be proposed for improving classroom experiences to both instructors and students. However, most of these tools were brand-new and stand-alone programs that require users to invest additional time and effort to become familiar with their use. This…

Using Social Network Graphs as Visualization Tools to Influence Peer Selection Decision-Making Strategies to Access Information about Complex Socioscientific Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoon, Susan A.

2011-01-01

This study extends previous research that explores how visualization affordances that computational tools provide and social network analyses that account for individual- and group-level dynamic processes can work in conjunction to improve learning outcomes. The study's main hypothesis is that when social network graphs are used in instruction,…

Use of GeoGebra in Primary Math Education in Lithuania: An Exploratory Study from Teachers' Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Žilinskiene, Inga; Demirbilek, Muhammet

2015-01-01

With the advance of information and communications technologies, new teaching tools are becoming more pervasive. These tools can be utilized in a variety of ways to improve and enhance math teaching. Considering the integration of technology in teaching mathematics, it is clear that the replacement of board and chalk with digital presentation…

Use of Electronic Health Record Tools to Facilitate and Audit Infliximab Prescribing.

PubMed

Sharpless, Bethany R; Del Rosario, Fernando; Molle-Rios, Zarela; Hilmas, Elora

2018-01-01

The objective of this project was to assess a pediatric institution's use of infliximab and develop and evaluate electronic health record tools to improve safety and efficiency of infliximab ordering through auditing and improved communication. Best use of infliximab was defined through a literature review, analysis of baseline use of infliximab at our institution, and distribution and analysis of a national survey. Auditing and order communication were optimized through implementation of mandatory indications in the infliximab orderable and creation of an interactive flowsheet that collects discrete and free-text data. The value of the implemented electronic health record tools was assessed at the conclusion of the project. Baseline analysis determined that 93.8% of orders were dosed appropriately according to the findings of a literature review. After implementation of the flowsheet and indications, the time to perform an audit of use was reduced from 60 minutes to 5 minutes per month. Four months post implementation, data were entered by 60% of the pediatric gastroenterologists at our institution on 15.3% of all encounters for infliximab. Users were surveyed on the value of the tools, with 100% planning to continue using the workflow, and 82% stating the tools frequently improve the efficiency and safety of infliximab prescribing. Creation of a standard workflow by using an interactive flowsheet has improved auditing ability and facilitated the communication of important order information surrounding infliximab. Providers and pharmacists feel these tools improve the safety and efficiency of infliximab ordering, and auditing data reveal that the tools are being used.

Preparing for a decision support system.

PubMed

Callan, K

2000-08-01

The increasing pressure to reduce costs and improve outcomes is driving the health care industry to view information as a competitive advantage. Timely information is required to help reduce inefficiencies and improve patient care. Numerous disparate operational or transactional information systems with inconsistent and often conflicting data are no longer adequate to meet the information needs of integrated care delivery systems and networks in competitive managed care environments. This article reviews decision support system characteristics and describes a process to assess the preparedness of an organization to implement and use decision support systems to achieve a more effective, information-based decision process. Decision support tools included in this article range from reports to data mining.

Data mining in radiology

PubMed Central

Kharat, Amit T; Singh, Amarjit; Kulkarni, Vilas M; Shah, Digish

2014-01-01

Data mining facilitates the study of radiology data in various dimensions. It converts large patient image and text datasets into useful information that helps in improving patient care and provides informative reports. Data mining technology analyzes data within the Radiology Information System and Hospital Information System using specialized software which assesses relationships and agreement in available information. By using similar data analysis tools, radiologists can make informed decisions and predict the future outcome of a particular imaging finding. Data, information and knowledge are the components of data mining. Classes, Clusters, Associations, Sequential patterns, Classification, Prediction and Decision tree are the various types of data mining. Data mining has the potential to make delivery of health care affordable and ensure that the best imaging practices are followed. It is a tool for academic research. Data mining is considered to be ethically neutral, however concerns regarding privacy and legality exists which need to be addressed to ensure success of data mining. PMID:25024513

Historian: accurate reconstruction of ancestral sequences and evolutionary rates.

PubMed

Holmes, Ian H

2017-04-15

Reconstruction of ancestral sequence histories, and estimation of parameters like indel rates, are improved by using explicit evolutionary models and summing over uncertain alignments. The previous best tool for this purpose (according to simulation benchmarks) was ProtPal, but this tool was too slow for practical use. Historian combines an efficient reimplementation of the ProtPal algorithm with performance-improving heuristics from other alignment tools. Simulation results on fidelity of rate estimation via ancestral reconstruction, along with evaluations on the structurally informed alignment dataset BAliBase 3.0, recommend Historian over other alignment tools for evolutionary applications. Historian is available at https://github.com/evoldoers/historian under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 US license. ihholmes+historian@gmail.com. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Concept mapping in a critical care orientation program: a pilot study to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills in novice nurses.

PubMed

Wahl, Stacy E; Thompson, Anita M

2013-10-01

Newly graduated registered nurses who were hired into a critical care intensive care unit showed a lack of critical thinking skills to inform their clinical decision-making abilities. This study evaluated the effectiveness of concept mapping as a teaching tool to improve critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills in novice nurses. A self-evaluation tool was administered before and after the learning intervention. The 25-item tool measured five key indicators of the development of critical thinking skills: problem recognition, clinical decision-making, prioritization, clinical implementation, and reflection. Statistically significant improvements were seen in 10 items encompassing all five indicators. Concept maps are an effective tool for educators to use in assisting novice nurses to develop their critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Implementing a user-driven online quality improvement toolkit for cancer care.

PubMed

Luck, Jeff; York, Laura S; Bowman, Candice; Gale, Randall C; Smith, Nina; Asch, Steven M

2015-05-01

Peer-to-peer collaboration within integrated health systems requires a mechanism for sharing quality improvement lessons. The Veterans Health Administration (VA) developed online compendia of tools linked to specific cancer quality indicators. We evaluated awareness and use of the toolkits, variation across facilities, impact of social marketing, and factors influencing toolkit use. A diffusion of innovations conceptual framework guided the collection of user activity data from the Toolkit Series SharePoint site and an online survey of potential Lung Cancer Care Toolkit users. The VA Toolkit Series site had 5,088 unique visitors in its first 22 months; 5% of users accounted for 40% of page views. Social marketing communications were correlated with site usage. Of survey respondents (n = 355), 54% had visited the site, of whom 24% downloaded at least one tool. Respondents' awareness of the lung cancer quality performance of their facility, and facility participation in quality improvement collaboratives, were positively associated with Toolkit Series site use. Facility-level lung cancer tool implementation varied widely across tool types. The VA Toolkit Series achieved widespread use and a high degree of user engagement, although use varied widely across facilities. The most active users were aware of and active in cancer care quality improvement. Toolkit use seemed to be reinforced by other quality improvement activities. A combination of user-driven tool creation and centralized toolkit development seemed to be effective for leveraging health information technology to spread disease-specific quality improvement tools within an integrated health care system. Copyright © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Financing Freight Improvements

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-01-01

This Guidebook describes funding and financing tools available for freight investments. The Guidebook has been designed to provide information to the FHWA, states, MPOs, and other parties interested in investing in freight infrastructure. The Guidebo...

Optimization of infobutton design and Implementation: A systematic review.

PubMed

Teixeira, Miguel; Cook, David A; Heale, Bret S E; Del Fiol, Guilherme

2017-10-01

Infobuttons are clinical decision tools embedded in the electronic health record that attempt to link clinical data with context sensitive knowledge resources. We systematically reviewed technical approaches that contribute to improved infobutton design, implementation and functionality. We searched databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library database from inception to March 1, 2016 for studies describing the use of infobuttons. We selected full review comparative studies, usability studies, and qualitative studies examining infobutton design and implementation. We abstracted usability measures such as user satisfaction, impact, and efficiency, as well as prediction accuracy of infobutton content retrieval algorithms and infobutton adoption/interoperability. We found 82 original research studies on infobuttons. Twelve studies met criteria for detailed abstraction. These studies investigated infobutton interoperability (1 study); tools to help tailor infobutton functionality (1 study); interventions to improve user experience (7 studies); and interventions to improve content retrieval by improving prediction of relevant knowledge resources and information needs (3 studies). In-depth interviews with implementers showed the Health Level Seven (HL7) Infobutton standard to be simple and easy to implement. A usability study demonstrated the feasibility of a tool to help medical librarians tailor infobutton functionality. User experience studies showed that access to resources with which users are familiar increased user satisfaction ratings; and that links to specific subsections of drug monographs increased information seeking efficiency. However, none of the user experience improvements led to increased usage uptake. Recommender systems based on machine learning algorithms outperformed hand-crafted rules in the prediction of relevant resources and clinicians' information needs in a laboratory setting, but no studies were found using these techniques in clinical settings. Improved content indexing in one study led to improved content retrieval across three health care organizations. Best practice technical approaches to ensure optimal infobutton functionality, design and implementation remain understudied. The HL7 Infobutton standard has supported wide adoption of infobutton functionality among clinical information systems and knowledge resources. Limited evidence supports infobutton enhancements such as links to specific subtopics, configuration of optimal resources for specific tasks and users, and improved indexing and content coverage. Further research is needed to investigate user experience improvements to increase infobutton use and effectiveness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Capturing Essential Information to Achieve Safe Interoperability

PubMed Central

Weininger, Sandy; Jaffe, Michael B.; Rausch, Tracy; Goldman, Julian M.

2016-01-01

In this article we describe the role of “clinical scenario” information to assure the safety of interoperable systems, as well as the system’s ability to deliver the requisite clinical functionality to improve clinical care. Described are methods and rationale for capturing the clinical needs, workflow, hazards, and device interactions in the clinical environment. Key user (clinician and clinical engineer) needs and system requirements can be derived from this information, therefore improving the communication from clinicians to medical device and information technology system developers. This methodology is intended to assist the health care community, including researchers, standards developers, regulators, and manufacturers, by providing clinical definition to support requirements in the systems engineering process, particularly those focusing on development of Integrated Clinical Environments described in standard ASTM F2761. Our focus is on identifying and documenting relevant interactions and medical device capabilities within the system using a documentation tool called medical device interface data sheets (MDIDSa) and mitigating hazardous situations related to workflow, product usability, data integration, and the lack of effective medical device-health information technology system integration to achieve safe interoperability. Portions of the analysis of a clinical scenario for a “Patient-controlled analgesia safety interlock” are provided to illustrate the method. Collecting better clinical adverse event information and proposed solutions can help identify opportunities to improve current device capabilities and interoperability and support a Learning Health System to improve health care delivery. Developing and analyzing clinical scenarios are the first steps in creating solutions to address vexing patient safety problems and enable clinical innovation. A web-based research tool for implementing a means of acquiring and managing this information, the Clinical Scenario Repository™, is described. PMID:27387840

Capturing Essential Information to Achieve Safe Interoperability.

PubMed

Weininger, Sandy; Jaffe, Michael B; Rausch, Tracy; Goldman, Julian M

2017-01-01

In this article, we describe the role of "clinical scenario" information to assure the safety of interoperable systems, as well as the system's ability to deliver the requisite clinical functionality to improve clinical care. Described are methods and rationale for capturing the clinical needs, workflow, hazards, and device interactions in the clinical environment. Key user (clinician and clinical engineer) needs and system requirements can be derived from this information, therefore, improving the communication from clinicians to medical device and information technology system developers. This methodology is intended to assist the health care community, including researchers, standards developers, regulators, and manufacturers, by providing clinical definition to support requirements in the systems engineering process, particularly those focusing on development of Integrated Clinical Environments described in standard ASTM F2761. Our focus is on identifying and documenting relevant interactions and medical device capabilities within the system using a documentation tool called medical device interface data sheets and mitigating hazardous situations related to workflow, product usability, data integration, and the lack of effective medical device-health information technology system integration to achieve safe interoperability. Portions of the analysis of a clinical scenario for a "patient-controlled analgesia safety interlock" are provided to illustrate the method. Collecting better clinical adverse event information and proposed solutions can help identify opportunities to improve current device capabilities and interoperability and support a learning health system to improve health care delivery. Developing and analyzing clinical scenarios are the first steps in creating solutions to address vexing patient safety problems and enable clinical innovation. A Web-based research tool for implementing a means of acquiring and managing this information, the Clinical Scenario Repository™ (MD PnP Program), is described.

The Effects of Safety Information on Aeronautical Decision Making

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Jang R.; Fanjoy, Richard O.; Dillman, Brian G.

2005-01-01

The importance of aeronautical decision making (ADM) has been considered one of the most critical issues of flight education for future professional pilots. Researchers have suggested that a safety information system based on information from incidents and near misses is an important tool to improve the intelligence and readiness of pilots. This paper describes a study that examines the effect of safety information on aeronautical decision making for students in a collegiate flight program. Data was collected from study participants who were exposed to periodic information about local aircraft malfunctions. Participants were then evaluated using a flight simulator profile and a pen and pencil test of situational judgment. Findings suggest that regular access to the described safety information program significantly improves decision making of student pilots.

Brainstorming about next-generation computer-based documentation: an AMIA clinical working group survey.

PubMed

Johnson, Kevin B; Ravich, William J; Cowan, John A

2004-09-01

Computer-based software to record histories, physical exams, and progress or procedure notes, known as computer-based documentation (CBD) software, has been touted as an important addition to the electronic health record. The functionality of CBD systems has remained static over the past 30 years, which may have contributed to the limited adoption of these tools. Early users of this technology, who have tried multiple products, may have insight into important features to be considered in next-generation CBD systems. We conducted a cross-sectional, observational study of the clinical working group membership of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) to generate a set of features that might improve adoption of next-generation systems. The study was conducted online over a 4-month period; 57% of the working group members completed the survey. As anticipated, CBD tool use was higher (53%) in this population than in the US physician offices. The most common methods of data entry employed keyboard and mouse, with agreement that these modalities worked well. Many respondents had experience with pre-printed data collection forms before interacting with a CBD system. Respondents noted that CBD improved their ability to document large amounts of information, allowed timely sharing of information, enhanced patient care, and enhanced medical information with other clinicians (all P < 0.001). Respondents also noted some important but absent features in CBD, including the ability to add images, get help, and generate billing information. The latest generation of CBD systems is being used successfully by early adopters, who find that these tools confer many advantages over the approaches to documentation that they replaced. These users provide insights that may improve successive generations of CBD tools. Additional surveys of CBD non-users and failed adopters will be necessary to provide other useful insights that can address barriers to the adoption of CBD by less computer literate physicians.

HEP Outreach, Inreach, and Web 2.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldfarb, Steven

2011-12-01

I report on current usage of multimedia and social networking "Web 2.0" tools for Education and Outreach in high-energy physics, and discuss their potential for internal communication within large worldwide collaborations, such as those of the LHC. Following a brief description of the history of Web 2.0 development, I present a survey of the most popular sites and describe their usage in HEP to disseminate information to students and the general public. I then discuss the potential of certain specific tools, such as document and multimedia sharing sites, for boosting the speed and effectiveness of information exchange within the collaborations. I conclude with a brief discussion of the successes and failures of these tools, and make suggestions for improved usage in the future.

Data warehousing as a tool for quality management in oncology.

PubMed

Hölzer, S; Tafazzoli, A G; Altmann, U; Wächter, W; Dudeck, J

1999-01-01

At present, physicians are constrained by their limited skills to integrate and understand the growing amount of electronic medical information. To handle, extract, integrate, analyse and take advantage of the gathered information regarding the quality of patient care, the concept of a data warehouse seems to be especially interesting in medicine. Medical data warehousing allows the physicians to take advantage of all the operational data they have been collecting over the years. Our purpose is to build a data warehouse in order to use all available information about cancer patients. We think that with the sensible use of this tool, there are economic benefits for the Society and an improvement of quality of medical care for patients.

Building a sustainable system: the making of the WTIS.

PubMed

Hall, Steve; Thabet, Rami; Dummett, Mark

2009-01-01

Building Ontario's Wait Time Information System (WTIS) was one of the largest and most complex technology projects Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) had ever taken on. Increasing public concern about wait times and the lack of adequate tools to provide a clear or accurate picture of provincial wait times had led to a sense of urgency for the province to report wait time data. While healthcare providers and the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (MOHLTC) sought to address timely access to care, the challenges to develop a suitable information management/information technology (IM/IT) solution within aggressive timelines were significant. For the WTIS project, success was defined by the ability to deliver a tool to capture wait time data that addressed business and clinical needs and by providing individuals with the ability to use the tool and its data to improve access to care.

Information Technology Research Services: Powerful Tools to Keep Up with a Rapidly Moving Field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, Paul

2010-01-01

Marty firms offer Information Technology Research reports, analyst calls, conferences, seminars, tools, leadership development, etc. These entities include Gartner, Forrester Research, IDC, The Burton Group, Society for Information Management, 1nfoTech Research, The Corporate Executive Board, and so on. This talk will cover how a number of such services are being used at the Goddard Space Flight Center to improve our IT management practices, workforce skills, approach to innovation, and service delivery. These tools and services are used across the workforce, from the executive leadership to the IT worker. The presentation will cover the types of services each vendor provides and their primary engagement model. The use of these services at other NASA Centers and Headquarters will be included. In addition, I will explain how two of these services are available now to the entire NASA IT workforce through enterprise-wide subscriptions.

Results of Software and Services Citations Review at ESIP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hausman, J.; Gallagher, J. H. R.; Stall, S.

2017-12-01

Citations for software and services/tools are important as they provide a way to improve reproducibility of science, better provenance and easier to attribute credit to the developers. Software citations are trickier than papers or data as software can be very dynamic so it is a bit of a moving target. It is even more difficult for services/tools as they usually have data as inputs so now a relation between the tool and data is needed. There are suggested citation formats, but they do not always contain enough information that can easily gleaned or obtained from a metrics crawler. At the Summer 2017 Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) meeting a workshop was held to evaluate the effectiveness of a citation. This presentation will summarize those results and put forth adjustments to the format. These adjustments will make it easier to verify that the citation is for a service or software and for information harvesting.

Harnessing ICT Potential: The Adoption and Analysis of ICT Systems for Enhancing the Student Learning Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawson, Shane; Heathcote, Liz; Poole, Gary

2010-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how effective higher education institutions have been in harnessing the data capture mechanisms from their student information systems, learning management systems and communication tools for improving the student learning experience and informing practitioners of the achievement of specific learning outcomes.…

Using Visualisation Software to Improve Student Approaches to HE Online Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, David; Qayyum, M. Aslm; Hard, Natascha

2017-01-01

Studying via the Internet using information tools is a common activity for students in higher education. With students accessing their subject material via the Internet, studies have shown that students have difficulty understanding the complete purpose of an assessment which leads to poor information search practices. The selection of relevant…

Troubleshooting RSIG

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remote Sensing Information Gateway, a tool that allows scientists, researchers and decision makers to access a variety of multi-terabyte, environmental datasets and to subset the data and obtain only needed variables, greatly improving the download time.

Hazardous Air Pollutants

MedlinePlus

... Air Toxics Website Rules and Implementation Related Information Air Quality Data and Tools Clean Air Act Criteria Air ... Resources Visibility and Haze Voluntary Programs for Improving Air Quality Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, ...

PET/MRI for Neurological Applications

PubMed Central

Catana, Ciprian; Drzezga, Alexander; Heiss, Wolf-Dieter; Rosen, Bruce R.

2013-01-01

PET and MRI provide complementary information in the study of the human brain. Simultaneous PET/MR data acquisition allows the spatial and temporal correlation of the measured signals, opening up opportunities impossible to realize using stand-alone instruments. This paper reviews the methodological improvements and potential neurological and psychiatric applications of this novel technology. We first present methods for improving the performance and information content of each modality by using the information provided by the other technique. On the PET side, we discuss methods that use the simultaneously acquired MR data to improve the PET data quantification. On the MR side, we present how improved PET quantification could be used to validate a number of MR techniques. Finally, we describe promising research, translational and clinical applications that could benefit from these advanced tools. PMID:23143086

Space Age Tools for Effective Water Management: NASA's Contribution Today and Tomorrow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laymon, Candice R.

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reviews NASA's responses to Earth's hydrological needs as part of the Earth Science Mission. The mission's assets are the 20 operational missions, 6 in development and 5 under study. There is a view of the four space missions that are designed to assist in gathering information about hydrometeorology, explaining briefly what each does. There is also information about the airborne science instruments that also gather information to assist in improving our knowledge of hydrology and improving the short term (i.e., 0-24 hr) weather predictions at regional and local scales.

Online Technologies for Health Information and Education: A literature review.

PubMed

Gill, Harkiran K; Gill, Navkiranjit; Young, Sean D

2013-04-01

There is a growing body of research focused on the use of social media and Internet technologies for health education and information sharing. The authors reviewed literature on this topic, with a specific focus on the benefits and concerns associated with using online social technologies as health education and communication tools. Studies suggest that social media technologies have the potential to safely and effectively deliver health education, if privacy concerns are addressed. Utility of social media-based health education and communication will improve as technology developers and public health officials determine ways to improve information accuracy and address privacy concerns.

Elevage Pratique de la Volaille (Practical Poultry Raising). Appropriate Technologies for Development. Peace Corps Information Collection & Exchange Manual Series No. M-30.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

French, Kenneth M.

Written in French, this manual is designed to provide development workers with the information and tools needed to begin or to improve poultry production. Covered in the individual chapters are the following topics: the nature and scope of poultry production, assessment of local poultry selections, basic information about chickens, country…

What makes a sustainability tool valuable, practical and useful in real-world healthcare practice? A mixed-methods study on the development of the Long Term Success Tool in Northwest London.

PubMed

Lennox, Laura; Doyle, Cathal; Reed, Julie E; Bell, Derek

2017-09-24

Although improvement initiatives show benefits to patient care, they often fail to sustain. Models and frameworks exist to address this challenge, but issues with design, clarity and usability have been barriers to use in healthcare settings. This work aimed to collaborate with stakeholders to develop a sustainability tool relevant to people in healthcare settings and practical for use in improvement initiatives. Tool development was conducted in six stages. A scoping literature review, group discussions and a stakeholder engagement event explored literature findings and their resonance with stakeholders in healthcare settings. Interviews, small-scale trialling and piloting explored the design and tested the practicality of the tool in improvement initiatives. National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London (CLAHRC NWL). CLAHRC NWL improvement initiative teams and staff. The iterative design process and engagement of stakeholders informed the articulation of the sustainability factors identified from the literature and guided tool design for practical application. Key iterations of factors and tool design are discussed. From the development process, the Long Term Success Tool (LTST) has been designed. The Tool supports those implementing improvements to reflect on 12 sustainability factors to identify risks to increase chances of achieving sustainability over time. The Tool is designed to provide a platform for improvement teams to share their own views on sustainability as well as learn about the different views held within their team to prompt discussion and actions. The development of the LTST has reinforced the importance of working with stakeholders to design strategies which respond to their needs and preferences and can practically be implemented in real-world settings. Further research is required to study the use and effectiveness of the tool in practice and assess engagement with the method over time. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Environmental Health Promotion: Progress and Future Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Srinivasan, Shobha; Dearry, Allen

2004-01-01

Health promotion seeks to provide practitioners of medicine and public health as well as members of the public with the information, resources, and tools that they can use to improve health and well-being. This goal is consonant with that of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), namely, to improve public health outcomes via research,…

Influence of Integration of Information Communication Technology in Teaching on Students' Academic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mbugua, Stephen Ngugi; Kiboss, Joel; Tanui, Edward

2015-01-01

Teachers must understand the context within which students' performance improvement takes place. Operational effectiveness and strategy are both essential to superior performance and strategy execution is crucial for quality and better students' academic result. ICT can be a catalyst by providing tools which teachers use to improve teaching and…

New research and tools lead to improved earthquake alerting protocols

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wald, David J.

2009-01-01

What’s the best way to get alerted about the occurrence and potential impact of an earthquake? The answer to that question has changed dramatically of late, in part due to improvements in earthquake science, and in part by the implementation of new research in the delivery of earthquake information

A comparative analysis of the dissemination of best practice measures for key populations.

PubMed

Lundy, Jennifer; Santangelo, Jennifer; Rogers, Patrick; Kuehn, Lynn; Christensen, Sharon; Bournique, Judy; Mekhjian, Hagop; Kamal, Jyoti

2008-11-06

In collaboration with the department of Quality and Operations Improvement, Clinical Applications and the Information Warehouse, we have leveraged available Information Warehouse data to build a Best Practice Compliance Measurement Dashboard. This tool combines information from our operating room charting system, our order entry system and coding information from the patient billing and management system to provide 'previous day', data on a patients current course of treatment.

Wavelet Applications for Flight Flutter Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lind, Rick; Brenner, Marty; Freudinger, Lawrence C.

1999-01-01

Wavelets present a method for signal processing that may be useful for analyzing responses of dynamical systems. This paper describes several wavelet-based tools that have been developed to improve the efficiency of flight flutter testing. One of the tools uses correlation filtering to identify properties of several modes throughout a flight test for envelope expansion. Another tool uses features in time-frequency representations of responses to characterize nonlinearities in the system dynamics. A third tool uses modulus and phase information from a wavelet transform to estimate modal parameters that can be used to update a linear model and reduce conservatism in robust stability margins.

Polished Downhole Transducer Having Improved Signal Coupling

DOEpatents

Hall, David R.; Fox, Joe

2006-03-28

Apparatus and methods to improve signal coupling in downhole inductive transmission elements to reduce the dispersion of magnetic energy at the tool joints and to provide consistent impedance and contact between transmission elements located along the drill string. A transmission element for transmitting information between downhole tools is disclosed in one embodiment of the invention as including an annular core constructed of a magnetically conductive material. The annular core forms an open channel around its circumference and is configured to form a closed channel by mating with a corresponding annular core along an annular mating surface. The mating surface is polished to provide improved magnetic coupling with the corresponding annular core. An annular conductor is disposed within the open channel.

RSIG Data Inventory

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remote Sensing Information Gateway, a tool that allows scientists, researchers and decision makers to access a variety of multi-terabyte, environmental datasets and to subset the data and obtain only needed variables, greatly improving the download time.

RSIG Video Demonstrations

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remote Sensing Information Gateway, a tool that allows scientists, researchers and decision makers to access a variety of multi-terabyte, environmental datasets and to subset the data and obtain only needed variables, greatly improving the download time.

How RSIG Regrids Data

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remote Sensing Information Gateway, a tool that allows scientists, researchers and decision makers to access a variety of multi-terabyte, environmental datasets and to subset the data and obtain only needed variables, greatly improving the download time.

Retrieval and management of medical information from heterogeneous sources, for its integration in a medical record visualisation tool.

PubMed

Cabarcos, Alba; Sanchez, Tamara; Seoane, Jose A; Aguiar-Pulido, Vanessa; Freire, Ana; Dorado, Julian; Pazos, Alejandro

2010-01-01

Nowadays, medical practice needs, at the patient Point-of-Care (POC), personalised knowledge adjustable in each moment to the clinical needs of each patient, in order to provide support to decision-making processes, taking into account personalised information. To achieve this, adapting the hospital information systems is necessary. Thus, there is a need of computational developments capable of retrieving and integrating the large amount of biomedical information available today, managing the complexity and diversity of these systems. Hence, this paper describes a prototype which retrieves biomedical information from different sources, manages it to improve the results obtained and to reduce response time and, finally, integrates it so that it is useful for the clinician, providing all the information available about the patient at the POC. Moreover, it also uses tools which allow medical staff to communicate and share knowledge.

Developing competency in post-graduate students of anaesthesiology for taking informed consent for elective caesarean section.

PubMed

Mehta, Kamla Harshad; Shah, Vandana Saurin; Patel, Kirti Dhirajlal

2017-02-01

Post-graduate medical students (residents) generally lack effective communication skills required to obtain informed consent. The aim of this study was to assess role play and group discussion as teaching/learning tools for improving residents' knowledge on informed consent and competency in communicating while taking informed consent. This prospective, observational study was conducted on 30 anaesthesia residents. They were first observed while obtaining informed consent and their basic knowledge regarding communication skills was checked with a pre-test questionnaire. Then, lecture and group discussion were carried out to increase the knowledge base, and their knowledge gain was checked by the same questionnaire as a post-test. Communication skills were demonstrated by role play and residents were assessed by direct unobtrusive observation using a checklist. Feedback regarding effectiveness of programme was taken from students. Statistical analyses were done using Microsoft Office Excel and SPSS software. Percentage gain was 122.37% for knowledge domain. For communication skills, mean ± standard deviation for checklist was 8.93 ± 1.43 before role play and it improved to 17.96 ± 1.29 after role play. Regarding effectiveness of role play as a teaching/learning tool, 76.66% of residents said they strongly agreed and 23.33% of residents said they agreed. Likert scale for evaluation of programme was graded 4 or 5 by all residents. The knowledge and communication skills required for obtaining informed consent was improved significantly after role playing.

Integration of eHealth Tools in the Process of Workplace Health Promotion: Proposal for Design and Implementation

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Background Electronic health (eHealth) and mobile health (mHealth) tools can support and improve the whole process of workplace health promotion (WHP) projects. However, several challenges and opportunities have to be considered while integrating these tools in WHP projects. Currently, a large number of eHealth tools are developed for changing health behavior, but these tools can support the whole WHP process, including group administration, information flow, assessment, intervention development process, or evaluation. Objective To support a successful implementation of eHealth tools in the whole WHP processes, we introduce a concept of WHP (life cycle model of WHP) with 7 steps and present critical and success factors for the implementation of eHealth tools in each step. Methods We developed a life cycle model of WHP based on the World Health Organization (WHO) model of healthy workplace continual improvement process. We suggest adaptations to the WHO model to demonstrate the large number of possibilities to implement eHealth tools in WHP as well as possible critical points in the implementation process. Results eHealth tools can enhance the efficiency of WHP in each of the 7 steps of the presented life cycle model of WHP. Specifically, eHealth tools can support by offering easier administration, providing an information and communication platform, supporting assessments, presenting and discussing assessment results in a dashboard, and offering interventions to change individual health behavior. Important success factors include the possibility to give automatic feedback about health parameters, create incentive systems, or bring together a large number of health experts in one place. Critical factors such as data security, anonymity, or lack of management involvement have to be addressed carefully to prevent nonparticipation and dropouts. Conclusions Using eHealth tools can support WHP, but clear regulations for the usage and implementation of these tools at the workplace are needed to secure quality and reach sustainable results. PMID:29475828

Electronic Tools for Health Information Exchange

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background As patients experience transitions in care, there is a need to share information between care providers in an accurate and timely manner. With the push towards electronic medical records and other electronic tools (eTools) (and away from paper-based health records) for health information exchange, there remains uncertainty around the impact of eTools as a form of communication. Objective To examine the impact of eTools for health information exchange in the context of care coordination for individuals with chronic disease in the community. Data Sources A literature search was performed on April 26, 2012, using OVID MEDLINE, OVID MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, OVID EMBASE, EBSCO Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the Wiley Cochrane Library, and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination database, for studies published until April 26, 2012 (no start date limit was applied). Review Methods A systematic literature search was conducted, and meta-analysis conducted where appropriate. Outcomes of interest fell into 4 categories: health services utilization, disease-specific clinical outcomes, process-of-care indicators, and measures of efficiency. The quality of the evidence was assessed individually for each outcome. Expert panels were assembled for stakeholder engagement and contextualization. Results Eleven articles were identified (4 randomized controlled trials and 7 observational studies). There was moderate quality evidence of a reduction in hospitalizations, hospital length of stay, and emergency department visits following the implementation of an electronically generated laboratory report with recommendations based on clinical guidelines. The evidence showed no difference in disease-specific outcomes; there was no evidence of a positive impact on process-of-care indicators or measures of efficiency. Limitations A limited body of research specifically examined eTools for health information exchange in the population and setting of interest. This evidence included a combination of study designs and was further limited by heterogeneity in individual technologies and settings in which they were implemented. Conclusions There is evidence that the right eTools in the right environment and context can significantly impact health services utilization. However, the findings from this evidence-based analysis raise doubts about the ability of eTools with care-coordination capabilities to independently improve the quality of outpatient care. While eTools may be able to support and sustain processes, inefficiencies embedded in the health care system may require more than automation alone to resolve. Plain Language Summary Patients with chronic diseases often work with many different health care providers. To ensure smooth transitions from one setting to the next, health care providers must share information and coordinate care effectively. Electronic medical records (eTools) are being used more and more to coordinate patient care, but it is not yet known whether they are more effective than paper-based health records. In this analysis, we reviewed the evidence for the use of eTools to exchange information and coordinate care for people with chronic diseases in the community. There was some evidence that eTools reduced the number of hospital and emergency department visits, as well as patients' length of stay in the hospital, but there was no evidence that eTools improved the overall quality of patient care. PMID:24194799

The Holistic Targeting (HOT) Methodology as the Means to Improve Information Operations (IO) Target Development and Prioritization

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-01

software facilitate targeting problem understanding and the network analysis tool, Palantir , as an efficient and tailored semi-automated means to...the use of compendium software facilitate targeting problem understanding and the network analysis tool, Palantir , as an efficient and tailored semi...OBJECTIVES USING COMPENDIUM SOFTWARE .....63 E. HOT TARGET PRIORITIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT USING PALANTIR SOFTWARE .................................69 1

Employability and the UseMyAbility Online Tool: Raising Sports Students' Awareness to Inform the Development of Their Skills and Attributes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breeze, Nick; Barber, Lerverne; Chapman, Val; Beaman-Evans, Charlotte; Beeching, Kelvin

2016-01-01

The collaborative project UseMyAbility (UMA) sought to reduce discrimination and enhance disabled graduates' employability through equipping them with the skills to match employability skills and attributes. An outcome from the project, completed in 2011, was a web-based tool which gave students advice on how to improve their employability.…

Health Information Technology as a Universal Donor to Bioethics Education.

PubMed

Goodman, Kenneth W

2017-04-01

Health information technology, sometimes called biomedical informatics, is the use of computers and networks in the health professions. This technology has become widespread, from electronic health records to decision support tools to patient access through personal health records. These computational and information-based tools have engendered their own ethics literature and now present an opportunity to shape the standard medical and nursing ethics curricula. It is suggested that each of four core components in the professional education of clinicians-privacy, end-of-life care, access to healthcare and valid consent, and clinician-patient communication-offers an opportunity to leverage health information technology for curricular improvement. Using informatics in ethics education freshens ethics pedagogy and increases its utility, and does so without additional demands on overburdened curricula.

Development of a tailored strategy to improve postpartum hemorrhage guideline adherence.

PubMed

de Visser, Suzan M; Woiski, Mallory D; Grol, Richard P; Vandenbussche, Frank P H A; Hulscher, Marlies E J L; Scheepers, Hubertina C J; Hermens, Rosella P M G

2018-02-08

Despite the introduction of evidence based guidelines and practical courses, the incidence of postpartum hemorrhage shows an increasing trend in developed countries. Substandard care is often found, which implies an inadequate implementation in high resource countries. We aimed to reduce the gap between evidence-based guidelines and clinical application, by developing a strategy, tailored to current barriers for implementation. The development of the implementation strategy consisted of three phases, supervised by a multidisciplinary expert panel. In the first phase a framework of the strategy was created, based on barriers to optimal adherence identified among professionals and patients together with evidence on effectiveness of strategies found in literature. In the second phase, the tools within the framework were developed, leading to a first draft. In the third phase the strategy was evaluated among professionals and patients. The professionals were asked to give written feedback on tool contents, clinical usability and inconsistencies with current evidence care. Patients evaluated the tools on content and usability. Based on the feedback of both professionals and patients the tools were adjusted. We developed a tailored strategy to improve guideline adherence, covering the trajectory of the third trimester of pregnancy till the end of the delivery. The strategy, directed at professionals, comprehending three stop moments includes a risk assessment checklist, care bundle and time-out procedure. As patient empowerment tools, a patient passport and a website with patient information was developed. The evaluation among the expert panel showed all professionals to be satisfied with the content and usability and no discrepancies or inconsistencies with current evidence was found. Patients' evaluation revealed that the information they received through the tools was incomplete. The tools were adjusted accordingly to the missing information. A usable, tailored strategy to implement PPH guidelines and practical courses was developed. The next step is the evaluation of the strategy in a feasibility trial. Clinical trial registration: The Fluxim study, registration number: NCT00928863 .

Nutrition education: a questionnaire for assessment and teaching

PubMed Central

Makowske, Mary; Feinman, Richard D

2005-01-01

It is generally recognized that there is a need for improved teaching of nutrition in medical schools and for increased education of the general population. A questionnaire, derived in part from a study of physician knowledge, was administered to first year medical students in order to assess their knowledge of various aspects of nutrition and metabolism, and as a teaching tool to transmit information about the subject. The performance of first year students was consistent with a generally educated population but there were surprising deficits in some fundamental areas of nutrition. Results of the questionnaire are informative about student knowledge, and immediate reinforcement from a questionnaire may provide a useful teaching tool. In addition, some of the subject matter can serve as a springboard for discussion of critical issues in nutrition such as obesity and markers for cardiovascular disease. A major barrier to improved teaching of nutrition is the lack of agreement on some of these critical issues and there are apparent inconsistencies in recommendations of government and health agencies. It seems reasonable that improved teaching should address the lack of knowledge of nutrition, rather than knowledge of official guidelines. Student awareness of factual information should be the primary goal. PMID:15649324

Surface Operations Systems Improve Airport Efficiency

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2009-01-01

With Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts from Ames Research Center, Mosaic ATM of Leesburg, Virginia created software to analyze surface operations at airports. Surface surveillance systems, which report locations every second for thousands of air and ground vehicles, generate massive amounts of data, making gathering and analyzing this information difficult. Mosaic?s Surface Operations Data Analysis and Adaptation (SODAA) tool is an off-line support tool that can analyze how well the airport surface operation is working and can help redesign procedures to improve operations. SODAA helps researchers pinpoint trends and correlations in vast amounts of recorded airport operations data.

International land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Package v002.00

DOE Data Explorer

Collier, Nathaniel [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Mu, Mingquan [University of California, Irvine; Randerson, James T. [University of California, Irvine; Riley, William J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

2016-05-09

As a contribution to International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Project, we are providing new analysis approaches, benchmarking tools, and science leadership. The goal of ILAMB is to assess and improve the performance of land models through international cooperation and to inform the design of new measurement campaigns and field studies to reduce uncertainties associated with key biogeochemical processes and feedbacks. ILAMB is expected to be a primary analysis tool for CMIP6 and future model-data intercomparison experiments. This team has developed initial prototype benchmarking systems for ILAMB, which will be improved and extended to include ocean model metrics and diagnostics.

International land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Package v001.00

DOE Data Explorer

Mu, Mingquan [University of California, Irvine; Randerson, James T. [University of California, Irvine; Riley, William J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory

2016-05-02

As a contribution to International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Project, we are providing new analysis approaches, benchmarking tools, and science leadership. The goal of ILAMB is to assess and improve the performance of land models through international cooperation and to inform the design of new measurement campaigns and field studies to reduce uncertainties associated with key biogeochemical processes and feedbacks. ILAMB is expected to be a primary analysis tool for CMIP6 and future model-data intercomparison experiments. This team has developed initial prototype benchmarking systems for ILAMB, which will be improved and extended to include ocean model metrics and diagnostics.

A multimedia consent tool for research participants in the Gambia: a randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

McGrath, Nuala; D’Alessandro, Umberto; Kampmann, Beate; Imoukhuede, Egeruan B; Ravinetto, Raffaella M; Alexander, Neal; Larson, Heidi J; Chandramohan, Daniel; Bojang, Kalifa

2015-01-01

Abstract Objective To assess the effectiveness of a multimedia informed consent tool for adults participating in a clinical trial in the Gambia. Methods Adults eligible for inclusion in a malaria treatment trial (n = 311) were randomized to receive information needed for informed consent using either a multimedia tool (intervention arm) or a standard procedure (control arm). A computerized, audio questionnaire was used to assess participants’ comprehension of informed consent. This was done immediately after consent had been obtained (at day 0) and at subsequent follow-up visits (days 7, 14, 21 and 28). The acceptability and ease of use of the multimedia tool were assessed in focus groups. Findings On day 0, the median comprehension score in the intervention arm was 64% compared with 40% in the control arm (P = 0.042). The difference remained significant at all follow-up visits. Poorer comprehension was independently associated with female sex (odds ratio, OR: 0.29; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.12–0.70) and residing in Jahaly rather than Basse province (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.13–0.82). There was no significant independent association with educational level. The risk that a participant’s comprehension score would drop to half of the initial value was lower in the intervention arm (hazard ratio 0.22, 95% CI: 0.16–0.31). Overall, 70% (42/60) of focus group participants from the intervention arm found the multimedia tool clear and easy to understand. Conclusion A multimedia informed consent tool significantly improved comprehension and retention of consent information by research participants with low levels of literacy. PMID:26229203

Improving physician's hand over among oncology staff using standardized communication tool

PubMed Central

Alolayan, Ashwaq; Alkaiyat, Mohammad; Ali, Yosra; Alshami, Mona; Al-Surimi, Khaled; Jazieh, Abdul-Rahman

2017-01-01

Cancer patients are frequently admitted to hospital for many reasons. During their hospitalization they are handled by different physicians and other care providers. Maintaining good communication among physicians is essential to assure patient safety and the delivery of quality patient care. Several incidents of miscommunication issues have been reported due to lack of a standardized communication tool for patients' hand over among physicians at our oncology department. Hence, this improvement project aims at assessing the impact of using a standardized communication tool on improving patients' hand over and quality of patient care. A quality improvement team has been formed to address the issue of cancer patients' hand over. We adopted specific hand over tool to be used by physicians. This tool was developed based on well-known and validated communication tool called ISBAR - Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation, which contains pertinent information about the patient's condition. The form should be shared at a specific point in time during the handover process. We monitored the compliance of physician's with this tool over 16 weeks embedded by four ‘purposive’ and ‘sequential’ Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles; where each PDSA cycle was developed based on the challenges faced and lessons learned in each step and the result of the previous PDSA cycle. Physicians compliance rate of using the tool had improved significantly from 45% (baseline) to 100% after the fourth PDSA cycle. Other process measure was measuring acknowledgment of hand over receipt email at two checkpoints at 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. The project showed that using a standardized handover form as a daily communication method between physicians is a useful idea and feasible to improve cancer patients handover with positive impact on many aspects of healthcare process and outcomes. PMID:28174657

How to Assess the External Validity and Model Validity of Therapeutic Trials: A Conceptual Approach to Systematic Review Methodology

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background. Evidence rankings do not consider equally internal (IV), external (EV), and model validity (MV) for clinical studies including complementary and alternative medicine/integrative medicine (CAM/IM) research. This paper describe this model and offers an EV assessment tool (EVAT©) for weighing studies according to EV and MV in addition to IV. Methods. An abbreviated systematic review methodology was employed to search, assemble, and evaluate the literature that has been published on EV/MV criteria. Standard databases were searched for keywords relating to EV, MV, and bias-scoring from inception to Jan 2013. Tools identified and concepts described were pooled to assemble a robust tool for evaluating these quality criteria. Results. This study assembled a streamlined, objective tool to incorporate for the evaluation of quality of EV/MV research that is more sensitive to CAM/IM research. Conclusion. Improved reporting on EV can help produce and provide information that will help guide policy makers, public health researchers, and other scientists in their selection, development, and improvement in their research-tested intervention. Overall, clinical studies with high EV have the potential to provide the most useful information about “real-world” consequences of health interventions. It is hoped that this novel tool which considers IV, EV, and MV on equal footing will better guide clinical decision making. PMID:24734111

Can Digital Tools Be Used for Improving Immunization Programs?

PubMed

Tozzi, Alberto E; Gesualdo, Francesco; D'Ambrosio, Angelo; Pandolfi, Elisabetta; Agricola, Eleonora; Lopalco, Pierluigi

2016-01-01

In order to successfully control and eliminate vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, an appropriate vaccine coverage has to be achieved and maintained. This task requires a high level of effort as it may be compromised by a number of barriers. Public health agencies have issued specific recommendations to address these barriers and therefore improve immunization programs. In the present review, we characterize issues and challenges of immunization programs for which digital tools are a potential solution. In particular, we explore previously published research on the use of digital tools in the following vaccine-related areas: immunization registries, dose tracking, and decision support systems; vaccine-preventable diseases surveillance; surveillance of adverse events following immunizations; vaccine confidence monitoring; and delivery of information on vaccines to the public. Subsequently, we analyze the limits of the use of digital tools in such contexts and envision future possibilities and challenges.

Can Digital Tools Be Used for Improving Immunization Programs?

PubMed Central

Tozzi, Alberto E.; Gesualdo, Francesco; D’Ambrosio, Angelo; Pandolfi, Elisabetta; Agricola, Eleonora; Lopalco, Pierluigi

2016-01-01

In order to successfully control and eliminate vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, an appropriate vaccine coverage has to be achieved and maintained. This task requires a high level of effort as it may be compromised by a number of barriers. Public health agencies have issued specific recommendations to address these barriers and therefore improve immunization programs. In the present review, we characterize issues and challenges of immunization programs for which digital tools are a potential solution. In particular, we explore previously published research on the use of digital tools in the following vaccine-related areas: immunization registries, dose tracking, and decision support systems; vaccine-preventable diseases surveillance; surveillance of adverse events following immunizations; vaccine confidence monitoring; and delivery of information on vaccines to the public. Subsequently, we analyze the limits of the use of digital tools in such contexts and envision future possibilities and challenges. PMID:27014673

Water flow algorithm decision support tool for travelling salesman problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamarudin, Anis Aklima; Othman, Zulaiha Ali; Sarim, Hafiz Mohd

2016-08-01

This paper discuss about the role of Decision Support Tool in Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) for helping the researchers who doing research in same area will get the better result from the proposed algorithm. A study has been conducted and Rapid Application Development (RAD) model has been use as a methodology which includes requirement planning, user design, construction and cutover. Water Flow Algorithm (WFA) with initialization technique improvement is used as the proposed algorithm in this study for evaluating effectiveness against TSP cases. For DST evaluation will go through usability testing conducted on system use, quality of information, quality of interface and overall satisfaction. Evaluation is needed for determine whether this tool can assists user in making a decision to solve TSP problems with the proposed algorithm or not. Some statistical result shown the ability of this tool in term of helping researchers to conduct the experiments on the WFA with improvements TSP initialization.

A Business Analytics Software Tool for Monitoring and Predicting Radiology Throughput Performance.

PubMed

Jones, Stephen; Cournane, Seán; Sheehy, Niall; Hederman, Lucy

2016-12-01

Business analytics (BA) is increasingly being utilised by radiology departments to analyse and present data. It encompasses statistical analysis, forecasting and predictive modelling and is used as an umbrella term for decision support and business intelligence systems. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether utilising BA technologies could contribute towards improved decision support and resource management within radiology departments. A set of information technology requirements were identified with key stakeholders, and a prototype BA software tool was designed, developed and implemented. A qualitative evaluation of the tool was carried out through a series of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Feedback was collated, and emergent themes were identified. The results indicated that BA software applications can provide visibility of radiology performance data across all time horizons. The study demonstrated that the tool could potentially assist with improving operational efficiencies and management of radiology resources.

Reminiscence work with older people: the development of a historical reminiscence tool.

PubMed

Thorgrimsdottir, Sigrun Huld; Bjornsdottir, Kristin

2016-03-01

(i) To explore how reminiscence workers in older people's care define their work and (ii) to describe the development of a historical reminiscence tool containing historical developments from the older person's passage through life, intended to support reminiscence work. Reminiscence work refers to the recall of past occurrences in a client's life with the intention of enhancing well-being, social skills and self-image. The design of the historical reminiscence tool was informed by the model of intervention design developed by van Meijel et al. starting with problem definition followed by the accumulation of building blocks for the intervention, the design of the intervention and, lastly, a validation of the intervention. Two studies were designed to develop the historical reminiscence tool. Study 1 was a focus group interview, conducted in 2008, aimed at generating knowledge about current practice and to develop the historical reminiscence tool. Eighteen women who identified themselves as reminiscence workers participated in three focus groups. Study 2 was a telephone survey, conducted in 2012 by the first author, serving the purpose of validation. The results provided information about the use of such a historical reminiscence tool. Participants understood reminiscence work primarily as meaningful activity, working with personal experience and honouring the individual's memories and life story. The historical reminiscence tool containing information about important historical events and everyday life in the period 1925-1955 was welcomed by the participants. They provided numerous suggestions for improvement of the draft. Reminiscence work in Iceland is of the social or meaningful activity type rather than a therapy. A historical reminiscence tool containing pertinent historical information was considered helpful in strengthening reminiscence workers' knowledge of the social and historical background of their clients and person-centred care. Reminiscence tools, such as books or electronic sources containing historical information pertaining to aging individuals, can enhance the care of older people. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

EURRECA: development of tools to improve the alignment of micronutrient recommendations.

PubMed

Matthys, C; Bucchini, L; Busstra, M C; Cavelaars, A E J M; Eleftheriou, P; Garcia-Alvarez, A; Fairweather-Tait, S; Gurinović, M; van Ommen, B; Contor, L

2010-11-01

Approaches through which reference values for micronutrients are derived, as well as the reference values themselves, vary considerably across countries. Harmonisation is needed to improve nutrition policy and public health strategies. The EURRECA (EURopean micronutrient RECommendations Aligned, http://www.eurreca.org) Network of Excellence is developing generic tools for systematically establishing and updating micronutrient reference values or recommendations. Different types of instruments (including best practice guidelines, interlinked web pages, online databases and decision trees) have been identified. The first set of instruments is for training purposes and includes mainly interactive digital learning materials. The second set of instruments comprises collection and interlinkage of diverse information sources that have widely varying contents and purposes. In general, these sources are collections of existing information. The purpose of the majority of these information sources is to provide guidance on best practice for use in a wider scientific community or for users and stakeholders of reference values. The third set of instruments includes decision trees and frameworks. The purpose of these tools is to guide non-scientists in decision making based on scientific evidence. This platform of instruments will, in particular in Central and Eastern European countries, contribute to future capacity-building development in nutrition. The use of these tools by the scientific community, the European Food Safety Authority, bodies responsible for setting national nutrient requirements and others should ultimately help to align nutrient-based recommendations across Europe. Therefore, EURRECA can contribute towards nutrition policy development and public health strategies.

NextGen Operational Improvements: Will they Improve Human Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beard, Bettina L.; Johnston, James C.; Holbrook, Jon

2013-01-01

Modernization of the National Airspace System depends critically on the development of advanced technology, including cutting-edge automation, controller decision-support tools and integrated on-demand information. The Next Generation Air Transportation System national plan envisions air traffic control tower automation that proposes solutions for seven problems: 1) departure metering, 2) taxi routing, 3) taxi and runway scheduling, 4) departure runway assignments, 5) departure flow management, 6) integrated arrival and departure scheduling and 7) runway configuration management. Government, academia and industry are simultaneously pursuing the development of these tools. For each tool, the development process typically begins by assessing its potential benefits, and then progresses to designing preliminary versions of the tool, followed by testing the tool's strengths and weaknesses using computational modeling, human-in-the-loop simulation and/or field tests. We compiled the literature, evaluated the methodological rigor of the studies and served as referee for partisan conclusions that were sometimes overly optimistic. Here we provide the results of this review.

A computational platform to maintain and migrate manual functional annotations for BioCyc databases.

PubMed

Walsh, Jesse R; Sen, Taner Z; Dickerson, Julie A

2014-10-12

BioCyc databases are an important resource for information on biological pathways and genomic data. Such databases represent the accumulation of biological data, some of which has been manually curated from literature. An essential feature of these databases is the continuing data integration as new knowledge is discovered. As functional annotations are improved, scalable methods are needed for curators to manage annotations without detailed knowledge of the specific design of the BioCyc database. We have developed CycTools, a software tool which allows curators to maintain functional annotations in a model organism database. This tool builds on existing software to improve and simplify annotation data imports of user provided data into BioCyc databases. Additionally, CycTools automatically resolves synonyms and alternate identifiers contained within the database into the appropriate internal identifiers. Automating steps in the manual data entry process can improve curation efforts for major biological databases. The functionality of CycTools is demonstrated by transferring GO term annotations from MaizeCyc to matching proteins in CornCyc, both maize metabolic pathway databases available at MaizeGDB, and by creating strain specific databases for metabolic engineering.

Effects of a Patient-Provider, Collaborative, Medication-Planning Tool: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Wolf, Michael S.; Kaiser, Darren; Morrow, Daniel G.

2016-01-01

Among patients with various levels of health literacy, the effects of collaborative, patient-provider, medication-planning tools on outcomes relevant to self-management are uncertain. Objective. Among adult patients with type II diabetes mellitus, we tested the effectiveness of a medication-planning tool (Medtable™) implemented via an electronic medical record to improve patients' medication knowledge, adherence, and glycemic control compared to usual care. Design. A multicenter, randomized controlled trial in outpatient primary care clinics. 674 patients received either the Medtable tool or usual care and were followed up for up to 12 months. Results. Patients who received Medtable had greater knowledge about indications for medications in their regimens and were more satisfied with the information about their medications. Patients' knowledge of drug indication improved with Medtable regardless of their literacy status. However, Medtable did not improve patients' demonstrated medication use, regimen adherence, or glycemic control (HbA1c). Conclusion. The Medtable tool supported provider/patient collaboration related to medication use, as reflected in patient satisfaction with communication, but had limited impact on patient medication knowledge, adherence, and HbA1c outcomes. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01296633. PMID:27699179

Genomic Tools in Groundnut Breeding Program: Status and Perspectives

PubMed Central

Janila, P.; Variath, Murali T.; Pandey, Manish K.; Desmae, Haile; Motagi, Babu N.; Okori, Patrick; Manohar, Surendra S.; Rathnakumar, A. L.; Radhakrishnan, T.; Liao, Boshou; Varshney, Rajeev K.

2016-01-01

Groundnut, a nutrient-rich food legume, is cultivated world over. It is valued for its good quality cooking oil, energy and protein rich food, and nutrient-rich fodder. Globally, groundnut improvement programs have developed varieties to meet the preferences of farmers, traders, processors, and consumers. Enhanced yield, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and quality parameters have been the target traits. Spurt in genetic information of groundnut was facilitated by development of molecular markers, genetic, and physical maps, generation of expressed sequence tags (EST), discovery of genes, and identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for some important biotic and abiotic stresses and quality traits. The first groundnut variety developed using marker assisted breeding (MAB) was registered in 2003. Since then, USA, China, Japan, and India have begun to use genomic tools in routine groundnut improvement programs. Introgression lines that combine foliar fungal disease resistance and early maturity were developed using MAB. Establishment of marker-trait associations (MTA) paved way to integrate genomic tools in groundnut breeding for accelerated genetic gain. Genomic Selection (GS) tools are employed to improve drought tolerance and pod yield, governed by several minor effect QTLs. Draft genome sequence and low cost genotyping tools such as genotyping by sequencing (GBS) are expected to accelerate use of genomic tools to enhance genetic gains for target traits in groundnut. PMID:27014312

Enhance your team-based qualitative research.

PubMed

Fernald, Douglas H; Duclos, Christine W

2005-01-01

Qualitative research projects often involve the collaborative efforts of a research team. Challenges inherent in teamwork include changes in membership and differences in analytical style, philosophy, training, experience, and skill. This article discusses teamwork issues and tools and techniques used to improve team-based qualitative research. We drew on our experiences in working on numerous projects of varying, size, duration, and purpose. Through trials of different tools and techniques, expert consultation, and review of the literature, we learned to improve how we build teams, manage information, and disseminate results. Attention given to team members and team processes is as important as choosing appropriate analytical tools and techniques. Attentive team leadership, commitment to early and regular team meetings, and discussion of roles, responsibilities, and expectations all help build more effective teams and establish clear norms. As data are collected and analyzed, it is important to anticipate potential problems from differing skills and styles, and how information and files are managed. Discuss analytical preferences and biases and set clear guidelines and practices for how data will be analyzed and handled. As emerging ideas and findings disperse across team members, common tools (such as summary forms and data grids), coding conventions, intermediate goals or products, and regular documentation help capture essential ideas and insights. In a team setting, little should be left to chance. This article identifies ways to improve team-based qualitative research with more a considered and systematic approach. Qualitative researchers will benefit from further examination and discussion of effective, field-tested, team-based strategies.

NASA Products to Enhance Energy Utility Load Forecasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lough, G.; Zell, E.; Engel-Cox, J.; Fungard, Y.; Jedlovec, G.; Stackhouse, P.; Homer, R.; Biley, S.

2012-01-01

Existing energy load forecasting tools rely upon historical load and forecasted weather to predict load within energy company service areas. The shortcomings of load forecasts are often the result of weather forecasts that are not at a fine enough spatial or temporal resolution to capture local-scale weather events. This project aims to improve the performance of load forecasting tools through the integration of high-resolution, weather-related NASA Earth Science Data, such as temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Three companies are participating in operational testing one natural gas company, and two electric providers. Operational results comparing load forecasts with and without NASA weather forecasts have been generated since March 2010. We have worked with end users at the three companies to refine selection of weather forecast information and optimize load forecast model performance. The project will conclude in 2012 with transitioning documented improvements from the inclusion of NASA forecasts for sustained use by energy utilities nationwide in a variety of load forecasting tools. In addition, Battelle has consulted with energy companies nationwide to document their information needs for long-term planning, in light of climate change and regulatory impacts.

A Community Health Record: Improving Health Through Multisector Collaboration, Information Sharing, and Technology.

PubMed

King, Raymond J; Garrett, Nedra; Kriseman, Jeffrey; Crum, Melvin; Rafalski, Edward M; Sweat, David; Frazier, Renee; Schearer, Sue; Cutts, Teresa

2016-09-08

We present a framework for developing a community health record to bring stakeholders, information, and technology together to collectively improve the health of a community. It is both social and technical in nature and presents an iterative and participatory process for achieving multisector collaboration and information sharing. It proposes a methodology and infrastructure for bringing multisector stakeholders and their information together to inform, target, monitor, and evaluate community health initiatives. The community health record is defined as both the proposed framework and a tool or system for integrating and transforming multisector data into actionable information. It is informed by the electronic health record, personal health record, and County Health Ranking systems but differs in its social complexity, communal ownership, and provision of information to multisector partners at scales ranging from address to zip code.

A Community Health Record: Improving Health Through Multisector Collaboration, Information Sharing, and Technology

PubMed Central

Garrett, Nedra; Kriseman, Jeffrey; Crum, Melvin; Rafalski, Edward M.; Sweat, David; Frazier, Renee; Schearer, Sue; Cutts, Teresa

2016-01-01

We present a framework for developing a community health record to bring stakeholders, information, and technology together to collectively improve the health of a community. It is both social and technical in nature and presents an iterative and participatory process for achieving multisector collaboration and information sharing. It proposes a methodology and infrastructure for bringing multisector stakeholders and their information together to inform, target, monitor, and evaluate community health initiatives. The community health record is defined as both the proposed framework and a tool or system for integrating and transforming multisector data into actionable information. It is informed by the electronic health record, personal health record, and County Health Ranking systems but differs in its social complexity, communal ownership, and provision of information to multisector partners at scales ranging from address to zip code. PMID:27609300

Maternal morbidity measurement tool pilot: study protocol.

PubMed

Say, Lale; Barreix, Maria; Chou, Doris; Tunçalp, Özge; Cottler, Sara; McCaw-Binns, Affette; Gichuhi, Gathari Ndirangu; Taulo, Frank; Hindin, Michelle

2016-06-09

While it is estimated that for every maternal death, 20-30 women suffer morbidity, these estimates are not based on standardized methods and measures. Lack of an agreed-upon definition, identification criteria, standardized assessment tools, and indicators has limited valid, routine, and comparable measurements of maternal morbidity. The World Health Organization (WHO) convened the Maternal Morbidity Working Group (MMWG) to develop standardized methods to improve estimates of maternal morbidity. To date, the MMWG has developed a definition and provided input into the development of a set of measurement tools. This protocol outlines the pilot test for measuring maternal morbidity in antenatal and postnatal clinical populations using these new tools. In each setting, the tools will be piloted on approximately 250 women receiving antenatal care (ANC) (at least 28 weeks pregnant) and 250 women receiving postpartum care (PPC) (at least 6 weeks postpartum). The tools will be administered by trained health care workers. Each tool has three modules as follows: 1. personal history - socio-economic information, and risk-factors (such as violence and substance abuse) 2. patient symptoms - WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 12-item, and mental health questionnaires, General Anxiety Disorder, 7-item (GAD-7) and Personal Health Questionnaire, 9-item (PHQ-9) 3. physical examination - signs, laboratory tests and results. This pilot (planned for Jamaica, Kenya and Malawi) will allow for comparing the types of morbidities women experience between and across settings, and determine the feasibility, acceptability and utility of using a modified, streamlined tool for routine measurement and summary estimates of morbidity to inform resource allocation and service provision. As part of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) estimating and measuring maternal morbidity will be essential to ensure appropriate resources are allocated to address its impact and improve well-being.

[Role of the INAIL].

PubMed

Benedetti, F

2006-01-01

This report has to describe the activity of INAIL for improve information and training in the field of occupational health and safety. The discussion start from accident and professional illness data and gives evidence about social and economic cost of this phenomenon. INAIL want work together with other institution, social body, professional association for promote the integration of occupational health and safety in businesses management. The principal target are SMEs - Small and Medium size Enterprises. Information and training must follow this approach and sustain it. Information and training have to develop knowledge, competence and awareness like value for the organisations. This report describe models and tools for information and training which INAIL's improving even for the building sector.

Promoting informed choice: evaluating a decision-making tool for family planning clients and providers in Mexico.

PubMed

Kim, Young Mi; Kols, Adrienne; Martin, Antonieta; Silva, David; Rinehart, Ward; Prammawat, Sarah; Johnson, Sarah; Church, Kathryn

2005-12-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a decision-making tool to be used by providers and clients during family planning visits to improve the quality of services. It is important to examine the tool's usability and its impact on counseling and decision-making processes during family planning consultations. Thirteen providers in Mexico City were videotaped with family planning clients three months before and one month after attending a training session on the WHO decision-making tool. The videotapes were coded for client-provider communication and eye contact, and decision-making behaviors were rated. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions explored clients' and providers' opinions of the tool. After providers began using the decision-making tool, they gave clients more information on family planning, tailored that information more closely to clients' situations and more often discussed HIV/AIDS prevention, dual protection and condom use. Client involvement in the decision-making process and client active communication increased, contributing to a shift from provider-dominated to shared decision making. Clients reported that the tool helped them understand the provider's explanations and made them feel more comfortable talking and asking questions during consultations. After one month of practice with the decision-making tool, most providers felt comfortable with it and found it useful; however, they recommended some changes to the tool to help engage clients in the decision-making process. The decision-making tool was useful both as a job aid for providers and as a decision aid for clients.

Application of the Health Literacy INDEX on the development of a manual for prevention of falls for older adults.

PubMed

Andrade, Isabel; Silva, Catarina; Martins, Anabela Correia

2017-01-01

The Health Literacy INDEX tool has been developed for creating accessible and readable health information materials for people of all literacy levels. To increase knowledge of falls risk factors and actively engage older adults, we developed an improved manual for prevention of falls for low-health literacy older people entitled "Preventing falls-I can do it",with the aid of INDEX. First time application of the INDEX tool for assessing the health literacy demands of available manuals for prevention of falls for older adults and subsequent development of an improved manual using the INDEX tool as a checklist, supported by a pretest phase involving sixteen adults ≥65, living in the community, with literacy ≤4th grade and limited functional health literacy. The engagement of older adults from the target audience and their feedback obtained during the validation process contributed to the development of an improved health literacy- and age-friendly manual for prevention of falls. By offering effective health information materials, older adults can play a more active role in their health care. The manual developed to be health literacy- and age-friendly is available to be included in any multifactorial program for the prevention of falls in older adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

On improving the communication between models and data.

PubMed

Dietze, Michael C; Lebauer, David S; Kooper, Rob

2013-09-01

The potential for model-data synthesis is growing in importance as we enter an era of 'big data', greater connectivity and faster computation. Realizing this potential requires that the research community broaden its perspective about how and why they interact with models. Models can be viewed as scaffolds that allow data at different scales to inform each other through our understanding of underlying processes. Perceptions of relevance, accessibility and informatics are presented as the primary barriers to broader adoption of models by the community, while an inability to fully utilize the breadth of expertise and data from the community is a primary barrier to model improvement. Overall, we promote a community-based paradigm to model-data synthesis and highlight some of the tools and techniques that facilitate this approach. Scientific workflows address critical informatics issues in transparency, repeatability and automation, while intuitive, flexible web-based interfaces make running and visualizing models more accessible. Bayesian statistics provides powerful tools for assimilating a diversity of data types and for the analysis of uncertainty. Uncertainty analyses enable new measurements to target those processes most limiting our predictive ability. Moving forward, tools for information management and data assimilation need to be improved and made more accessible. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Web Access to RSIG Data

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remote Sensing Information Gateway, a tool that allows scientists, researchers and decision makers to access a variety of multi-terabyte, environmental datasets and to subset the data and obtain only needed variables, greatly improving the download time.

Unmanned aircraft systems for transportation decision support.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-11-30

Our nation relies on accurate geospatial information to map, measure, and monitor transportation infrastructure and the surrounding landscapes. This project focused on the application of Unmanned Aircraft systems (UAS) as a novel tool for improving e...

Tips for Running RSIG2D

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remote Sensing Information Gateway, a tool that allows scientists, researchers and decision makers to access a variety of multi-terabyte, environmental datasets and to subset the data and obtain only needed variables, greatly improving the download time.

Development of a nursing handoff tool: a web-based application to enhance patient safety.

PubMed

Goldsmith, Denise; Boomhower, Marc; Lancaster, Diane R; Antonelli, Mary; Kenyon, Mary Anne Murphy; Benoit, Angela; Chang, Frank; Dykes, Patricia C

2010-11-13

Dynamic and complex clinical environments present many challenges for effective communication among health care providers. The omission of accurate, timely, easily accessible vital information by health care providers significantly increases risk of patient harm and can have devastating consequences for patient care. An effective nursing handoff supports the standardized transfer of accurate, timely, critical patient information, as well as continuity of care and treatment, resulting in enhanced patient safety. The Brigham and Women's/Faulkner Hospital Healthcare Information Technology Innovation Program (HIP) is supporting the development of a web based nursing handoff tool (NHT). The goal of this project is to develop a "proof of concept" handoff application to be evaluated by nurses on the inpatient intermediate care units. The handoff tool would enable nurses to use existing knowledge of evidence-based handoff methodology in their everyday practice to improve patient care and safety. In this paper, we discuss the results of nursing focus groups designed to identify the current state of handoff practice as well as the functional and data element requirements of a web based Nursing Handoff Tool (NHT).

Mutation extraction tools can be combined for robust recognition of genetic variants in the literature

PubMed Central

Jimeno Yepes, Antonio; Verspoor, Karin

2014-01-01

As the cost of genomic sequencing continues to fall, the amount of data being collected and studied for the purpose of understanding the genetic basis of disease is increasing dramatically. Much of the source information relevant to such efforts is available only from unstructured sources such as the scientific literature, and significant resources are expended in manually curating and structuring the information in the literature. As such, there have been a number of systems developed to target automatic extraction of mutations and other genetic variation from the literature using text mining tools. We have performed a broad survey of the existing publicly available tools for extraction of genetic variants from the scientific literature. We consider not just one tool but a number of different tools, individually and in combination, and apply the tools in two scenarios. First, they are compared in an intrinsic evaluation context, where the tools are tested for their ability to identify specific mentions of genetic variants in a corpus of manually annotated papers, the Variome corpus. Second, they are compared in an extrinsic evaluation context based on our previous study of text mining support for curation of the COSMIC and InSiGHT databases. Our results demonstrate that no single tool covers the full range of genetic variants mentioned in the literature. Rather, several tools have complementary coverage and can be used together effectively. In the intrinsic evaluation on the Variome corpus, the combined performance is above 0.95 in F-measure, while in the extrinsic evaluation the combined recall performance is above 0.71 for COSMIC and above 0.62 for InSiGHT, a substantial improvement over the performance of any individual tool. Based on the analysis of these results, we suggest several directions for the improvement of text mining tools for genetic variant extraction from the literature. PMID:25285203

Design and Evaluation of Wood Processing Facilities Using Object-Oriented Simulation

Treesearch

D. Earl Kline; Philip A. Araman

1992-01-01

Managers of hardwood processing facilities need timely information on which to base important decisions such as when to add costly equipment or how to improve profitability subject to time-varying demands. The overall purpose of this paper is to introduce a tool that can effectively provide such timely information. A simulation/animation modeling procedure is described...

NPEC Sourcebook on Assessment: Definitions and Assessment Methods for Communication, Leadership, Information Literacy, Quantitative Reasoning, and Quantitative Skills. NPEC 2005-0832

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Elizabeth A.; RiCharde, Stephen

2005-01-01

Faculty, instructional staff, and assessment professionals are interested in student outcomes assessment processes and tools that can be used to improve learning experiences and academic programs. How can students' skills be assessed effectively? What assessments measure skills in communication? Leadership? Information literacy? Quantitative…

Improving the effectiveness of ecological site descriptions: General state-and-transition models and the Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool (EDIT)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

State-and-transition models (STMs) were conceived as a means to organize and communicate information about ecosystem changes and how to manage them. Information within STMs applies to ecological land classes, such as ecological sites, that possess similar vegetation states. The value of STMs for ran...

The Intranet: A New Concept for Corporate Information Handling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barbera, Jose

The World Wide Web model has evolved within companies from a repository for notice boards to a new tool that can improve work productivity. Intranets, the internal or corporate internets, are likely to be the key information technology revolution for the remainder of this century. The intranet concept is derived from the present Internet as a…

Providing the Tools for Information Sharing: Net-Centric Enterprise Services

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-01

The Department of Defense (DoD) is establishing a net-centric environment that increasingly leverages shared services and Service-Oriented...transformational program that delivers a set of shared services as part of the DoD’s common infrastructure to enable networked joint force capabilities, improved interoperability, and increased information sharing across mission area services.

Beyond the Library: Using Multiple, Mixed Measures Simultaneously in a College-Wide Assessment of Information Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitlock, Brandy; Ebrahimi, Nassim

2016-01-01

To get the best sense of how graduating students demonstrate information literacy skills and how the institution can improve student learning, the Assessment in Action (AiA) project at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) deployed a combination of indirect measures and authentic assessment of student work, utilizing assessment tools flexible…

Putting It All Together: Supporting Continuous Improvement in Education through Strategic Use of Data Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data Quality Campaign, 2010

2010-01-01

State education data systems have often been described as data rich but information poor. Historically, these systems were created for compliance purposes and, therefore, designed and managed as information technology projects, but a culture change is under way. Educators and other stakeholders are beginning to value data as a tool to inform…

Urban-Rural Differences in the Availability of Hospital Information Technology Applications: A Survey of Georgia Hospitals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Culler, Steven D.; Atherly, Adam; Walczak, Sandra; Davis, Anne; Hawley, Jonathan N.; Rask, Kimberly J.; Naylor, Vi; Thorpe, Kenneth E.

2006-01-01

Context: Information technology (IT) has been identified as a potential tool for improving the safety of health care delivery. Purpose: To determine if there are significant differences between urban and rural community hospitals in the availability of selected IT functional applications and technological devices. Methods: A mailed survey of…

Decision-Making, Information Communication Technology, and Data Analysis by School Leaders about Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akoma, Ahunna Margaux

2012-01-01

This case study of one school district examined how school leaders use student performance data and technology-based data analysis tools to engage in data-informed decision-making for continuous improvement. School leaders in this context included leaders at the district, school, and classroom levels. An extensive literature review provided the…

Operation Reliability Assessment for Cutting Tools by Applying a Proportional Covariate Model to Condition Monitoring Information

PubMed Central

Cai, Gaigai; Chen, Xuefeng; Li, Bing; Chen, Baojia; He, Zhengjia

2012-01-01

The reliability of cutting tools is critical to machining precision and production efficiency. The conventional statistic-based reliability assessment method aims at providing a general and overall estimation of reliability for a large population of identical units under given and fixed conditions. However, it has limited effectiveness in depicting the operational characteristics of a cutting tool. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes an approach to assess the operation reliability of cutting tools. A proportional covariate model is introduced to construct the relationship between operation reliability and condition monitoring information. The wavelet packet transform and an improved distance evaluation technique are used to extract sensitive features from vibration signals, and a covariate function is constructed based on the proportional covariate model. Ultimately, the failure rate function of the cutting tool being assessed is calculated using the baseline covariate function obtained from a small sample of historical data. Experimental results and a comparative study show that the proposed method is effective for assessing the operation reliability of cutting tools. PMID:23201980

Market valuation perspectives for photovoltaic systems

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

Klise, Geoffrey Taylor

Sandia National Laboratories, working with Energy Sense Finance developed the proof-ofconcept PV Valueª tool in 2011 to provide real estate appraisers a tool that can be used to develop the market value and fair market value of a solar photovoltaic system. PV Valueª moved from a proof-of-concept spreadsheet to a commercial web-based tool developed and operated exclusively by Energy Sense Finance in June 2014. This paper presents the results of a survey aimed at different user categories in order to measure how the tool is being used in the marketplace as well as elicit information that can be used tomore » improve the tools effectiveness.« less

Impact of electronic medical record integration of a handoff tool on sign-out in a newborn intensive care unit

PubMed Central

Palma, JP; Sharek, PJ; Longhurst, CA

2016-01-01

Objective To evaluate the impact of integrating a handoff tool into the electronic medical record (EMR) on sign-out accuracy, satisfaction and workflow in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Study Design Prospective surveys of neonatal care providers in an academic children’s hospital 1 month before and 6 months following EMR integration of a standalone Microsoft Access neonatal handoff tool. Result Providers perceived sign-out information to be somewhat or very accurate at a rate of 78% with the standalone handoff tool and 91% with the EMR-integrated tool (P < 0.01). Before integration of neonatal sign-out into the EMR, 35% of providers were satisfied with the process of updating sign-out information and 71% were satisfied with the printed sign-out document; following EMR integration, 92% of providers were satisfied with the process of updating sign-out information (P < 0.01) and 98% were satisfied with the printed sign-out document (P < 0.01). Neonatal care providers reported spending a median of 11 to 15 min/day updating the standalone sign-out and 16 to 20 min/day updating the EMR-integrated sign-out (P = 0.026). The median percentage of total sign-out preparation time dedicated to transcribing information from the EMR was 25 to 49% before and <25% after EMR integration of the handoff tool (P < 0.01). Conclusion Integration of a NICU-specific handoff tool into an EMR resulted in improvements in perceived sign-out accuracy, provider satisfaction and at least one aspect of workflow. PMID:21273990

Enhancing the revenue cycle experience for patients.

PubMed

Consolver, Patti; Phillips, Scott

2014-09-01

In 2013, Texas Health Resources began to record discussions with patients at each revenue cycle touch point, from scheduling through registration. The recordings give leaders insight on the accuracy and consistency of information communicated at each touch point and provide a tool for improving customer service. The initiative has improved patient satisfaction and increased point-of-service collections.

Effects of Using Online Tools in Improving Regulation of the Teaching-Learning Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de la Fuente, Jesus; Cano, Francisco; Justicia, Fernando; Pichardo, Maria del Carmen; Garcia-Berben, Ana Belen; Martinez-Vicente, Jose Manuel; Sander, Paul

2007-01-01

Introduction: The current panorama of Higher Education reveals a need to improve teaching and learning processes taking place there. The rise of the information society transforms how we organize learning and transmit knowledge. On this account, teaching-learning processes must be enhanced, the role of teachers and students must be evaluated, and…

A 16th Suggestions for Educational Curriculum Improvement in Jordan, from the Experts Point of View

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahasneh, Omar

2015-01-01

The present research was conducted to identify the most important suggestions for educational curriculum improvement in Jordan, from the expert's point of view. A descriptive survey through data and information collection tool (questionnaire) was used as an approach. The study sample consisted of (620) educational experts in the field of…

[Tools to assess the impact on health of public health programmes and community interventions from an equity perspective].

PubMed

Suárez Álvarez, Óscar; Fernández-Feito, Ana; Vallina Crespo, Henar; Aldasoro Unamuno, Elena; Cofiño, Rafael

2018-05-11

It is essential to develop a comprehensive approach to institutionally promoted interventions to assess their impact on health from the perspective of the social determinants of health and equity. Simple, adapted tools must be developed to carry out these assessments. The aim of this paper is to present two tools to assess the impact of programmes and community-based interventions on the social determinants of health. The first tool is intended to assess health programmes through interviews and analysis of information provided by the assessment team. The second tool, by means of online assessments of community-based interventions, also enables a report on inequality issues that includes recommendations for improvement. In addition to reducing health-related social inequities, the implementation of these tools can also help to improve the efficiency of public health interventions. Copyright © 2018 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Quality assessment and improvement of post graduate family medicine training in the USA.

PubMed

Hoekzema, Grant S; Maxwell, Lisa; Gravel, Joseph W; Mills, Walter W; Geiger, William; Honeycutt, J David

2016-09-01

In 2013, the World Organisation of Family Doctors published training standards for post-graduate medical education (GME) in Family Medicine/General Practice (FP/GP). GME quality has not been well-defined, other than meeting accreditation standards. In 2009, the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD) developed a tool that would aid in raising the quality of family medicine residency training in the USA. We describe the development of this quality improvement tool, which we called the residency performance index (RPI), and its first three years of use by US family medicine residency (FMR) programmes. The RPI uses metrics specific to family medicine training in the USA to help programmes identify strengths and areas for improvement in their educational activities. Our review of three years of experience with the RPI revealed difficulties with collecting data, and lack of information on graduates' scope of practice. It also showed the potential usefulness of the tool as a programme improvement mechanism. The RPI is a nationwide, standardised, programme quality improvement tool for family medicine residency programmes in the USA, which was successfully launched as part of AFMRD's strategic plan. Although some initial challenges need to be addressed, it has the promise to aid family medicine residencies in their internal improvement efforts. This model could be adapted in other post-graduate training settings in FM/GP around the world.

Integrating Climate and Ocean Change Vulnerability into Conservation Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mcleod, E.; Green, A.; Game, E.; Anthony, K.; Cinner, J.; Heron, S. F.; Kleypas, J. A.; Lovelock, C.; Pandolfi, J.; Pressey, B.; Salm, R.; Schill, S.; Woodroffe, C. D.

2013-05-01

Tropical coastal and marine ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to ocean warming, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise. Yet these projected climate and ocean change impacts are rarely considered in conservation planning due to the lack of guidance on how existing climate and ocean change models, tools, and data can be applied. We address this gap by describing how conservation planning can use available tools and data for assessing the vulnerability of tropical marine ecosystems to key climate threats. Additionally, we identify limitations of existing tools and provide recommendations for future research to improve integration of climate and ocean change information and conservation planning. Such information is critical for developing a conservation response that adequately protects these ecosystems and dependent coastal communities in the face of climate and ocean change.

Improving the Efficiency and Quality of the Value Assessment Process for Companion Diagnostic Tests: The Companion test Assessment Tool (CAT).

PubMed

Canestaro, William J; Pritchard, Daryl E; Garrison, Louis P; Dubois, Robert; Veenstra, David L

2015-08-01

Companion diagnostic tests (CDTs) have emerged as a vital technology in the effective use of an increasing number of targeted drug therapies. Although CDTs can offer a multitude of potential benefits, assessing their value within a health technology appraisal process can be challenging because of a complex array of factors that influence clinical and economic outcomes. To develop a user-friendly tool to assist managed care and other health care decision makers in screening companion tests and determining whether an intensive technology review is necessary and, if so, where the review should be focused to improve efficiency. First, we conducted a systematic literature review of CDT cost-effectiveness studies to identify value drivers. Second, we conducted key informant interviews with a diverse group of stakeholders to elicit feedback and solicit any additional value drivers and identify desirable attributes for an evidence review tool. A draft tool was developed based on this information that captured value drivers, usability features, and had a particular focus on practical use by nonexperts. Finally, the tool was pilot tested with test developers and managed care evidence evaluators to assess face-validity and usability. The tool was also evaluated using several diverse examples of existing companion diagnostics and refined accordingly. We identified 65 cost-effectiveness studies of companion diagnostic technologies. The following factors were most commonly identified as value drivers from our literature review: clinical validity of testing; efficacy, safety, and cost of baseline and alternative treatments; cost and mortality of health states; and biomarker prevalence and testing cost. Stakeholders identified the following additional factors that they believed influenced the overall value of a companion test: regulatory status, actionability, utility, and market penetration. These factors were used to maximize the efficiency of the evidence review process. Stakeholders also stated that a tool should be easy to use and time efficient. Cognitive interviews with stakeholders led to minor changes in the draft tool to improve usability and relevance. The final tool consisted of 4 sections: (1) eligibility for review (2 questions), (2) prioritization of review (3 questions), (3) clinical review (3 questions), and (4) economic review (5 questions). Although the evaluation of CDTs can be challenging because of limited evidence and the added complexity of incorporating a diagnostic test into drug treatment decisions, using a pragmatic tool to identify tests that do not need extensive evaluation may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of CDT value assessments.

Artificial intelligence, neural network, and Internet tool integration in a pathology workstation to improve information access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargis, J. C.; Gray, W. A.

1999-03-01

The APWS allows user friendly access to several legacy systems which would normally each demand domain expertise for proper utilization. The generalized model, including objects, classes, strategies and patterns is presented. The core components of the APWS are the Microsoft Windows 95 Operating System, Oracle, Oracle Power Objects, Artificial Intelligence tools, a medical hyperlibrary and a web site. The paper includes a discussion of how could be automated by taking advantage of the expert system, object oriented programming and intelligent relational database tools within the APWS.

A Final Approach Trajectory Model for Current Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gong, Chester; Sadovsky, Alexander

2010-01-01

Predicting accurate trajectories with limited intent information is a challenge faced by air traffic management decision support tools in operation today. One such tool is the FAA's Terminal Proximity Alert system which is intended to assist controllers in maintaining safe separation of arrival aircraft during final approach. In an effort to improve the performance of such tools, two final approach trajectory models are proposed; one based on polynomial interpolation, the other on the Fourier transform. These models were tested against actual traffic data and used to study effects of the key final approach trajectory modeling parameters of wind, aircraft type, and weight class, on trajectory prediction accuracy. Using only the limited intent data available to today's ATM system, both the polynomial interpolation and Fourier transform models showed improved trajectory prediction accuracy over a baseline dead reckoning model. Analysis of actual arrival traffic showed that this improved trajectory prediction accuracy leads to improved inter-arrival separation prediction accuracy for longer look ahead times. The difference in mean inter-arrival separation prediction error between the Fourier transform and dead reckoning models was 0.2 nmi for a look ahead time of 120 sec, a 33 percent improvement, with a corresponding 32 percent improvement in standard deviation.

Does the use of the revised psychosocial assessment tool (PATrev) result in improved quality of life and reduced psychosocial risk in Canadian families with a child newly diagnosed with cancer?

PubMed

Barrera, M; Hancock, K; Rokeach, A; Atenafu, E; Cataudella, D; Punnett, A; Johnston, D; Cassidy, M; Zelcer, S; Silva, M; Jansen, P; Bartels, U; Nathan, P C; Shama, W; Greenberg, C

2014-02-01

Early psychosocial screening may guide interventions and ameliorate the adverse psychosocial effects of childhood cancer. The revised psychosocial assessment tool provides risk information - Universal (typical distress), Targeted (additional specific distress), and Clinical (severe distress) - about the child with cancer and his or her family. This pilot study investigated the benefits of providing a summary of family psychosocial risk information to the medical team treating the newly diagnosed child (Experimental Group, EG). We conducted a pilot randomized control trial with a sample of 67 parents, comparing the EG to the control group (CG) on parental perception of family psychosocial difficulties (revised psychosocial assessment tool risk levels), child behavior (behavior assessment scale for children-2), pediatric quality of life (PedsQL), and parental anxiety (state-anxiety scale of the state-trait anxiety inventory ), 2-4 weeks after diagnosis (Time 1) and 6 months later (Time 2). Compared to the CG, participants in the EG had significantly reduced targeted and clinical risk (p < 0.001), and improved pain related PedsQL at Time 2 (p < 0.05). Scores for PedsQL total and nearly all subscales improved over time in both groups (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). No changes in behavior scores were noted. Preliminary findings suggest that providing a summary of the Psychosocial Assessment Tool to the treating team shortly after diagnosis may help reduce family wide psychosocial risk 6 months later and improve quality of life related to pain for children who are undergoing treatment for cancer. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Communicative Access Measures for Stroke: Development and Evaluation of a Quality Improvement Tool.

PubMed

Kagan, Aura; Simmons-Mackie, Nina; Victor, J Charles; Chan, Melodie T

2017-11-01

To (1) develop a systems-level quality improvement tool targeting communicative access to information and decision-making for stroke patients with language disorders; and (2) evaluate the resulting tool-the Communicative Access Measures for Stroke (CAMS). Survey development and evaluation was in line with accepted guidelines and included item generation and reduction, survey formatting and composition, pretesting, pilot testing, and reliability assessment. Development and evaluation were carried out in hospital and community agency settings. The project used a convenience sample of 31 participants for the survey development, and 63 participants for the CAMS reliability study (broken down into 6 administrators/managers, 32 frontline staff, 25 participants with aphasia). Eligible participants invited to the reliability study included individuals from 45 community-based organizations in Ontario as well as 4400 individuals from communities of practice. Not applicable. Data were analyzed using kappa statistics and intraclass correlations for each item score on all surveys. A tool, the CAMS, comprising 3 surveys, was developed for health facilities from the perspectives of (1) administrators/policymakers, (2) staff/frontline health care providers, and (3) patients with aphasia (using a communicatively accessible version). Reliability for items on the CAMS-Administrator and CAMS-Staff surveys was moderate to high (kappa/intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs], .54-1.00). As expected, reliability was lower for the CAMS-Patient survey, with most items having ICCs between 0.4 and 0.6. These findings suggest that CAMS may provide useful quality improvement information for health care facilities with an interest in improving care for patients with stroke and aphasia. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Comprehensive Approach in Dissemination of Evidence Based Care for PTSD

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

evaluate their practices’ capacity to provide evidence-based care and identify potential gaps in the assessment and treatment of PTSD and depression...Project participants will use the PIP tools to evaluate their practices’ capacity to provide evidence-based care and identify potential gaps in the...PIP tools can inform improvement efforts at the clinician-, practice- or systems-level, facilitate detection of potential gaps in evidence-based care

The need for integration of drought monitoring tools for proactive food security management in sub-Saharan Africa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tadesse, T.; Haile, M.; Senay, G.; Wardlow, B.D.; Knutson, C.L.

2008-01-01

Reducing the impact of drought and famine remains a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa despite ongoing drought relief assistance in recent decades. This is because drought and famine are primarily addressed through a crisis management approach when a disaster occurs, rather than stressing preparedness and risk management. Moreover, drought planning and food security efforts have been hampered by a lack of integrated drought monitoring tools, inadequate early warning systems (EWS), and insufficient information flow within and between levels of government in many sub-Saharan countries. The integration of existing drought monitoring tools for sub-Saharan Africa is essential for improving food security systems to reduce the impacts of drought and famine on society in this region. A proactive approach emphasizing integration requires the collective use of multiple tools, which can be used to detect trends in food availability and provide early indicators at local, national, and regional scales on the likely occurrence of food crises. In addition, improving the ability to monitor and disseminate critical drought-related information using available modern technologies (e.g., satellites, computers, and modern communication techniques) may help trigger timely and appropriate preventive responses and, ultimately, contribute to food security and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. ?? 2008 United Nations.

Point of care information services: a platform for self-directed continuing medical education for front line decision makers

PubMed Central

Moja, Lorenzo; Kwag, Koren Hyogene

2015-01-01

The structure and aim of continuing medical education (CME) is shifting from the passive transmission of knowledge to a competency-based model focused on professional development. Self-directed learning is emerging as the foremost educational method for advancing competency-based CME. In a field marked by the constant expansion of knowledge, self-directed learning allows physicians to tailor their learning strategy to meet the information needs of practice. Point of care information services are innovative tools that provide health professionals with digested evidence at the front line to guide decision making. By mobilising self-directing learning to meet the information needs of clinicians at the bedside, point of care information services represent a promising platform for competency-based CME. Several points, however, must be considered to enhance the accessibility and development of these tools to improve competency-based CME and the quality of care. PMID:25655251

Educating Parents About Pediatric Research: Children and Clinical Studies Website Qualitative Evaluation.

PubMed

Marceau, Lisa D; Welch, Lisa C; Pemberton, Victoria L; Pearson, Gail D

2016-07-01

A gap in information about pediatric clinical trials exists, and parents remain uncertain about what is involved in research studies involving children. We aimed to understand parent perspectives about pediatric clinical research after viewing the online Children and Clinical Studies (CaCS) program. Using a qualitative descriptive study design, we conducted focus groups with parents and phone interviews with physicians. Three themes emerged providing approaches to improve parent's understanding of clinical research by including strategies where parents (a) hear from parents like themselves to learn about pediatric research, (b) receive general clinical research information to complement study-specific details, and (c) are provided more information about the role of healthy child volunteers. Parents found the website a valuable tool that would help them make a decision about what it means to participate in research. This tool can assist parents, providers, and researchers by connecting general information with study-specific information. © The Author(s) 2015.

Online Technologies for Health Information and Education: A literature review

PubMed Central

Gill, Harkiran K.; Gill, Navkiranjit; Young, Sean D.

2014-01-01

There is a growing body of research focused on the use of social media and Internet technologies for health education and information sharing. The authors reviewed literature on this topic, with a specific focus on the benefits and concerns associated with using online social technologies as health education and communication tools. Studies suggest that social media technologies have the potential to safely and effectively deliver health education, if privacy concerns are addressed. Utility of social media-based health education and communication will improve as technology developers and public health officials determine ways to improve information accuracy and address privacy concerns. PMID:24465171

Earth Sciences Data and Information System (ESDIS) program planning and evaluation methodology development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickinson, William B.

1995-01-01

An Earth Sciences Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project Management Plan (PMP) is prepared. An ESDIS Project Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) consistent with the developed PMP is also prepared. ESDIS and related EOS program requirements developments, management and analysis processes are evaluated. Opportunities to improve the effectiveness of these processes and program/project responsiveness to requirements are identified. Overall ESDIS cost estimation processes are evaluated, and recommendations to improve cost estimating and modeling techniques are developed. ESDIS schedules and scheduling tools are evaluated. Risk assessment, risk mitigation strategies and approaches, and use of risk information in management decision-making are addressed.

A method for the design and development of medical or health care information websites to optimize search engine results page rankings on Google.

PubMed

Dunne, Suzanne; Cummins, Niamh Maria; Hannigan, Ailish; Shannon, Bill; Dunne, Colum; Cullen, Walter

2013-08-27

The Internet is a widely used source of information for patients searching for medical/health care information. While many studies have assessed existing medical/health care information on the Internet, relatively few have examined methods for design and delivery of such websites, particularly those aimed at the general public. This study describes a method of evaluating material for new medical/health care websites, or for assessing those already in existence, which is correlated with higher rankings on Google's Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). A website quality assessment (WQA) tool was developed using criteria related to the quality of the information to be contained in the website in addition to an assessment of the readability of the text. This was retrospectively applied to assess existing websites that provide information about generic medicines. The reproducibility of the WQA tool and its predictive validity were assessed in this study. The WQA tool demonstrated very high reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.95) between 2 independent users. A moderate to strong correlation was found between WQA scores and rankings on Google SERPs. Analogous correlations were seen between rankings and readability of websites as determined by Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scores. The use of the WQA tool developed in this study is recommended as part of the design phase of a medical or health care information provision website, along with assessment of readability of the material to be used. This may ensure that the website performs better on Google searches. The tool can also be used retrospectively to make improvements to existing websites, thus, potentially enabling better Google search result positions without incurring the costs associated with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals or paid promotion.

The use and impact of quality of life assessment tools in clinical care settings for cancer patients, with a particular emphasis on brain cancer: insights from a systematic review and stakeholder consultations.

PubMed

King, Sarah; Exley, Josephine; Parks, Sarah; Ball, Sarah; Bienkowska-Gibbs, Teresa; MacLure, Calum; Harte, Emma; Stewart, Katherine; Larkin, Jody; Bottomley, Andrew; Marjanovic, Sonja

2016-09-01

Patient-reported data are playing an increasing role in health care. In oncology, data from quality of life (QoL) assessment tools may be particularly important for those with limited survival prospects, where treatments aim to prolong survival while maintaining or improving QoL. This paper examines the use and impact of using QoL measures on health care of cancer patients within a clinical setting, particularly those with brain cancer. It also examines facilitators and challenges, and provides implications for policy and practice. We conducted a systematic literature review, 15 expert interviews and a consultation at an international summit. The systematic review found no relevant intervention studies specifically in brain cancer patients, and after expanding our search to include other cancers, 15 relevant studies were identified. The evidence on the effectiveness of using QoL tools was inconsistent for patient management, but somewhat more consistent in favour of improving patient-physician communication. Interviews identified unharnessed potential and growing interest in QoL tool use and associated challenges to address. Our findings suggest that the use of QoL tools in cancer patients may improve patient-physician communication and have the potential to improve care, but the tools are not currently widely used in clinical practice (in brain cancer nor some other cancer contexts) although they are in clinical trials. There is a need for further research and stakeholder engagement on how QoL tools can achieve most impact across cancer and patient contexts. There is also a need for policy, health professional, research and patient communities to strengthen information exchange and debate, support awareness raising and provide training on tool design, use and interpretation.

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

Cox, S.; Katz, J.; Wurtenberger, L.

Low emission development strategies (LEDS) articulate economy-wide policies and implementation plans designed to enable a country to meet its long-term development objectives while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A development impact assessment tool was developed to inform an analytically robust and transparent prioritization of LEDS actions based on their economic, social, and environmental impacts. The graphical tool helps policymakers communicate the development impacts of LEDS options and identify actions that help meet both emissions reduction and development goals. This paper summarizes the adaptation and piloting of the tool in Kenya and Montenegro. The paper highlights strengths of the tool and discussesmore » key needs for improving it.« less

Virtual Reality as Innovative Approach to the Interior Designing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaleja, Pavol; Kozlovská, Mária

2017-06-01

We can observe significant potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) in interior designing field, by development of software and hardware virtual reality tools. Using ICT tools offer realistic perception of proposal in its initial idea (the study). A group of real-time visualization, supported by hardware tools like Oculus Rift HTC Vive, provides free walkthrough and movement in virtual interior with the possibility of virtual designing. By improving of ICT software tools for designing in virtual reality we can achieve still more realistic virtual environment. The contribution presented proposal of an innovative approach of interior designing in virtual reality, using the latest software and hardware ICT virtual reality technologies

International Assistance for Low-Emission Development Planning: Coordinated Low Emissions Assistance Network (CLEAN) Inventory of Activities and Tools--Preliminary Trends

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

Cox, S.; Benioff, R.

2011-05-01

The Coordinated Low Emissions Assistance Network (CLEAN) is a voluntary network of international practitioners supporting low-emission planning in developing countries. The network seeks to improve quality of support through sharing project information, tools, best practices and lessons, and by fostering harmonized assistance. CLEAN has developed an inventory to track and analyze international technical support and tools for low-carbon planning activities in developing countries. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the inventory to help identify trends in assistance activities and tools available to support developing countries with low-emission planning.

Validation and Use of a Predictive Modeling Tool: Employing Scientific Findings to Improve Responsible Conduct of Research Education.

PubMed

Mulhearn, Tyler J; Watts, Logan L; Todd, E Michelle; Medeiros, Kelsey E; Connelly, Shane; Mumford, Michael D

2017-01-01

Although recent evidence suggests ethics education can be effective, the nature of specific training programs, and their effectiveness, varies considerably. Building on a recent path modeling effort, the present study developed and validated a predictive modeling tool for responsible conduct of research education. The predictive modeling tool allows users to enter ratings in relation to a given ethics training program and receive instantaneous evaluative information for course refinement. Validation work suggests the tool's predicted outcomes correlate strongly (r = 0.46) with objective course outcomes. Implications for training program development and refinement are discussed.

Lessons learned from Rapid Response Research on wildland fires

Treesearch

Leigh Lentile; Penny Morgan; Colin Hardy; Andrew Hudak; Robert Means; Roger Ottmar; Peter Robichaud; Elaine Sutherland; Frederick Way; Sarah Lewis

2007-01-01

In recent years, more researchers are collecting data either on active wildfires or immediately after wildfire occurrence. Known as Rapid Response Research, this important undertaking provides real-time information, useful data, and improved tools for managers.

The current state of cancer family history collection tools in primary care: a systematic review.

PubMed

Qureshi, Nadeem; Carroll, June C; Wilson, Brenda; Santaguida, Pasqualina; Allanson, Judith; Brouwers, Melissa; Raina, Parminder

2009-07-01

Systematic collection of family history is a prerequisite for identifying genetic risk. This study reviewed tools applicable to the primary care assessment of family history of breast, colorectal, ovarian, and prostate cancer. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central were searched for publications. All primary study designs were included. Characteristics of the studies, the family history collection tools, and the setting were evaluated. Of 40 eligible studies, 18 relevant family history tools were identified, with 11 developed for use in primary care. Most collected information on more than one cancer and on affected relatives used self-administered questionnaires and paper-based formats. Eleven tools had been evaluated relative to current practice, demonstrating 46-78% improvement in data recording over family history recording in patient charts and 75-100% agreement with structured genetic interviews. Few tools have been developed specifically for primary care settings. The few that have been evaluated performed well. The very limited evidence, which depends in part on extrapolation from studies in settings other than primary care, suggests that systematic tools may add significant family health information compared with current primary care practice. The effect of their use on health outcomes has not been evaluated.

Integrated Data & Analysis in Support of Informed and Transparent Decision Making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guivetchi, K.

2012-12-01

The California Water Plan includes a framework for improving water reliability, environmental stewardship, and economic stability through two initiatives - integrated regional water management to make better use of local water sources by integrating multiple aspects of managing water and related resources; and maintaining and improving statewide water management systems. The Water Plan promotes ways to develop a common approach for data standards and for understanding, evaluating, and improving regional and statewide water management systems, and for common ways to evaluate and select from alternative management strategies and projects. The California Water Plan acknowledges that planning for the future is uncertain and that change will continue to occur. It is not possible to know for certain how population growth, land use decisions, water demand patterns, environmental conditions, the climate, and many other factors that affect water use and supply may change by 2050. To anticipate change, our approach to water management and planning for the future needs to consider and quantify uncertainty, risk, and sustainability. There is a critical need for information sharing and information management to support over-arching and long-term water policy decisions that cross-cut multiple programs across many organizations and provide a common and transparent understanding of water problems and solutions. Achieving integrated water management with multiple benefits requires a transparent description of dynamic linkages between water supply, flood management, water quality, land use, environmental water, and many other factors. Water Plan Update 2013 will include an analytical roadmap for improving data, analytical tools, and decision-support to advance integrated water management at statewide and regional scales. It will include recommendations for linking collaborative processes with technical enhancements, providing effective analytical tools, and improving and sharing data and information. Specifically, this includes achieving better integration and consistency with other planning activities; obtaining consensus on quantitative deliverables; building a common conceptual understanding of the water management system; developing common schematics of the water management system; establishing modeling protocols and standards; and improving transparency and exchange of Water Plan information.

Smoking cessation: Exploration of perceived technology-related information value.

PubMed

Reychav, Iris; McHaney, Roger; Hirak, Eyal; Merker, Ben

2018-01-01

This study describes a unique approach to information transfer affecting the perceived value of this information and related impact on smoker behavior. Data were collected via survey, sampling approximately 120 participants. An online survey tool was used for the survey creation, data collection and monitoring. Another online tool was used by participants to create short animation videos as a means of increasing their engagement with information in an experiential fashion. Study findings included that the process experienced by the test group was influential and facilitated participants' change of mind regarding enrollment in a smoking cessation workshop. This was partly attributable to the IKEA effect. The study provides evidence that a change in habits crucial to improve health and enhance positive lifestyle choices can be stimulated through active engagement with artifact creation in a technology-mediated environment.

Clinical engineering department strategic graphical dashboard to enhance maintenance planning and asset management.

PubMed

Sloane, Elliot; Rosow, Eric; Adam, Joe; Shine, Dave

2005-01-01

The Clinical Engineering (a.k.a. Biomedical Engineering) Department has heretofore lagged in adoption of some of the leading-edge information system tools used in other industries. This present application is part of a DOD-funded SBIR grant to improve the overall management of medical technology, and describes the capabilities that Strategic Graphical Dashboards (SGDs) can afford. This SGD is built on top of an Oracle database, and uses custom-written graphic objects like gauges, fuel tanks, and Geographic Information System (GIS) maps to improve and accelerate decision making.

Weather and resource information as tools for dealing with farmer-pastoralist conflicts in the Sahel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mertz, Ole; Rasmussen, Kjeld; Vang Rasmussen, Laura

2016-12-01

Conflicts between pastoralists and farmers in the Sahel mainly arise from competition over land and water resources or because of livestock damage to crops. Rather than being linked to larger environmental change processes such as climate change, conflicts are often caused by inappropriate zoning of land, governance and unequal power relations between stakeholders. However, conflicts may be affected by more short-term weather and resource information that guide mobility of pastoralists. In this paper, we therefore explore if improved weather and resource information and improvement in its communication could prevent conflicts or reduce their severity. Based on a survey of key stakeholders involved in dissemination of weather and resource information and studies on pastoral access to and use of information, we conclude that improved information may both reduce and increase the level of conflict, depending on the context. Communication of information will need to go beyond just the weather and resource information and also include the multiple options for herd movements as well as providing information on herd crowding and potential conflict areas.

Use of handheld computers in clinical practice: a systematic review.

PubMed

Mickan, Sharon; Atherton, Helen; Roberts, Nia Wyn; Heneghan, Carl; Tilson, Julie K

2014-07-06

Many healthcare professionals use smartphones and tablets to inform patient care. Contemporary research suggests that handheld computers may support aspects of clinical diagnosis and management. This systematic review was designed to synthesise high quality evidence to answer the question; Does healthcare professionals' use of handheld computers improve their access to information and support clinical decision making at the point of care? A detailed search was conducted using Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Science and Social Science Citation Indices since 2001. Interventions promoting healthcare professionals seeking information or making clinical decisions using handheld computers were included. Classroom learning and the use of laptop computers were excluded. Two authors independently selected studies, assessed quality using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and extracted data. High levels of data heterogeneity negated statistical synthesis. Instead, evidence for effectiveness was summarised narratively, according to each study's aim for assessing the impact of handheld computer use. We included seven randomised trials investigating medical or nursing staffs' use of Personal Digital Assistants. Effectiveness was demonstrated across three distinct functions that emerged from the data: accessing information for clinical knowledge, adherence to guidelines and diagnostic decision making. When healthcare professionals used handheld computers to access clinical information, their knowledge improved significantly more than peers who used paper resources. When clinical guideline recommendations were presented on handheld computers, clinicians made significantly safer prescribing decisions and adhered more closely to recommendations than peers using paper resources. Finally, healthcare professionals made significantly more appropriate diagnostic decisions using clinical decision making tools on handheld computers compared to colleagues who did not have access to these tools. For these clinical decisions, the numbers need to test/screen were all less than 11. Healthcare professionals' use of handheld computers may improve their information seeking, adherence to guidelines and clinical decision making. Handheld computers can provide real time access to and analysis of clinical information. The integration of clinical decision support systems within handheld computers offers clinicians the highest level of synthesised evidence at the point of care. Future research is needed to replicate these early results and to identify beneficial clinical outcomes.

Use of handheld computers in clinical practice: a systematic review

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Many healthcare professionals use smartphones and tablets to inform patient care. Contemporary research suggests that handheld computers may support aspects of clinical diagnosis and management. This systematic review was designed to synthesise high quality evidence to answer the question; Does healthcare professionals’ use of handheld computers improve their access to information and support clinical decision making at the point of care? Methods A detailed search was conducted using Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Science and Social Science Citation Indices since 2001. Interventions promoting healthcare professionals seeking information or making clinical decisions using handheld computers were included. Classroom learning and the use of laptop computers were excluded. Two authors independently selected studies, assessed quality using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and extracted data. High levels of data heterogeneity negated statistical synthesis. Instead, evidence for effectiveness was summarised narratively, according to each study’s aim for assessing the impact of handheld computer use. Results We included seven randomised trials investigating medical or nursing staffs’ use of Personal Digital Assistants. Effectiveness was demonstrated across three distinct functions that emerged from the data: accessing information for clinical knowledge, adherence to guidelines and diagnostic decision making. When healthcare professionals used handheld computers to access clinical information, their knowledge improved significantly more than peers who used paper resources. When clinical guideline recommendations were presented on handheld computers, clinicians made significantly safer prescribing decisions and adhered more closely to recommendations than peers using paper resources. Finally, healthcare professionals made significantly more appropriate diagnostic decisions using clinical decision making tools on handheld computers compared to colleagues who did not have access to these tools. For these clinical decisions, the numbers need to test/screen were all less than 11. Conclusion Healthcare professionals’ use of handheld computers may improve their information seeking, adherence to guidelines and clinical decision making. Handheld computers can provide real time access to and analysis of clinical information. The integration of clinical decision support systems within handheld computers offers clinicians the highest level of synthesised evidence at the point of care. Future research is needed to replicate these early results and to identify beneficial clinical outcomes. PMID:24998515

A benchmarking program to reduce red blood cell outdating: implementation, evaluation, and a conceptual framework.

PubMed

Barty, Rebecca L; Gagliardi, Kathleen; Owens, Wendy; Lauzon, Deborah; Scheuermann, Sheena; Liu, Yang; Wang, Grace; Pai, Menaka; Heddle, Nancy M

2015-07-01

Benchmarking is a quality improvement tool that compares an organization's performance to that of its peers for selected indicators, to improve practice. Processes to develop evidence-based benchmarks for red blood cell (RBC) outdating in Ontario hospitals, based on RBC hospital disposition data from Canadian Blood Services, have been previously reported. These benchmarks were implemented in 160 hospitals provincewide with a multifaceted approach, which included hospital education, inventory management tools and resources, summaries of best practice recommendations, recognition of high-performing sites, and audit tools on the Transfusion Ontario website (http://transfusionontario.org). In this study we describe the implementation process and the impact of the benchmarking program on RBC outdating. A conceptual framework for continuous quality improvement of a benchmarking program was also developed. The RBC outdating rate for all hospitals trended downward continuously from April 2006 to February 2012, irrespective of hospitals' transfusion rates or their distance from the blood supplier. The highest annual outdating rate was 2.82%, at the beginning of the observation period. Each year brought further reductions, with a nadir outdating rate of 1.02% achieved in 2011. The key elements of the successful benchmarking strategy included dynamic targets, a comprehensive and evidence-based implementation strategy, ongoing information sharing, and a robust data system to track information. The Ontario benchmarking program for RBC outdating resulted in continuous and sustained quality improvement. Our conceptual iterative framework for benchmarking provides a guide for institutions implementing a benchmarking program. © 2015 AABB.

The p-medicine portal—a collaboration platform for research in personalised medicine

PubMed Central

Schera, Fatima; Weiler, Gabriele; Neri, Elias; Kiefer, Stephan; Graf, Norbert

2014-01-01

The European project p-medicine creates an information technology infrastructure that facilitates the development from current medical practice to personalised medicine. The main access point to this infrastructure is the p-medicine portal that provides clinicians, patients, and researchers a platform to collaborate, share data and expertise, and use tools and services to improve personalised treatments of patients. In this document, we describe the community-based structure of the p-medicine portal and provide information about the p-medicine security framework implemented in the portal. Finally, we show the user interface and describe the p-medicine tools and services integrated in the portal. PMID:24567755

Leveraging the Power of State Longitudinal Data Systems: Building Capacity to Turn Data into Useful Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data Quality Campaign, 2011

2011-01-01

Faced with the need to create a competitive workforce and improve the quality of our education system, states are pursuing policy agendas to better prepare students for postsecondary education and careers. To inform these agendas, statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) have become an invaluable asset and serve as a tool to help states answer…

The Effects of Technology Innovativeness and System Exposure on Student Acceptance of E-Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ngafeeson, Madison N.; Sun, Jun

2015-01-01

The efforts of educators in the last three decades have, among other things, focused on the use of information technology (IT) in education. It has become commonplace to view information systems both as an effective carrier of course content as well as a cost-effective tool to improve student learning outcomes. One of such technologies is the…

Google It!: Urban Community College Students' Use of the Internet to Obtain Self-Care and Personal Health Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rennis, Lesley; McNamara, Gloria; Seidel, Erica; Shneyderman, Yuliya

2015-01-01

Background: As electronic resources increasingly play a major role in consumer health, eHealth literacy has emerged as a valuable tool to improve and enhance health knowledge and behavior. Yet for some populations, access to health information alone does not lead to better health practices or outcomes. Low income populations increasingly rely on…

Overcoming the Language Barrier. Third European Congress on Information Systems and Networks, Vol. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commission des Communautes Europeennes (Luxembourg).

The papers presented here have a double objective: to give those responsible for the Action plan for the improvement of information transfer between European languages a good view of existing and developing systems and to make future users of EURONET acquainted with methods and tools that will soon be available. The papers are arranged under six…

Medical informatics--an Australian perspective.

PubMed

Hannan, T

1991-06-01

Computers, like the X-ray and stethoscope can be seen as clinical tools, that provide physicians with improved expertise in solving patient management problems. As tools they enable us to extend our clinical information base, and they also provide facilities that improve the delivery of the health care we provide. Automation (computerisation) in the health domain will cause the computer to become a more integral part of health care management and delivery before the start of the next century. To understand how the computer assists those who deliver and manage health care, it is important to be aware of its functional capabilities and how we can use them in medical practice. The rapid technological advances in computers over the last two decades has had both beneficial and counterproductive effects on the implementation of effective computer applications in the delivery of health care. For example, in the 1990s the computer hobbyist is able to make an investment of less than $10,000 on computer hardware that will match or exceed the technological capacities of machines of the 1960s. These rapid technological advances, which have produced a quantum leap in our ability to store and process information, have tended to make us overlook the need for effective computer programmes which will meet the needs of patient care. As the 1990s begin, those delivering health care (eg, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, administrators ...) need to become more involved in directing the effective implementation of computer applications that will provide the tools for improved information management, knowledge processing, and ultimately better patient care.

Unified User Interface to Support Effective and Intuitive Data Discovery, Dissemination, and Analysis at NASA GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petrenko, M.; Hegde, M.; Bryant, K.; Johnson, J. E.; Ritrivi, A.; Shen, S.; Volmer, B.; Pham, L. B.

2015-01-01

Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) has been providing access to scientific data sets since 1990s. Beginning as one of the first Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) archive centers, GES DISC has evolved to offer a wide range of science-enabling services. With a growing understanding of needs and goals of its science users, GES DISC continues to improve and expand on its broad set of data discovery and access tools, sub-setting services, and visualization tools. Nonetheless, the multitude of the available tools, a partial overlap of functionality, and independent and uncoupled interfaces employed by these tools often leave the end users confused as of what tools or services are the most appropriate for a task at hand. As a result, some the services remain underutilized or largely unknown to the users, significantly reducing the availability of the data and leading to a great loss of scientific productivity. In order to improve the accessibility of GES DISC tools and services, we have designed and implemented UUI, the Unified User Interface. UUI seeks to provide a simple, unified, and intuitive one-stop shop experience for the key services available at GES DISC, including sub-setting (Simple Subset Wizard), granule file search (Mirador), plotting (Giovanni), and other services. In this poster, we will discuss the main lessons, obstacles, and insights encountered while designing the UUI experience. We will also present the architecture and technology behind UUI, including NodeJS, Angular, and Mongo DB, as well as speculate on the future of the tool at GES DISC as well as in a broader context of the Space Science Informatics.

Big Data and Comparative Effectiveness Research in Radiation Oncology: Synergy and Accelerated Discovery

PubMed Central

Trifiletti, Daniel M.; Showalter, Timothy N.

2015-01-01

Several advances in large data set collection and processing have the potential to provide a wave of new insights and improvements in the use of radiation therapy for cancer treatment. The era of electronic health records, genomics, and improving information technology resources creates the opportunity to leverage these developments to create a learning healthcare system that can rapidly deliver informative clinical evidence. By merging concepts from comparative effectiveness research with the tools and analytic approaches of “big data,” it is hoped that this union will accelerate discovery, improve evidence for decision making, and increase the availability of highly relevant, personalized information. This combination offers the potential to provide data and analysis that can be leveraged for ultra-personalized medicine and high-quality, cutting-edge radiation therapy. PMID:26697409

Big Data and Comparative Effectiveness Research in Radiation Oncology: Synergy and Accelerated Discovery.

PubMed

Trifiletti, Daniel M; Showalter, Timothy N

2015-01-01

Several advances in large data set collection and processing have the potential to provide a wave of new insights and improvements in the use of radiation therapy for cancer treatment. The era of electronic health records, genomics, and improving information technology resources creates the opportunity to leverage these developments to create a learning healthcare system that can rapidly deliver informative clinical evidence. By merging concepts from comparative effectiveness research with the tools and analytic approaches of "big data," it is hoped that this union will accelerate discovery, improve evidence for decision making, and increase the availability of highly relevant, personalized information. This combination offers the potential to provide data and analysis that can be leveraged for ultra-personalized medicine and high-quality, cutting-edge radiation therapy.

Urologists in cyberspace: A review of the quality of health information from American urologists' websites using three validated tools.

PubMed

Wong, Lih-Ming; Yan, Hanmu; Margel, David; Fleshner, Neil E

2013-01-01

In this paper, we evaluate a sample of urologists' web-sites, based in the United States, using three validated instruments: the Health on the Net Foundation code of conduct (HONcode), DISCERN and LIDA tools. We also discuss how medical websites can be improved. We used the 10 most populous cities in America, identified from the US Census Bureau, and searched using www.google. com to find the first 10 websites using the terms "urologist + city." Each website was scored using the HONcode, DISCERN and LIDA instruments. The median score for each tool was used to dichotomize the cohort and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of higher scores. Of the 100 websites found, 78 were analyzed. There were 18 academic institutions, 43 group and 17 solo practices. A medical website design service had been used by 18 websites. The HONcode badge was seen on 3 websites (4%). Social media was used by 16 websites. Multivariable logistic regression showed predictors of higher scores for each tool. For HONcode, academic centres (OR 6.8, CI 1.2-37.3, p = 0.028) and the use of a medical website design service (OR 17.2, CI 3.8-78.1, p = 0.001) predicted a higher score. With DISCERN, academic centres (OR 23.13, p = 0.002, CI 3.15-169.9 and group practices (OR 7.19, p = 0.022, CI 1.33-38.93) were predictors of higher scores. Finally, with the LIDA tool, there were no predictors of higher scores. Pearson correlation did not show any correlation between the three scores. Using 3 validated tools for appraising online health information, we found a wide variation in the quality of urologists' websites in the United States. Increased awareness of standards and available resources, coupled with guidance from health professional regulatory bodies, would improve the quality urological health information on medical websites.

Improving the Quality of University Libraries through Citation Mining and Analysis Using Two New Dissertation Bibliometric Assessment Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tunon, Johanna; Brydges, Bruce

2005-01-01

University libraries are becoming increasingly aware of the need to assess the quality of students' information literacy and library research skills and to use this assessment data to effectively improve the quality of university library services to graduate programs. However, libraries have had difficulties finding ways to accomplish this both…

Technological Improvements for Digital Fire Control Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-30

Final Technical Status Report For DOTC-12-01-INIT061 Technological Improvements for Digital Fire Control Systems Reporting Period: 30 Sep...Initiative Information Develop and fabricate next generation designs using advanced materials and processes. This will include but is not limited to...4.2 Develop manufacturing processes 100% 4.3 Develop manufacturing processes 100% 4.4 Develop manufacturing processes 100% 5 Design Tooling

Improving Genetics Education in Graduate and Continuing Health Professional Education: Workshop Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Adam C.; Johnson, Samuel G.; Beachy, Sarah H.; Olson, Steve

2015-01-01

Many health care providers do not have either the knowledge or the tools they need in order to apply genetic information in their day-to-day practices. This lack of support is contributing to a substantial delay in the translation of genetic research findings, when appropriate, into improvement in patient outcomes within the health care system.…

ServAR: An augmented reality tool to guide the serving of food.

PubMed

Rollo, Megan E; Bucher, Tamara; Smith, Shamus P; Collins, Clare E

2017-05-12

Accurate estimation of food portion size is a difficult task. Visual cues are important mediators of portion size and therefore technology-based aids may assist consumers when serving and estimating food portions. The current study evaluated the usability and impact on estimation error of standard food servings of a novel augmented reality food serving aid, ServAR. Participants were randomised into one of three groups: 1) no information/aid (control); 2) verbal information on standard serving sizes; or 3) ServAR, an aid which overlayed virtual food servings over a plate using a tablet computer. Participants were asked to estimate the standard serving sizes of nine foods (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, kidney beans, potato, pasta, rice, and sweetcorn) using validated food replicas. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests compared median served weights of each food to reference standard serving size weights. Percentage error was used to compare the estimation of serving size accuracy between the three groups. All participants also performed a usability test using the ServAR tool to guide the serving of one randomly selected food. Ninety adults (78.9% female; a mean (95%CI) age 25.8 (24.9-26.7) years; BMI 24.2 (23.2-25.2) kg/m 2 ) completed the study. The median servings were significantly different to the reference portions for five foods in the ServAR group, compared to eight foods in the information only group and seven foods for the control group. The cumulative proportion of total estimations per group within ±10%, ±25% and ±50% of the reference portion was greater for those using ServAR (30.7, 65.2 and 90.7%; respectively), compared to the information only group (19.6, 47.4 and 77.4%) and control group (10.0, 33.7 and 68.9%). Participants generally found the ServAR tool easy to use and agreed that it showed potential to support optimal portion size selection. However, some refinements to the ServAR tool are required to improve the user experience. Use of the augmented reality tool improved accuracy and consistency of estimating standard serve sizes compared to the information only and control conditions. ServAR demonstrates potential as a practical tool to guide the serving of food. Further evaluation across a broad range of foods, portion sizes and settings is warranted.

Precision aerial application for site-specific rice crop management

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Precision agriculture includes different technologies that allow agricultural professional to use information management tools to optimize agriculture production. The new technologies allow aerial application applicators to improve application accuracy and efficiency, which saves time and money for...

Concept maps: A tool for knowledge management and synthesis in web-based conversational learning.

PubMed

Joshi, Ankur; Singh, Satendra; Jaswal, Shivani; Badyal, Dinesh Kumar; Singh, Tejinder

2016-01-01

Web-based conversational learning provides an opportunity for shared knowledge base creation through collaboration and collective wisdom extraction. Usually, the amount of generated information in such forums is very huge, multidimensional (in alignment with the desirable preconditions for constructivist knowledge creation), and sometimes, the nature of expected new information may not be anticipated in advance. Thus, concept maps (crafted from constructed data) as "process summary" tools may be a solution to improve critical thinking and learning by making connections between the facts or knowledge shared by the participants during online discussion This exploratory paper begins with the description of this innovation tried on a web-based interacting platform (email list management software), FAIMER-Listserv, and generated qualitative evidence through peer-feedback. This process description is further supported by a theoretical construct which shows how social constructivism (inclusive of autonomy and complexity) affects the conversational learning. The paper rationalizes the use of concept map as mid-summary tool for extracting information and further sense making out of this apparent intricacy.

Evaluating the Impact of Information Technology Tools to Support the Asthma Medical Home.

PubMed

Matiz, L Adriana; Robbins-Milne, Laura; Krause, M Christine; Peretz, Patricia J; Rausch, John C

2016-02-01

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of information technology tools on the outcomes of children with asthma in the medical home. A registry was established for children aged 4 to 18 years with an ICD-9 code for asthma. Changes to the electronic health record included modifications to notes, care plans, and orders. A retrospective analysis of emergency department and in-patient utilization for a cohort of patients was conducted from July 2009 through June 2013. Of the study population (n = 1217), 65% had a classification of asthma severity and 63% were risk-stratified. Seventy percent had a control assessment at least once. Care plan use increased from 5% to 22% and enrollment in care coordination increased from 0.1% to 4%. After 3 years, there was a reduction of emergency department and inpatient admissions for asthma (P < .05 and P < .005, respectively). The implementation of information technology tools was associated with improved asthma outcomes. © The Author(s) 2015.

eFarm: A Tool for Better Observing Agricultural Land Systems

PubMed Central

Yu, Qiangyi; Shi, Yun; Tang, Huajun; Yang, Peng; Xie, Ankun; Liu, Bin; Wu, Wenbin

2017-01-01

Currently, observations of an agricultural land system (ALS) largely depend on remotely-sensed images, focusing on its biophysical features. While social surveys capture the socioeconomic features, the information was inadequately integrated with the biophysical features of an ALS and the applications are limited due to the issues of cost and efficiency to carry out such detailed and comparable social surveys at a large spatial coverage. In this paper, we introduce a smartphone-based app, called eFarm: a crowdsourcing and human sensing tool to collect the geotagged ALS information at the land parcel level, based on the high resolution remotely-sensed images. We illustrate its main functionalities, including map visualization, data management, and data sensing. Results of the trial test suggest the system works well. We believe the tool is able to acquire the human–land integrated information which is broadly-covered and timely-updated, thus presenting great potential for improving sensing, mapping, and modeling of ALS studies. PMID:28245554

ChEBI in 2016: Improved services and an expanding collection of metabolites

PubMed Central

Hastings, Janna; Owen, Gareth; Dekker, Adriano; Ennis, Marcus; Kale, Namrata; Muthukrishnan, Venkatesh; Turner, Steve; Swainston, Neil; Mendes, Pedro; Steinbeck, Christoph

2016-01-01

ChEBI is a database and ontology containing information about chemical entities of biological interest. It currently includes over 46 000 entries, each of which is classified within the ontology and assigned multiple annotations including (where relevant) a chemical structure, database cross-references, synonyms and literature citations. All content is freely available and can be accessed online at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi. In this update paper, we describe recent improvements and additions to the ChEBI offering. We have substantially extended our collection of endogenous metabolites for several organisms including human, mouse, Escherichia coli and yeast. Our front-end has also been reworked and updated, improving the user experience, removing our dependency on Java applets in favour of embedded JavaScript components and moving from a monthly release update to a ‘live’ website. Programmatic access has been improved by the introduction of a library, libChEBI, in Java, Python and Matlab. Furthermore, we have added two new tools, namely an analysis tool, BiNChE, and a query tool for the ontology, OntoQuery. PMID:26467479

Probabilistic Weather Information Tailored to the Needs of Transmission System Operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alberts, I.; Stauch, V.; Lee, D.; Hagedorn, R.

2014-12-01

Reliable and accurate forecasts for wind and photovoltaic (PV) power production are essential for stable transmission systems. A high potential for improving the wind and PV power forecasts lies in optimizing the weather forecasts, since these energy sources are highly weather dependent. For this reason the main objective of the German research project EWeLiNE is to improve the quality the underlying numerical weather predictions towards energy operations. In this project, the German Meteorological Service (DWD), the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology, and three of the German transmission system operators (TSOs) are working together to improve the weather and power forecasts. Probabilistic predictions are of particular interest, as the quantification of uncertainties provides an important tool for risk management. Theoretical considerations suggest that it can be advantageous to use probabilistic information to represent and respond to the remaining uncertainties in the forecasts. However, it remains a challenge to integrate this information into the decision making processes related to market participation and power systems operations. The project is planned and carried out in close cooperation with the involved TSOs in order to ensure the usability of the products developed. It will conclude with a demonstration phase, in which the improved models and newly developed products are combined into a process chain and used to provide information to TSOs in a real-time decision support tool. The use of a web-based development platform enables short development cycles and agile adaptation to evolving user needs. This contribution will present the EWeLiNE project and discuss ideas on how to incorporate probabilistic information into the users' current decision making processes.

Computerized Decision Aids for Shared Decision Making in Serious Illness: Systematic Review.

PubMed

Staszewska, Anna; Zaki, Pearl; Lee, Joon

2017-10-06

Shared decision making (SDM) is important in achieving patient-centered care. SDM tools such as decision aids are intended to inform the patient. When used to assist in decision making between treatments, decision aids have been shown to reduce decisional conflict, increase ease of decision making, and increase modification of previous decisions. The purpose of this systematic review is to assess the impact of computerized decision aids on patient-centered outcomes related to SDM for seriously ill patients. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the impact of computerized decision aids on patient-centered outcomes and SDM in serious illness. Six RCTs were identified and data were extracted on study population, design, and results. Risk of bias was assessed by a modified Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Quality Assessment of Randomized Controlled Trials. Six RCTs tested decision tools in varying serious illnesses. Three studies compared different computerized decision aids against each other and a control. All but one study demonstrated improvement in at least one patient-centered outcome. Computerized decision tools may reduce unnecessary treatment in patients with low disease severity in comparison with informational pamphlets. Additionally, electronic health record (EHR) portals may provide the opportunity to manage care from the home for individuals affected by illness. The quality of decision aids is of great importance. Furthermore, satisfaction with the use of tools is associated with increased patient satisfaction and reduced decisional conflict. Finally, patients may benefit from computerized decision tools without the need for increased physician involvement. Most computerized decision aids improved at least one patient-centered outcome. All RCTs identified were at a High Risk of Bias or Unclear Risk of Bias. Effort should be made to improve the quality of RCTs testing SDM aids in serious illness. ©Anna Staszewska, Pearl Zaki, Joon Lee. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http://medinform.jmir.org), 06.10.2017.

New technology and tool prepared for communication against storm surges.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Letkiewicz, Beata

2010-05-01

The aim of the presentation is description of the new technology and tool prepared for communication, information and issue of warnings against storm surges. The Maritime Branch of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management is responsible for preparing the forecast as warning, where the end users are Government Officials and Public. The Maritime Branch carry out the project "Strengthening the administrative capacity in order to improve the management of Polish coastal zone environment" (supported by a grant from Norway through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism). The expected final result of the project is web site www.baltyk.pogodynka.pl. One of the activities of the project is - set up of information website www.baltyk.pogodynka.pl, giving public access to the complied data. Information on web site: - meta data - marine data (on-line measurement: sea level, water temperature, salinity, oxygen concentration); - data bases of mathematical model outputs - forecast data (sea level, currents); - ice conditions of the Baltic Sea, - instructions, information materials with information of polish coastal zone. The aim of set up of the portal is development of communication between users of the system, exchange of the knowledge of marine environment and natural hazards such as storm surges, improving the ability of the region in the scope of the data management about the sea environment and the coastal zone.

PHACES (Photographs of Academic Clinicians and Their Educational Status): a tool to improve delivery of family-centered care.

PubMed

Dudas, Robert A; Lemerman, Hanna; Barone, Michael; Serwint, Janet R

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine if an information sheet containing photographs and explanations of the training level of medical providers could enhance a parent's ability to identify their child's providers and whether this would impact parental attitudes toward trainee involvement and patient satisfaction. This was a prospective, mixed methods study of parent-child dyads admitted to an academic general pediatric inpatient service. The intervention group received a photo information sheet (Photographs of Academic Clinicians and Their Educational Status [PHACES] tool) consisting of passport-sized photos of the medical team along with information regarding their training. Parents were asked to name their child's providers, were surveyed about their attitudes toward trainees, participated in a brief, semistructured interview and completed the patient satisfaction questionnaire (ABIM-PSQ). Comparing intervention with control parents, 40 of 49 (82%) versus 19 of 51 (37%) were able to name at least one provider (adjusted odds ratio 8.0; P < .01). Parents who received the intervention were more likely to correctly match the face with the name of the medical student (67% vs 14%; P < .01) and attending (80% vs 24%; P < .01). Parents who received the intervention were more likely to report acceptance of the involvement of medical students and house staff as well as an improved understanding of their roles. Parents who received the intervention scored higher on the ABIM-PSQ (mean 48.3 vs 45.4; P = .008). An information sheet containing the photographs of health care providers along with an explanation of their training improves recognition of the health care team members, improves acceptance of trainee involvement, and improves satisfaction with care delivered by physicians in training. Copyright 2010 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Online tools for individuals with depression and neurologic conditions: A scoping review.

PubMed

Lukmanji, Sara; Pham, Tram; Blaikie, Laura; Clark, Callie; Jetté, Nathalie; Wiebe, Samuel; Bulloch, Andrew; Holroyd-Leduc, Jayna; Macrodimitris, Sophia; Mackie, Aaron; Patten, Scott B

2017-08-01

Patients with neurologic conditions commonly have depression. Online tools have the potential to improve outcomes in these patients in an efficient and accessible manner. We aimed to identify evidence-informed online tools for patients with comorbid neurologic conditions and depression. A scoping review of online tools (free, publicly available, and not requiring a facilitator) for patients with depression and epilepsy, Parkinson disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or migraine was conducted. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials were searched from database inception to January 2017 for all 5 neurologic conditions. Gray literature using Google and Google Scholar as well as app stores for both Android and Apple devices were searched. Self-management or self-efficacy online tools were not included unless they were specifically targeted at depression and one of the neurologic conditions and met the other eligibility criteria. Only 4 online tools were identified. Of these 4 tools, 2 were web-based self-management programs for patients with migraine or MS and depression. The other 2 were mobile apps for patients with PD or TBI and depression. No online tools were found for epilepsy. There are limited depression tools for people with neurologic conditions that are evidence-informed, publicly available, and free. Future research should focus on the development of high-quality, evidence-based online tools targeted at neurologic patients.

Cockpit System Situational Awareness Modeling Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, John; Lebiere, Christian; Shay, Rick; Latorella, Kara

2004-01-01

This project explored the possibility of predicting pilot situational awareness (SA) using human performance modeling techniques for the purpose of evaluating developing cockpit systems. The Improved Performance Research Integration Tool (IMPRINT) was combined with the Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R) cognitive modeling architecture to produce a tool that can model both the discrete tasks of pilots and the cognitive processes associated with SA. The techniques for using this tool to predict SA were demonstrated using the newly developed Aviation Weather Information (AWIN) system. By providing an SA prediction tool to cockpit system designers, cockpit concepts can be assessed early in the design process while providing a cost-effective complement to the traditional pilot-in-the-loop experiments and data collection techniques.

The Australian e-Health Research Centre: enabling the health care information and communication technology revolution.

PubMed

Hansen, David P; Gurney, Phil; Morgan, Gary; Barraclough, Bruce

2011-02-21

The CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and the Queensland Government have jointly established the Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC) with the aim of developing innovative information and communication technologies (ICT) for a sustainable health care system. The AEHRC, as part of the CSIRO ICT Centre, has access to new technologies in information processing, wireless and networking technologies, and autonomous systems. The AEHRC's 50 researchers, software engineers and PhD students, in partnership with the CSIRO and clinicians, are developing and applying new technologies for improving patients' experience, building a more rewarding workplace for the health workforce, and improving the efficiency of delivering health care. The capabilities of the AEHRC fall into four broad areas: smart methods for using medical data; advanced medical imaging technologies; new models for clinical and health care interventions; and tools for medical skills development. Since its founding in 2004, new technology from the AEHRC has been adopted within Queensland (eg, a mobile phone-based cardiac rehabilitation program), around Australia (eg, medical imaging technologies) and internationally (eg, our clinical terminology tools).

Development of a practice tool for community-based nurses: the Heart Failure Palliative Approach to Care (HeFPAC).

PubMed

Strachan, Patricia H; Joy, Cathy; Costigan, Jeannine; Carter, Nancy

2014-04-01

Patients living with advanced heart failure (HF) require a palliative approach to reduce suffering. Nurses have described significant knowledge gaps about the disease-specific palliative care (PC) needs of these patients. An intervention is required to facilitate appropriate end-of-life care for HF patients. The purpose of this study was to develop a user-friendly, evidence-informed HF-specific practice tool for community-based nurses to facilitate care and communication regarding a palliative approach to HF care. Guided by the Knowledge to Action framework, we identified key HF-specific issues related to advanced HF care provision within the context of a palliative approach to care. Informed by current evidence and subsequent iterative consultation with community-based and specialist PC and HF nurses, a pocket guide tool for community-based nurses was created. We developed the Heart Failure Palliative Approach to Care (HeFPAC) pocket guide to promote communication and a palliative approach to care for HF patients. The HeFPAC has potential to improve the quality of care and experiences for patients with advanced HF. It will be piloted in community-based practice and in a continuing education program for nurses. The HeFPAC pocket guide offers PC nurses a concise, evidence-informed and practical point-of care tool to communicate with other clinicians and patients about key HF issues that are associated with improving disease-specific HF palliative care and the quality of life of patients and their families. Pilot testing will offer insight as to its utility and potential for modification for national and international use.

Learning to leverage existing information systems: Part 1. Principles.

PubMed

Neil, Nancy; Nerenz, David

2003-10-01

The success of performance improvement efforts depends on effective measurement and feedback regarding clinical processes and outcomes. Yet most health care organizations have fragmented rather than integrated data systems. Methods and practical guidance are provided for leveraging available information sources to obtain and create valid performance improvement-related information for use by clinicians and administrators. At Virginia Mason Health System (VMHS; Seattle), a vertically integrated hospital and multispecialty group practice, patient records are paper based and are supplemented with electronic reporting for laboratory and radiology services. Despite growth in the resources and interest devoted to organization-wide performance measurement, quality improvement, and evidence-based tools, VMHS's information systems consist of largely stand-alone, legacy systems organized around the ability to retrieve information on patients, one at a time. By 2002, without any investment in technology, VMHS had developed standardized, clinic-wide key indicators of performance updated and reported regularly at the patient, provider, site, and organizational levels. On the basis of VHMS's experience, principles can be suggested to guide other organizations to explore solutions using their own information systems: for example, start simply, but start; identify information needs; tap multiple data streams; and improve incrementally.

Reliability of risk assessment measures used in sexually violent predator proceedings.

PubMed

Miller, Cailey S; Kimonis, Eva R; Otto, Randy K; Kline, Suzonne M; Wasserman, Adam L

2012-12-01

The field interrater reliability of three assessment tools frequently used by mental health professionals when evaluating sex offenders' risk for reoffending--the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), the Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool-Revised (MnSOST-R) and the Static-99-was examined within the context of sexually violent predator program proceedings. Rater agreement was highest for the Static--99 (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC₁] = .78) and lowest for the PCL-R (ICC₁ = .60; MnSOST-R ICC₁ = .74), although all instruments demonstrated lower field reliability than that reported in their test manuals. Findings raise concerns about the reliability of risk assessment tools that are used to inform judgments of risk in high-stake sexually violent predator proceedings. Implications for future research and suggestions for improving evaluator training to increase accuracy when informing legal decision making are discussed.

Climate- and remote sensing-based tools for drought management application in North and South Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nam, W.; Wardlow, B.; Hayes, M. J.; Tadesse, T.; Svoboda, M.; Fuchs, B.; Wilhite, D. A.

2015-12-01

North and South Korea have experienced more frequent and extreme droughts since the late 1990s. In recent years, severe droughts in 2000-2001, 2012, and 2015 have led to widespread agricultural and environmental impacts, and resulted in water shortages and large reductions in crop yields. This has been particularly problematic in the agricultural sector of North Korea, which has a high-level of vulnerability due to variations of climate and this, in turn, results in food security issues. This vulnerability is exacerbated by North Korea's relatively small area of arable land, most of which is not very productive. The objective of this study was to develop a drought management application using climate- and remote sensing-based tools for North and South Korea. These tools are essential for improving drought planning and preparedness in this area. In this study, various drought indicators derived from climate and remote sensing data (SPI, SC-PDSI, SPEI, and VegDRI-Korea) were investigated to monitor the current drought condition and evaluate their ability to characterize agricultural and meteorological drought events and their potential impacts. Results from this study can be used to develop or improve the national-level drought management application for these countries. The goal is to provide improved and more timely information on both the spatial and temporal dimensions of drought conditions and provide a tool to identify both past and present drought events in order to make more informed management decisions and reduce the impacts of current droughts and reduce the risk to future events.

"WhatsApp"ening in orthopedic care: a concise report from a 300-bedded tertiary care teaching center.

PubMed

Khanna, Vishesh; Sambandam, Senthil N; Gul, Arif; Mounasamy, Varatharaj

2015-07-01

Smartphones have emerged as essential tools providing assistance in patient care, monitoring, rehabilitation, communication, diagnosis, teaching, research and reference. Among innumerable communication apps, WhatsApp has been widely popular and cost effective. The aim of our study was to report the impact of introduction of a smartphone app "WhatsApp" as an intradepartmental communication tool on (1) awareness of patient-related information, (2) efficiency of the handover process and (3) duration of traditional morning handovers among orthopedic residents in a 300-bedded tertiary care teaching center. Written handovers and paging used for communication at our center led to occasional inefficiencies among residents. Widespread use, low cost, availability and double password protection (phone lock and WhatsApp lock) made WhatsApp's group conversation feature an ideal tool for intradepartmental patient-related communication. Twenty-five consecutive admissions before and after WhatsApp (BW, AW) were included in the study. Eight orthopedic residents attempted fifty randomly arranged questions based on the twenty-five patients in each study period. A null hypothesis that introduction of WhatsApp group would neither increase the awareness of patient-related information nor improve the efficiency of the handovers among residents was assumed. A significant improvement observed in scores obtained by residents in the AW group led to rejection of the null hypothesis. The residents also reported swifter and efficient handovers after the introduction of WhatsApp. Our results indicate that the introduction of a smartphone app "WhatsApp" as an intradepartmental communication tool can bring about an improvement in patient-related awareness, communication and handovers among orthopedic residents.

Tracking and sustaining improvement initiatives: leveraging quality dashboards to lead change in a neurosurgical department.

PubMed

McLaughlin, Nancy; Afsar-Manesh, Nasim; Ragland, Victoria; Buxey, Farzad; Martin, Neil A

2014-03-01

Increasingly, hospitals and physicians are becoming acquainted with business intelligence strategies and tools to improve quality of care. In 2007, the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Neurosurgery created a quality dashboard to help manage process measures and outcomes and ultimately to enhance clinical performance and patient care. At that time, the dashboard was in a platform that required data to be entered manually. It was then reviewed monthly to allow the department to make informed decisions. In 2009, the department leadership worked with the UCLA Medical Center to align mutual quality-improvement priorities. The content of the dashboard was redesigned to include 3 areas of priorities: quality and safety, patient satisfaction, and efficiency and use. Throughout time, the neurosurgery quality dashboard has been recognized for its clarity and its success in helping management direct improvement strategies and monitor impact. We describe the creation and design of the neurosurgery quality dashboard at UCLA, summarize the evolution of its assembly process, and illustrate how it can be used as a powerful tool of improvement and change. The potential challenges and future directions of this business intelligence tool are also discussed.

The Development of an eHealth Tool Suite for Prostate Cancer Patients and Their Partners

PubMed Central

Van Bogaert, Donna; Hawkins, Robert; Pingree, Suzanne; Jarrard, David

2013-01-01

Background eHealth resources for people facing health crises must balance the expert knowledge and perspective of developers and clinicians against the very different needs and perspectives of prospective users. This formative study explores the information and support needs of posttreatment prostate cancer patients and their partners as a way to improve an existing eHealth information and support system called CHESS (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System). Methods Focus groups with patient survivors and their partners were used to identify information gaps and information-seeking milestones. Results Both patients and partners expressed a need for assistance in decision making, connecting with experienced patients, and making sexual adjustments. Female partners of patients are more active in searching for cancer information. All partners have information and support needs distinct from those of the patient. Conclusions Findings were used to develop a series of interactive tools and navigational features for the CHESS prostate cancer computer-mediated system. PMID:22591675

[Evaluation of budget design and execution, an instrument of performance-based budgeting: some experiences applied to health].

PubMed

Peñaloza-Vassallo, K; Gutiérrez-Aguado, A; Prado-Fernández, M

2017-01-01

Since 2008, the evaluation of budget design and execution (EDEP for its acronym in Spanish) - one of the evaluations tools developed by the Peruvian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) as part of the implementation of Performance Budgeting- seek to provide reliable information about design coherence and progress in the implementation of public interventions, in order to improve their management and make informed budget decisions. The EDEP methodology includes preparing an evaluation report and defining a matrix of commitments to improve performance. Commitments are defined based on the recommendation of the EDEP. The EDEP seeks to correct exiting problems in public programs and optimize their results. MEF tracks the fulfillment of these commitments and links together the analysis of public budget requests and the progress of these commitments. Now, almost 10 years after its implementation, 57 EDEP have been carried out in different sectors and 07 of them are related to health interventions such as: the comprehensive health system, vaccination service, normal births, acute respiratory infections and acute diarrheal diseases, among others. Beyond the discrepancies in the application of this tool, the EDEP and its matrix of commitments have allowed the use of the results of the evaluations and have become a mechanism to generate useful information to improve the public services.

Applications of Satellite Data to Support Improvements in Irrigation and Groundwater Management in California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Melton, Forrest S.

2017-01-01

In agricultural regions around the world, threats to water supplies from drought and groundwater depletion are driving increased demand for tools to advance agricultural water use efficiency and support sustainable groundwater management. Satellite mapping of evapotranspiration (ET) from irrigated agricultural lands can provide agricultural producers and water resource managers with information that can be used to both optimize ag water use and improve estimates of groundwater withdrawals for irrigation. We describe the development of two remote sensing-based tools for ET mapping in California, including important lessons in terms of system design, partnership development, and transition to operations. For irrigation management, the integration of satellite data and surface sensor networks to provide timely delivery of information on crop water requirements can make irrigation scheduling more practical, convenient, and accurate.Developed through a partnership between NASA and the CA Department of Water Resources, the Satellite Irrigation Management Support (SIMS) framework integrates satellite data with information from agricultural weather networks to map crop canopy development and crop water requirements at the scale of individual fields. Information is distributed to agricultural producers and water managers via a web-based interface and web data services. SIMS also provides an API that facilitates integration with other irrigation decision support tools, such as CropManage and IrriQuest. Field trials using these integrated tools have shown that they can be used to sustain yields while improving water use efficiency and nutrient management. For sustainable groundwater management, the combination of satellite-derived estimates of ET and data on surface water deliveries for irrigation can increase the accuracy of estimates of groundwater pumping. We are developing an OpenET platform to facilitate access to ET data from multiple models and accelerate operational use of ET data in support of a range of water management applications, including implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in CA. By providing a shared basis for decision making, we anticipate that the OpenET platform will accelerate implementation of solutions for sustainable groundwater management.

Applications of Satellite Data to Support Improvements in Irrigation and Groundwater Management in California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melton, F. S.; Huntington, J. L.; Johnson, L.; Guzman, A.; Morton, C.; Zaragoza, I.; Dexter, J.; Rosevelt, C.; Michaelis, A.; Nemani, R. R.; Cahn, M.; Temesgen, B.; Trezza, R.; Frame, K.; Eching, S.; Grimm, R.; Hall, M.

2017-12-01

In agricultural regions around the world, threats to water supplies from drought and groundwater depletion are driving increased demand for tools to advance agricultural water use efficiency and support sustainable groundwater management. Satellite mapping of evapotranspiration (ET) from irrigated agricultural lands can provide agricultural producers and water resource managers with information that can be used to both optimize ag water use and improve estimates of groundwater withdrawals for irrigation. We describe the development of two remote sensing-based tools for ET mapping in California, including important lessons in terms of system design, partnership development, and transition to operations. For irrigation management, the integration of satellite data and surface sensor networks to provide timely delivery of information on crop water requirements can make irrigation scheduling more practical, convenient, and accurate. Developed through a partnership between NASA and the CA Department of Water Resources, the Satellite Irrigation Management Support (SIMS) framework integrates satellite data with information from agricultural weather networks to map crop canopy development and crop water requirements at the scale of individual fields. Information is distributed to agricultural producers and water managers via a web-based interface and web data services. SIMS also provides an API that facilitates integration with other irrigation decision support tools, such as CropManage and IrriQuest. Field trials using these integrated tools have shown that they can be used to sustain yields while improving water use efficiency and nutrient management. For sustainable groundwater management, the combination of satellite-derived estimates of ET and data on surface water deliveries for irrigation can increase the accuracy of estimates of groundwater pumping. We are developing an OpenET platform to facilitate access to ET data from multiple models and accelerate operational use of ET data in support of a range of water management applications, including implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in CA. By providing a shared basis for decision making, we anticipate that the OpenET platform will accelerate implementation of solutions for sustainable groundwater management.

Statewide health information: a tool for improving hospital accountability.

PubMed

Epstein, M H; Kurtzig, B S

1994-07-01

By early 1994, 38 states had invested in data collection, analysis, and dissemination on the use, cost, effectiveness, and performance of hospitals. States use these data to control costs, encourage prudent purchasing, monitor effectiveness and outcomes of health care, guide health policy, and promote informed decision making. Experience in several states suggests that public release of hospital-specific data influences hospital performance. The value of state data organizations' databases to address issues of quality and accountability can be strengthened by ensuring the stability and growth of statewide health information systems, supporting research on information dissemination techniques, and promoting comparisons among hospitals. Information to measure provider performance must be placed in the public domain--to help ensure prudent and cost-effective health care purchasing and to give providers comparable information for improvement of care. State-level health databases are an essential component of the information infrastructure needed to support health reform.

Digital surveying and mapping of forest road network for development of a GIS tool for the effective protection and management of natural ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drosos, Vasileios C.; Liampas, Sarantis-Aggelos G.; Doukas, Aristotelis-Kosmas G.

2014-08-01

In our time, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become important tools, not only in the geosciences and environmental sciences, as well as virtually for all researches that require monitoring, planning or land management. The purpose of this paper was to develop a planning tool and decision making tool using AutoCAD Map software, ArcGIS and Google Earth with emphasis on the investigation of the suitability of forest roads' mapping and the range of its implementation in Greece in prefecture level. Integrating spatial information into a database makes data available throughout the organization; improving quality, productivity, and data management. Also working in such an environment, you can: Access and edit information, integrate and analyze data and communicate effectively. To select desirable information such as forest road network in a very early stage in the planning of silviculture operations, for example before the planning of the harvest is carried out. The software programs that were used were AutoCAD Map for the export in shape files for the GPS data, and ArcGIS in shape files (ArcGlobe), while Google Earth with KML files (Keyhole Markup Language) in order to better visualize and evaluate existing conditions, design in a real-world context and exchange information with government agencies, utilities, and contractors in both CAD and GIS data formats. The automation of the updating procedure and transfer of any files between agencies-departments is one of the main tasks of the integrated GIS-tool among the others should be addressed.

Survey of Ambient Air Pollution Health Risk Assessment Tools.

PubMed

Anenberg, Susan C; Belova, Anna; Brandt, Jørgen; Fann, Neal; Greco, Sue; Guttikunda, Sarath; Heroux, Marie-Eve; Hurley, Fintan; Krzyzanowski, Michal; Medina, Sylvia; Miller, Brian; Pandey, Kiran; Roos, Joachim; Van Dingenen, Rita

2016-09-01

Designing air quality policies that improve public health can benefit from information about air pollution health risks and impacts, which include respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and premature death. Several computer-based tools help automate air pollution health impact assessments and are being used for a variety of contexts. Expanding information gathered for a May 2014 World Health Organization expert meeting, we survey 12 multinational air pollution health impact assessment tools, categorize them according to key technical and operational characteristics, and identify limitations and challenges. Key characteristics include spatial resolution, pollutants and health effect outcomes evaluated, and method for characterizing population exposure, as well as tool format, accessibility, complexity, and degree of peer review and application in policy contexts. While many of the tools use common data sources for concentration-response associations, population, and baseline mortality rates, they vary in the exposure information source, format, and degree of technical complexity. We find that there is an important tradeoff between technical refinement and accessibility for a broad range of applications. Analysts should apply tools that provide the appropriate geographic scope, resolution, and maximum degree of technical rigor for the intended assessment, within resources constraints. A systematic intercomparison of the tools' inputs, assumptions, calculations, and results would be helpful to determine the appropriateness of each for different types of assessment. Future work would benefit from accounting for multiple uncertainty sources and integrating ambient air pollution health impact assessment tools with those addressing other related health risks (e.g., smoking, indoor pollution, climate change, vehicle accidents, physical activity). © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Evaluation of PHI Hunter in Natural Language Processing Research.

PubMed

Redd, Andrew; Pickard, Steve; Meystre, Stephane; Scehnet, Jeffrey; Bolton, Dan; Heavirland, Julia; Weaver, Allison Lynn; Hope, Carol; Garvin, Jennifer Hornung

2015-01-01

We introduce and evaluate a new, easily accessible tool using a common statistical analysis and business analytics software suite, SAS, which can be programmed to remove specific protected health information (PHI) from a text document. Removal of PHI is important because the quantity of text documents used for research with natural language processing (NLP) is increasing. When using existing data for research, an investigator must remove all PHI not needed for the research to comply with human subjects' right to privacy. This process is similar, but not identical, to de-identification of a given set of documents. PHI Hunter removes PHI from free-form text. It is a set of rules to identify and remove patterns in text. PHI Hunter was applied to 473 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) text documents randomly drawn from a research corpus stored as unstructured text in VA files. PHI Hunter performed well with PHI in the form of identification numbers such as Social Security numbers, phone numbers, and medical record numbers. The most commonly missed PHI items were names and locations. Incorrect removal of information occurred with text that looked like identification numbers. PHI Hunter fills a niche role that is related to but not equal to the role of de-identification tools. It gives research staff a tool to reasonably increase patient privacy. It performs well for highly sensitive PHI categories that are rarely used in research, but still shows possible areas for improvement. More development for patterns of text and linked demographic tables from electronic health records (EHRs) would improve the program so that more precise identifiable information can be removed. PHI Hunter is an accessible tool that can flexibly remove PHI not needed for research. If it can be tailored to the specific data set via linked demographic tables, its performance will improve in each new document set.

Evaluation of PHI Hunter in Natural Language Processing Research

PubMed Central

Redd, Andrew; Pickard, Steve; Meystre, Stephane; Scehnet, Jeffrey; Bolton, Dan; Heavirland, Julia; Weaver, Allison Lynn; Hope, Carol; Garvin, Jennifer Hornung

2015-01-01

Objectives We introduce and evaluate a new, easily accessible tool using a common statistical analysis and business analytics software suite, SAS, which can be programmed to remove specific protected health information (PHI) from a text document. Removal of PHI is important because the quantity of text documents used for research with natural language processing (NLP) is increasing. When using existing data for research, an investigator must remove all PHI not needed for the research to comply with human subjects’ right to privacy. This process is similar, but not identical, to de-identification of a given set of documents. Materials and methods PHI Hunter removes PHI from free-form text. It is a set of rules to identify and remove patterns in text. PHI Hunter was applied to 473 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) text documents randomly drawn from a research corpus stored as unstructured text in VA files. Results PHI Hunter performed well with PHI in the form of identification numbers such as Social Security numbers, phone numbers, and medical record numbers. The most commonly missed PHI items were names and locations. Incorrect removal of information occurred with text that looked like identification numbers. Discussion PHI Hunter fills a niche role that is related to but not equal to the role of de-identification tools. It gives research staff a tool to reasonably increase patient privacy. It performs well for highly sensitive PHI categories that are rarely used in research, but still shows possible areas for improvement. More development for patterns of text and linked demographic tables from electronic health records (EHRs) would improve the program so that more precise identifiable information can be removed. Conclusions PHI Hunter is an accessible tool that can flexibly remove PHI not needed for research. If it can be tailored to the specific data set via linked demographic tables, its performance will improve in each new document set. PMID:26807078

Integration of eHealth Tools in the Process of Workplace Health Promotion: Proposal for Design and Implementation.

PubMed

Jimenez, Paulino; Bregenzer, Anita

2018-02-23

Electronic health (eHealth) and mobile health (mHealth) tools can support and improve the whole process of workplace health promotion (WHP) projects. However, several challenges and opportunities have to be considered while integrating these tools in WHP projects. Currently, a large number of eHealth tools are developed for changing health behavior, but these tools can support the whole WHP process, including group administration, information flow, assessment, intervention development process, or evaluation. To support a successful implementation of eHealth tools in the whole WHP processes, we introduce a concept of WHP (life cycle model of WHP) with 7 steps and present critical and success factors for the implementation of eHealth tools in each step. We developed a life cycle model of WHP based on the World Health Organization (WHO) model of healthy workplace continual improvement process. We suggest adaptations to the WHO model to demonstrate the large number of possibilities to implement eHealth tools in WHP as well as possible critical points in the implementation process. eHealth tools can enhance the efficiency of WHP in each of the 7 steps of the presented life cycle model of WHP. Specifically, eHealth tools can support by offering easier administration, providing an information and communication platform, supporting assessments, presenting and discussing assessment results in a dashboard, and offering interventions to change individual health behavior. Important success factors include the possibility to give automatic feedback about health parameters, create incentive systems, or bring together a large number of health experts in one place. Critical factors such as data security, anonymity, or lack of management involvement have to be addressed carefully to prevent nonparticipation and dropouts. Using eHealth tools can support WHP, but clear regulations for the usage and implementation of these tools at the workplace are needed to secure quality and reach sustainable results. ©Paulino Jimenez, Anita Bregenzer. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 23.02.2018.

CyanoBase: the cyanobacteria genome database update 2010.

PubMed

Nakao, Mitsuteru; Okamoto, Shinobu; Kohara, Mitsuyo; Fujishiro, Tsunakazu; Fujisawa, Takatomo; Sato, Shusei; Tabata, Satoshi; Kaneko, Takakazu; Nakamura, Yasukazu

2010-01-01

CyanoBase (http://genome.kazusa.or.jp/cyanobase) is the genome database for cyanobacteria, which are model organisms for photosynthesis. The database houses cyanobacteria species information, complete genome sequences, genome-scale experiment data, gene information, gene annotations and mutant information. In this version, we updated these datasets and improved the navigation and the visual display of the data views. In addition, a web service API now enables users to retrieve the data in various formats with other tools, seamlessly.

DDx: diagnostic assistance for the radiologist using PACS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haynor, David R.

1993-09-01

A potentially valuable tool in medical imaging is the development, and integration with PACS, of systems which enhance the interpretive accuracy of the user -- his ability, given a set of findings (in the broad sense, including clinical information about the patient as well as characteristics of the lesion being analyzed), to assign the proper disease label, or diagnosis, to them. Such systems, which we call here interpretive tools (IT), contain a variety of types of information about diseases and their radiologic diagnosis. They can contain information about large numbers of diseases, including statistical information (incidence, characteristic anatomical locations, association with age and gender or with other diseases, probabilities of various findings given a disease), textual information (description of diseases, treatment, literature references, lists of other entities that might be confused with the disease of interest, additional diagnostic points that may not be represented, or even representable, within IT), and image-based information (typical and atypical examples for each entity and radiographic finding, examples of normal anatomy). These databases can be used both for teaching purposes and as a tool for improving interpretive accuracy [Swett, 1987]. This paper describes some of the requirements for these databases and then discusses early work on the implementation of DDx, an IT whose domain is neuroradiology.

An overview of the use of Facebook in National Weather Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palacio, Virginia; Principe, Olatz; Martija, Maialen; Gaztelumendi, Santiago

2016-10-01

National Meteorological Services (NMSs) use different "classical" tools in order to diffuse meteorological information, including television, radio, newspaper, phone, e-mail and websites. In recent years, new communication technologies and, in particular, the rapid expansion of Facebook allows users to efficiently exchange information and to easily share it with a large part of the population. Facebook is one of the most used social networks and it represents a perfect virtual platform to share information and to promote active and immediate interaction amongst users. This is why many NMSs develop new communication strategies and incorporate this tool for different purposes. Some NMSs not only provide forecast, real-time observed data and other routine information, but they also upload videos (for example, with the weatherperson explaining the forecast or short reports) and amazing pictures taken by followers. In addition, they also give educational and didactic information (above all about climatic issues) and organize photographic competitions. In this paper, firstly, we investigate when Facebook was introduced in different NMSs worldwide as an additional tool for the diffusion of meteorological information. Then, we propose a classification of these NMSs based on the success of their Facebook page, i.e. on the number of followers. Finally, we select some representative cases of NMSs and we analyze how Facebook is used to improve their services.

Improving health information systems for decision making across five sub-Saharan African countries: Implementation strategies from the African Health Initiative.

PubMed

Mutale, Wilbroad; Chintu, Namwinga; Amoroso, Cheryl; Awoonor-Williams, Koku; Phillips, James; Baynes, Colin; Michel, Cathy; Taylor, Angela; Sherr, Kenneth

2013-01-01

Weak health information systems (HIS) are a critical challenge to reaching the health-related Millennium Development Goals because health systems performance cannot be adequately assessed or monitored where HIS data are incomplete, inaccurate, or untimely. The Population Health Implementation and Training (PHIT) Partnerships were established in five sub-Saharan African countries (Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia) to catalyze advances in strengthening district health systems. Interventions were tailored to the setting in which activities were planned. All five PHIT Partnerships share a common feature in their goal of enhancing HIS and linking data with improved decision-making, specific strategies varied. Mozambique, Ghana, and Tanzania all focus on improving the quality and use of the existing Ministry of Health HIS, while the Zambia and Rwanda partnerships have introduced new information and communication technology systems or tools. All partnerships have adopted a flexible, iterative approach in designing and refining the development of new tools and approaches for HIS enhancement (such as routine data quality audits and automated troubleshooting), as well as improving decision making through timely feedback on health system performance (such as through summary data dashboards or routine data review meetings). The most striking differences between partnership approaches can be found in the level of emphasis of data collection (patient versus health facility), and consequently the level of decision making enhancement (community, facility, district, or provincial leadership). Design differences across PHIT Partnerships reflect differing theories of change, particularly regarding what information is needed, who will use the information to affect change, and how this change is expected to manifest. The iterative process of data use to monitor and assess the health system has been heavily communication dependent, with challenges due to poor feedback loops. Implementation to date has highlighted the importance of engaging frontline staff and managers in improving data collection and its use for informing system improvement. Through rigorous process and impact evaluation, the experience of the PHIT teams hope to contribute to the evidence base in the areas of HIS strengthening, linking HIS with decision making, and its impact on measures of health system outputs and impact.

Improving health information systems for decision making across five sub-Saharan African countries: Implementation strategies from the African Health Initiative

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Weak health information systems (HIS) are a critical challenge to reaching the health-related Millennium Development Goals because health systems performance cannot be adequately assessed or monitored where HIS data are incomplete, inaccurate, or untimely. The Population Health Implementation and Training (PHIT) Partnerships were established in five sub-Saharan African countries (Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia) to catalyze advances in strengthening district health systems. Interventions were tailored to the setting in which activities were planned. Comparisons across strategies All five PHIT Partnerships share a common feature in their goal of enhancing HIS and linking data with improved decision-making, specific strategies varied. Mozambique, Ghana, and Tanzania all focus on improving the quality and use of the existing Ministry of Health HIS, while the Zambia and Rwanda partnerships have introduced new information and communication technology systems or tools. All partnerships have adopted a flexible, iterative approach in designing and refining the development of new tools and approaches for HIS enhancement (such as routine data quality audits and automated troubleshooting), as well as improving decision making through timely feedback on health system performance (such as through summary data dashboards or routine data review meetings). The most striking differences between partnership approaches can be found in the level of emphasis of data collection (patient versus health facility), and consequently the level of decision making enhancement (community, facility, district, or provincial leadership). Discussion Design differences across PHIT Partnerships reflect differing theories of change, particularly regarding what information is needed, who will use the information to affect change, and how this change is expected to manifest. The iterative process of data use to monitor and assess the health system has been heavily communication dependent, with challenges due to poor feedback loops. Implementation to date has highlighted the importance of engaging frontline staff and managers in improving data collection and its use for informing system improvement. Through rigorous process and impact evaluation, the experience of the PHIT teams hope to contribute to the evidence base in the areas of HIS strengthening, linking HIS with decision making, and its impact on measures of health system outputs and impact. PMID:23819699

SAGES: A Suite of Freely-Available Software Tools for Electronic Disease Surveillance in Resource-Limited Settings

PubMed Central

Lewis, Sheri L.; Feighner, Brian H.; Loschen, Wayne A.; Wojcik, Richard A.; Skora, Joseph F.; Coberly, Jacqueline S.; Blazes, David L.

2011-01-01

Public health surveillance is undergoing a revolution driven by advances in the field of information technology. Many countries have experienced vast improvements in the collection, ingestion, analysis, visualization, and dissemination of public health data. Resource-limited countries have lagged behind due to challenges in information technology infrastructure, public health resources, and the costs of proprietary software. The Suite for Automated Global Electronic bioSurveillance (SAGES) is a collection of modular, flexible, freely-available software tools for electronic disease surveillance in resource-limited settings. One or more SAGES tools may be used in concert with existing surveillance applications or the SAGES tools may be used en masse for an end-to-end biosurveillance capability. This flexibility allows for the development of an inexpensive, customized, and sustainable disease surveillance system. The ability to rapidly assess anomalous disease activity may lead to more efficient use of limited resources and better compliance with World Health Organization International Health Regulations. PMID:21572957

Data visualization as a tool for improved decision making within transit agencies

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-02-01

TriMet, the regional transit provider in the Portland, OR, area has been a leader in bus transit performance monitoring using data collected via automatic vehicle location and automatic passenger counter technologies. This information is collected an...

Health care information seeking and seniors: determinants of Internet use.

PubMed

Sheng, Xiaojing; Simpson, Penny M

2015-01-01

While seniors are the most likely population segment to have chronic diseases, they are the least likely to seek information about health and diseases on the Internet. An understanding of factors that impact seniors' usage of the Internet for health care information may provide them with tools needed to improve health. This research examined some of these factors as identified in the comprehensive model of information seeking to find that demographics, trust in health information websites, perceived usefulness of the Internet, and internal locus of control each significantly impact seniors' use of the Internet to seek health information.

Information models of software productivity - Limits on productivity growth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tausworthe, Robert C.

1992-01-01

Research into generalized information-metric models of software process productivity establishes quantifiable behavior and theoretical bounds. The models establish a fundamental mathematical relationship between software productivity and the human capacity for information traffic, the software product yield (system size), information efficiency, and tool and process efficiencies. An upper bound is derived that quantifies average software productivity and the maximum rate at which it may grow. This bound reveals that ultimately, when tools, methodologies, and automated assistants have reached their maximum effective state, further improvement in productivity can only be achieved through increasing software reuse. The reuse advantage is shown not to increase faster than logarithmically in the number of reusable features available. The reuse bound is further shown to be somewhat dependent on the reuse policy: a general 'reuse everything' policy can lead to a somewhat slower productivity growth than a specialized reuse policy.

Library & Information Services: an Astronomer's Wishlist

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andernach, Heinz

I review some of the past and current methods for retrieval of literature and other published information, excluding commercial services. Much of this is a personal view and based on experience made at various institutions, some of them neither with an adequately complete astronomy library, nor with a professional astronomy librarian. Rather than describing current retrieval methods, a few of their weaknesses are identified which merit future improval. Despite the availability of powerful electronic tools, we need to improve efforts in safeguarding published numerical and textual information in a format readily usable by astronomers. Comments are made on a user-friendly arrangement of a library, and on useful tasks for librarians with available time.

[About the problems and prospects of improving of governance in the modern hospital associations].

PubMed

Maksimov, I B; Stoliar, V P

2011-10-01

The problems of efficiency of management of officials of hospital healthcare association of manage of remote branch offices and the structural units of the Main Military Clinical Hospital n. a. N.N. Burdenko is examined. Emphasizes the role of improved information exchange, collect and analyze medical and other information. As a tool, that can provide consolidation and optimal utilization of institutional capacity, and all the information and analytical resources offered to create a situational control center (div) of hospital health-care associations. The result of the introduction will increase div validity and quality of management decisions of the leadership of the words: management, hospital treatment and prevention association, communication, situational control center.

Who is teaching what, when? An evolving online tool to manage dental curricula.

PubMed

Walton, Joanne N

2014-03-01

There are numerous issues in the documentation and ongoing development of health professions curricula. It seems that curriculum information falls quickly out of date between accreditation cycles, while students and faculty members struggle in the meantime with the "hidden curriculum" and unintended redundancies and gaps. Beyond knowing what is in the curriculum lies the frustration of timetabling learning in a transparent way while allowing for on-the-fly changes and improvements. The University of British Columbia Faculty of Dentistry set out to develop a curriculum database to answer the simple but challenging question "who is teaching what, when?" That tool, dubbed "OSCAR," has evolved to not only document the dental curriculum, but as a shared instrument that also holds the curricula and scheduling detail of the dental hygiene degree and clinical graduate programs. In addition to providing documentation ranging from reports for accreditation to daily information critical to faculty administrators and staff, OSCAR provides faculty and students with individual timetables and pushes updates via text, email, and calendar changes. It incorporates reminders and session resources for students and can be updated by both faculty members and staff. OSCAR has evolved into an essential tool for tracking, scheduling, and improving the school's curricula.

Can Wireless Technology Enable New Diabetes Management Tools?

PubMed Central

Hedtke, Paul A.

2008-01-01

Mobile computing and communications technology embodied in the modern cell phone device can be employed to improve the lives of diabetes patients by giving them better tools for self-management. Several companies are working on the development of diabetes management tools that leverage the ubiquitous cell phone to bring self-management tools to the hand of the diabetes patient. Integration of blood glucose monitoring (BGM) technology with the cell phone platform adds a level of convenience for the person with diabetes, but, more importantly, allows BGM data to be automatically captured, logged, and processed in near real time in order to provide the diabetes patient with assistance in managing their blood glucose levels. Other automatic measurements can estimate physical activity, and information regarding medication events and food intake can be captured and analyzed in order to provide the diabetes patient with continual assistance in managing their therapy and behaviors in order to improve glycemic control. The path to realization of such solutions is not, however, without obstacles. PMID:19885187

Can wireless technology enable new diabetes management tools?

PubMed

Hedtke, Paul A

2008-01-01

Mobile computing and communications technology embodied in the modern cell phone device can be employed to improve the lives of diabetes patients by giving them better tools for self-management. Several companies are working on the development of diabetes management tools that leverage the ubiquitous cell phone to bring self-management tools to the hand of the diabetes patient. Integration of blood glucose monitoring (BGM) technology with the cell phone platform adds a level of convenience for the person with diabetes, but, more importantly, allows BGM data to be automatically captured, logged, and processed in near real time in order to provide the diabetes patient with assistance in managing their blood glucose levels. Other automatic measurements can estimate physical activity, and information regarding medication events and food intake can be captured and analyzed in order to provide the diabetes patient with continual assistance in managing their therapy and behaviors in order to improve glycemic control. The path to realization of such solutions is not, however, without obstacles.

Designing a data-driven decision support tool for nurse scheduling in the emergency department: a case study of a southern New Jersey emergency department.

PubMed

Otegbeye, Mojisola; Scriber, Roslyn; Ducoin, Donna; Glasofer, Amy

2015-01-01

A health system serving Burlington and Camden Counties, New Jersey, sought to improve labor productivity for its emergency departments, with emphasis on optimizing nursing staff schedules. Using historical emergency department visit data and operating constraints, a decision support tool was designed to recommend the number of emergency nurses needed in each hour for each day of the week. The pilot emergency department nurse managers used the decision support tool's recommendations to redeploy nurse hours from weekends into a float pool to support periods of demand spikes on weekdays. Productivity improved significantly, with no unfavorable impact on patient throughput, and patient and staff satisfaction. Today's emergency department manager can leverage the increasing ease of access to the emergency department information system's data repository to successfully design a simple but effective tool to support the alignment of its nursing schedule with demand patterns. Copyright © 2015 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DataONE: A Distributed Environmental and Earth Science Data Network Supporting the Full Data Life Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, R.; Michener, W.; Vieglais, D.; Budden, A.; Koskela, R.

2012-04-01

Addressing grand environmental science challenges requires unprecedented access to easily understood data that cross the breadth of temporal, spatial, and thematic scales. Tools are needed to plan management of the data, discover the relevant data, integrate heterogeneous and diverse data, and convert the data to information and knowledge. Addressing these challenges requires new approaches for the full data life cycle of managing, preserving, sharing, and analyzing data. DataONE (Observation Network for Earth) represents a virtual organization that enables new science and knowledge creation through preservation and access to data about life on Earth and the environment that sustains it. The DataONE approach is to improve data collection and management techniques; facilitate easy, secure, and persistent storage of data; continue to increase access to data and tools that improve data interoperability; disseminate integrated and user-friendly tools for data discovery and novel analyses; work with researchers to build intuitive data exploration and visualization tools; and support communities of practice via education, outreach, and stakeholder engagement.

Tools for Implementing an Evidence-Based Approach in Public Health Practice

PubMed Central

Jacobs, Julie A.; Jones, Ellen; Gabella, Barbara A.; Spring, Bonnie

2012-01-01

Increasing disease rates, limited funding, and the ever-growing scientific basis for intervention demand the use of proven strategies to improve population health. Public health practitioners must be ready to implement an evidence-based approach in their work to meet health goals and sustain necessary resources. We researched easily accessible and time-efficient tools for implementing an evidence-based public health (EBPH) approach to improve population health. Several tools have been developed to meet EBPH needs, including free online resources in the following topic areas: training and planning tools, US health surveillance, policy tracking and surveillance, systematic reviews and evidence-based guidelines, economic evaluation, and gray literature. Key elements of EBPH are engaging the community in assessment and decision making; using data and information systems systematically; making decisions on the basis of the best available peer-reviewed evidence (both quantitative and qualitative); applying program-planning frameworks (often based in health-behavior theory); conducting sound evaluation; and disseminating what is learned. PMID:22721501

The effectiveness of a standardised positioning tool and bedside education on the developmental positioning proficiency of NICU nurses.

PubMed

Spilker, Arlene; Hill, Constance; Rosenblum, Ruth

2016-08-01

In order to improve the developmental proficiency of neonatal intensive care unit nurses, a standardised infant positioning assessment tool and a bedside education programme were introduced to the registered nurses in a 46 bed level III neonatal intensive care unit in the western United States. A developmental positioning team collected pre-intervention positioning scores on 54 preterm infants. This was followed by a survey of the registered nurses beliefs and attitudes, the introduction of the standardised assessment tool and an informal education programme. Post-intervention positioning scores were collected on 55 preterm infants, and analysis of the data indicated there was a statistically significant change in mean positioning scores. Additionally, the registered nurses identified several barriers to the implementation of developmental positioning. This research indicates the use of a standardised infant positioning assessment tool and bedside education may be useful strategies for improving the developmental positioning proficiency of NICU nurses. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Model of experts for decision support in the diagnosis of leukemia patients.

PubMed

Corchado, Juan M; De Paz, Juan F; Rodríguez, Sara; Bajo, Javier

2009-07-01

Recent advances in the field of biomedicine, specifically in the field of genomics, have led to an increase in the information available for conducting expression analysis. Expression analysis is a technique used in transcriptomics, a branch of genomics that deals with the study of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and the extraction of information contained in the genes. This increase in information is reflected in the exon arrays, which require the use of new techniques in order to extract the information. The purpose of this study is to provide a tool based on a mixture of experts model that allows the analysis of the information contained in the exon arrays, from which automatic classifications for decision support in diagnoses of leukemia patients can be made. The proposed model integrates several cooperative algorithms characterized for their efficiency for data processing, filtering, classification and knowledge extraction. The Cancer Institute of the University of Salamanca is making an effort to develop tools to automate the evaluation of data and to facilitate de analysis of information. This proposal is a step forward in this direction and the first step toward the development of a mixture of experts tool that integrates different cognitive and statistical approaches to deal with the analysis of exon arrays. The mixture of experts model presented within this work provides great capacities for learning and adaptation to the characteristics of the problem in consideration, using novel algorithms in each of the stages of the analysis process that can be easily configured and combined, and provides results that notably improve those provided by the existing methods for exon arrays analysis. The material used consists of data from exon arrays provided by the Cancer Institute that contain samples from leukemia patients. The methodology used consists of a system based on a mixture of experts. Each one of the experts incorporates novel artificial intelligence techniques that improve the process of carrying out various tasks such as pre-processing, filtering, classification and extraction of knowledge. This article will detail the manner in which individual experts are combined so that together they generate a system capable of extracting knowledge, thus permitting patients to be classified in an automatic and efficient manner that is also comprehensible for medical personnel. The system has been tested in a real setting and has been used for classifying patients who suffer from different forms of leukemia at various stages. Personnel from the Cancer Institute supervised and participated throughout the testing period. Preliminary results are promising, notably improving the results obtained with previously used tools. The medical staff from the Cancer Institute considers the tools that have been developed to be positive and very useful in a supporting capacity for carrying out their daily tasks. Additionally the mixture of experts supplies a tool for the extraction of necessary information in order to explain the associations that have been made in simple terms. That is, it permits the extraction of knowledge for each classification made and generalized in order to be used in subsequent classifications. This allows for a large amount of learning and adaptation within the proposed system.

An Information System for Brownfield Regeneration: providing customised information according to stakeholders' characteristics and needs.

PubMed

Rizzo, Erika; Pizzol, Lisa; Zabeo, Alex; Giubilato, Elisa; Critto, Andrea; Cosmo, Luca; Marcomini, Antonio

2018-07-01

In the EU brownfield presence is still considered a widespread problem. Even though, in the last decades, many research projects and initiatives developed a wealth of methods, guidelines, tools and technologies aimed at supporting brownfield regeneration. However, this variety of products had and still has a limited practical impact on brownfield revitalisation success, because they are not used in their entire potential due to their scarce visibility. Also, another problem that stakeholders face is finding customised information. To overcome this non-visibility and not-sufficient customisation of information, the Information System for Brownfield Regeneration (ISBR) has been developed, based on Artificial Neural Networks, which allows understanding stakeholders' information needs by providing tailored information. The ISBR has been tested by stakeholders from the EU project TIMBRE case studies, located in the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Romania. Data gained during tests allowed to understand stakeholders' information needs. Overall, stakeholders showed to be concerned first on remediation aspects, then on benchmarking information, which are valuable to improve practices in the complex field of brownfield regeneration, and then on the relatively new issue of sustainability applied to brownfield regeneration and remediation. Mature markets confirmed their interest for remediation-related aspects, highlighting the central role that risk assessment plays in the process. Emerging markets showed to seek information and tools for strategic and planning issues, like brownfield inventories and georeferenced data sets. Results led to conclude that a new improved platform, combining the ISBR functionalities with geo-referenced ones, would be useful and could represent a further research application. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design and Evaluation of Ergonomic Interventions for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders in India

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Improper workstation, work procedures and tools are found to be the risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal disorders among the informal sector workers of the developing countries. Low cost ergonomic interventions can effectively improve such adverse conditions. Case presentation In the present article some studies related to design interventions in different informal and agricultural sectors were discussed and their efficacies were analyzed. It was observed that with the help of appropriate interventions musculoskeletal disorders were reduced, adverse physiological conditions were improved when awkward postures were corrected and ultimately the organisational productivity was increased. Conclusion Proper implementation of ergonomic interventions can ultimately improve the economy of the nation. PMID:25009740

Practice tip. Producing newsletters - criteria for success.

PubMed

Eckermann, Sarah Louise; McIntyre, Ellen; Magarey, Anne

2007-01-01

Newsletters, while informal when compared to peer reviewed journals and organisational reports, are a popular communication tool used to provide and share information, for and about people with a common interest or need. Newsletters are an effective way to build networks and improve communication. As the editors of several newsletters in primary health care, the authors have developed criteria that aim to increase the success of a newsletter.

Phytophthora database 2.0: update and future direction.

PubMed

Park, Bongsoo; Martin, Frank; Geiser, David M; Kim, Hye-Seon; Mansfield, Michele A; Nikolaeva, Ekaterina; Park, Sook-Young; Coffey, Michael D; Russo, Joseph; Kim, Seong H; Balci, Yilmaz; Abad, Gloria; Burgess, Treena; Grünwald, Niklaus J; Cheong, Kyeongchae; Choi, Jaeyoung; Lee, Yong-Hwan; Kang, Seogchan

2013-12-01

The online community resource Phytophthora database (PD) was developed to support accurate and rapid identification of Phytophthora and to help characterize and catalog the diversity and evolutionary relationships within the genus. Since its release in 2008, the sequence database has grown to cover 1 to 12 loci for ≈2,600 isolates (representing 138 described and provisional species). Sequences of multiple mitochondrial loci were added to complement nuclear loci-based phylogenetic analyses and diagnostic tool development. Key characteristics of most newly described and provisional species have been summarized. Other additions to improve the PD functionality include: (i) geographic information system tools that enable users to visualize the geographic origins of chosen isolates on a global-scale map, (ii) a tool for comparing genetic similarity between isolates via microsatellite markers to support population genetic studies, (iii) a comprehensive review of molecular diagnostics tools and relevant references, (iv) sequence alignments used to develop polymerase chain reaction-based diagnostics tools to support their utilization and new diagnostic tool development, and (v) an online community forum for sharing and preserving experience and knowledge accumulated in the global Phytophthora community. Here we present how these improvements can support users and discuss the PD's future direction.

Leveraging information technology to drive improvement in patient satisfaction.

PubMed

Nash, Mary; Pestrue, Justin; Geier, Peter; Sharp, Karen; Helder, Amy; McAlearney, Ann Scheck

2010-01-01

A healthcare organization's commitment to quality and the patient experience requires senior leader involvement in improvement strategies, and accountability for goals. Further, improvement strategies are most effective when driven by data, and in the world of patient satisfaction, evidence is growing that nurse leader rounding and discharge calls are strategic tactics that can improve patient satisfaction. This article describes how The Ohio State University Medical Center (OSUMC) leveraged health information technology (IT) to apply a data-driven strategy execution to improve the patient experience. Specifically, two IT-driven approaches were used: (1) business intelligence reporting tools were used to create a meaningful reporting system including dashboards, scorecards, and tracking reports and (2) an improvement plan was implemented that focused on two high-impact tactics and data to hardwire accountability. Targeted information from the IT systems enabled clinicians and administrators to execute these strategic tactics, and senior leaders to monitor achievement of strategic goals. As a result, OSUMC's inpatient satisfaction scores on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey improved from 56% nines and tens in 2006 to 71% in 2009. © 2010 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

Managing the Challenges of Adopting Electronic Medical Records: An Exploratory Study of the Challenges Faced by African American Health Care Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riddick, William P.

2013-01-01

The implementation of technology within the health care industry is viewed as a possible solution for lowering costs and improving health care delivery to patients. Electronic medical record system(s) (EMRS) are information technology tools viewed within the health care industry as a possible solution for aiding improvements in health care…

Networking and Information Technology Research and Development. Supplement to the President’s Budget for FY 2002

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-07-01

Web-based applications to improve health data systems and quality of care; innovative strategies for data collection in clinical settings; approaches...research to increase interoperability and integration of software in distributed systems ; protocols and tools for data annotation and management; and...Generation National Defense and National Security Systems .......................... 27 Improved Health Care Systems for All Citizens

Improving Patient Experience and Primary Care Quality for Patients With Complex Chronic Disease Using the Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes Tool: Adopting Qualitative Methods Into a User-Centered Design Approach.

PubMed

Steele Gray, Carolyn; Khan, Anum Irfan; Kuluski, Kerry; McKillop, Ian; Sharpe, Sarah; Bierman, Arlene S; Lyons, Renee F; Cott, Cheryl

2016-02-18

Many mHealth technologies do not meet the needs of patients with complex chronic disease and disabilities (CCDDs) who are among the highest users of health systems worldwide. Furthermore, many of the development methodologies used in the creation of mHealth and eHealth technologies lack the ability to embrace users with CCDD in the specification process. This paper describes how we adopted and modified development techniques to create the electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes (ePRO) tool, a patient-centered mHealth solution to help improve primary health care for patients experiencing CCDD. This paper describes the design and development approach, specifically the process of incorporating qualitative research methods into user-centered design approaches to create the ePRO tool. Key lessons learned are offered as a guide for other eHealth and mHealth research and technology developers working with complex patient populations and their primary health care providers. Guided by user-centered design principles, interpretive descriptive qualitative research methods were adopted to capture user experiences through interviews and working groups. Consistent with interpretive descriptive methods, an iterative analysis technique was used to generate findings, which were then organized in relation to the tool design and function to help systematically inform modifications to the tool. User feedback captured and analyzed through this method was used to challenge the design and inform the iterative development of the tool. Interviews with primary health care providers (n=7) and content experts (n=6), and four focus groups with patients and carers (n=14) along with a PICK analysis-Possible, Implementable, (to be) Challenged, (to be) Killed-guided development of the first prototype. The initial prototype was presented in three design working groups with patients/carers (n=5), providers (n=6), and experts (n=5). Working group findings were broken down into categories of what works and what does not work to inform modifications to the prototype. This latter phase led to a major shift in the purpose and design of the prototype, validating the importance of using iterative codesign processes. Interpretive descriptive methods allow for an understanding of user experiences of patients with CCDD, their carers, and primary care providers. Qualitative methods help to capture and interpret user needs, and identify contextual barriers and enablers to tool adoption, informing a redesign to better suit the needs of this diverse user group. This study illustrates the value of adopting interpretive descriptive methods into user-centered mHealth tool design and can also serve to inform the design of other eHealth technologies. Our approach is particularly useful in requirements determination when developing for a complex user group and their health care providers.

Energetic particle instabilities in fusion plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharapov, S. E.; Alper, B.; Berk, H. L.; Borba, D. N.; Breizman, B. N.; Challis, C. D.; Classen, I. G. J.; Edlund, E. M.; Eriksson, J.; Fasoli, A.; Fredrickson, E. D.; Fu, G. Y.; Garcia-Munoz, M.; Gassner, T.; Ghantous, K.; Goloborodko, V.; Gorelenkov, N. N.; Gryaznevich, M. P.; Hacquin, S.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Hellesen, C.; Kiptily, V. G.; Kramer, G. J.; Lauber, P.; Lilley, M. K.; Lisak, M.; Nabais, F.; Nazikian, R.; Nyqvist, R.; Osakabe, M.; Perez von Thun, C.; Pinches, S. D.; Podesta, M.; Porkolab, M.; Shinohara, K.; Schoepf, K.; Todo, Y.; Toi, K.; Van Zeeland, M. A.; Voitsekhovich, I.; White, R. B.; Yavorskij, V.; TG, ITPA EP; Contributors, JET-EFDA

2013-10-01

Remarkable progress has been made in diagnosing energetic particle instabilities on present-day machines and in establishing a theoretical framework for describing them. This overview describes the much improved diagnostics of Alfvén instabilities and modelling tools developed world-wide, and discusses progress in interpreting the observed phenomena. A multi-machine comparison is presented giving information on the performance of both diagnostics and modelling tools for different plasma conditions outlining expectations for ITER based on our present knowledge.

Performance Assessment as a Diagnostic Tool for Science Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruit, Patricia; Oostdam, Ron; van den Berg, Ed; Schuitema, Jaap

2018-04-01

Information on students' development of science skills is essential for teachers to evaluate and improve their own education, as well as to provide adequate support and feedback to the learning process of individual students. The present study explores and discusses the use of performance assessments as a diagnostic tool for formative assessment to inform teachers and guide instruction of science skills in primary education. Three performance assessments were administered to more than 400 students in grades 5 and 6 of primary education. Students performed small experiments using real materials while following the different steps of the empirical cycle. The mutual relationship between the three performance assessments is examined to provide evidence for the value of performance assessments as useful tools for formative evaluation. Differences in response patterns are discussed, and the diagnostic value of performance assessments is illustrated with examples of individual student performances. Findings show that the performance assessments were difficult for grades 5 and 6 students but that much individual variation exists regarding the different steps of the empirical cycle. Evaluation of scores as well as a more substantive analysis of students' responses provided insight into typical errors that students make. It is concluded that performance assessments can be used as a diagnostic tool for monitoring students' skill performance as well as to support teachers in evaluating and improving their science lessons.

The Flash Environmental Assessment Tool: worldwide first aid for chemical accidents response, pro action, prevention and preparedness.

PubMed

Posthuma, Leo; Wahlstrom, Emilia; Nijenhuis, René; Dijkens, Chris; de Zwart, Dick; van de Meent, Dik; Hollander, Anne; Brand, Ellen; den Hollander, Henri A; van Middelaar, Johan; van Dijk, Sander; Hall, E F; Hoffer, Sally

2014-11-01

The United Nations response mechanism to environmental emergencies requested a tool to support disaster assessment and coordination actions by United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) teams. The tool should support on-site decision making when substantial chemical emissions affect human health directly or via the environment and should be suitable for prioritizing impact reduction management options under challenging conditions worldwide. To answer this need, the Flash Environmental Assessment Tool (FEAT) was developed and the scientific and practical underpinning and application of this tool are described in this paper. FEAT consists of a printed decision framework and lookup tables, generated by combining the scientific data on chemicals, exposure pathways and vulnerabilities with the pragmatic needs of emergency field teams. Application of the tool yields information that can help prioritize impact reduction measures. The first years of use illustrated the usefulness of the tool as well as suggesting additional uses and improvements. An additional use is application of the back-office tool (Hazard Identification Tool, HIT), the results of which aid decision-making by the authorities of affected countries and the preparation of field teams for on-site deployment. Another extra use is in disaster pro action and prevention. In this case, the application of the tool supports safe land-use planning and improved technical design of chemical facilities. UNDAC teams are trained to use the tool after large-scale sudden onset natural disasters. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An image guidance system for positioning robotic cochlear implant insertion tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruns, Trevor L.; Webster, Robert J.

2017-03-01

Cochlear implants must be inserted carefully to avoid damaging the delicate anatomical structures of the inner ear. This has motivated several approaches to improve the safety and efficacy of electrode array insertion by automating the process with specialized robotic or manual insertion tools. When such tools are used, they must be positioned at the entry point to the cochlea and aligned with the desired entry vector. This paper presents an image guidance system capable of accurately positioning a cochlear implant insertion tool. An optical tracking system localizes the insertion tool in physical space while a graphical user interface incorporates this with patient- specific anatomical data to provide error information to the surgeon in real-time. Guided by this interface, novice users successfully aligned the tool with an mean accuracy of 0.31 mm.

Continual improvement: A bibliography with indexes, 1992-1993

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

This bibliography lists 606 references to reports and journal articles entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Database during 1992 to 1993. Topics cover the philosophy and history of Continual Improvement (CI), basic approaches and strategies for implementation, and lessons learned from public and private sector models. Entries are arranged according to the following categories: Leadership for Quality, Information and Analysis, Strategic Planning for CI, Human Resources Utilization, Management of Process Quality, Supplier Quality, Assessing Results, Customer Focus and Satisfaction, TQM Tools and Philosophies, and Applications. Indexes include subject, personal author, corporate source, contract number, report number, and accession number.

Evaluating online diagnostic decision support tools for the clinical setting.

PubMed

Pryor, Marie; White, David; Potter, Bronwyn; Traill, Roger

2012-01-01

Clinical decision support tools available at the point of care are an effective adjunct to support clinicians to make clinical decisions and improve patient outcomes. We developed a methodology and applied it to evaluate commercially available online clinical diagnostic decision support (DDS) tools for use at the point of care. We identified 11 commercially available DDS tools and assessed these against an evaluation instrument that included 6 categories; general information, content, quality control, search, clinical results and other features. We developed diagnostically challenging clinical case scenarios based on real patient experience that were commonly missed by junior medical staff. The evaluation was divided into 2 phases; an initial evaluation of all identified and accessible DDS tools conducted by the Clinical Information Access Portal (CIAP) team and a second phase that further assessed the top 3 tools identified in the initial evaluation phase. An evaluation panel consisting of senior and junior medical clinicians from NSW Health conducted the second phase. Of the eleven tools that were assessed against the evaluation instrument only 4 tools completely met the DDS definition that was adopted for this evaluation and were able to produce a differential diagnosis. From the initial phase of the evaluation 4 DDS tools scored 70% or more (maximum score 96%) for the content category, 8 tools scored 65% or more (maximum 100%) for the quality control category, 5 tools scored 65% or more (maximum 94%) for the search category, and 4 tools score 70% or more (maximum 81%) for the clinical results category. The second phase of the evaluation was focused on assessing diagnostic accuracy for the top 3 tools identified in the initial phase. Best Practice ranked highest overall against the 6 clinical case scenarios used. Overall the differentiating factor between the top 3 DDS tools was determined by diagnostic accuracy ranking, ease of use and the confidence and credibility of the clinical information. The evaluation methodology used here to assess the quality and comprehensiveness of clinical DDS tools was effective in identifying the most appropriate tool for the clinical setting. The use of clinical case scenarios is fundamental in determining the diagnostic accuracy and usability of the tools.

Internet-Based Approaches to Building Stakeholder Networks for Conservation and Natural Resource Management

EPA Science Inventory

Social network analysis (SNA) is based on a conceptual network representation of social interactions and is an invaluable tool for conservation professionals to increase collaboration, improve information flow, and increase efficiency. We present two approaches to constructing i...

Fundamentals of Welding. Teacher Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fortney, Clarence; And Others

These instructional materials assist teachers in improving instruction on the fundamentals of welding. The following introductory information is included: use of this publication; competency profile; instructional/task analysis; related academic and workplace skills list; tools, materials, and equipment list; and 27 references. Seven units of…

Internet-Based Approaches to Building Stakeholder Networks for Conservation and Natural Resource Management.

EPA Science Inventory

Social network analysis (SNA) is based on a conceptual network representation of social interactions and is an invaluable tool for conservation professionals to increase collaboration, improve information flow, and increase efficiency. We present two approaches to constructing in...

Proceedings - International Conference on Wheel/Rail Load and Displacement Measurement Techniques : January 19-20, 1981

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-09-01

Measurement of wheel/rail characteristics generates information for improvement of design tools such as model validation, establishment of load spectra and vehicle/track system interaction. Existing and new designs are assessed from evaluation of veh...

Even the Upper End of the River Believes in the Ocean1

EPA Science Inventory

This article describes unique research that demonstrates how changes in the landscape impact water quality. To provide resource managers with tools, techniques, and information that helps improve understanding about how the landscape that surrounds a watershed impacts the qualit...

YAdumper: extracting and translating large information volumes from relational databases to structured flat files.

PubMed

Fernández, José M; Valencia, Alfonso

2004-10-12

Downloading the information stored in relational databases into XML and other flat formats is a common task in bioinformatics. This periodical dumping of information requires considerable CPU time, disk and memory resources. YAdumper has been developed as a purpose-specific tool to deal with the integral structured information download of relational databases. YAdumper is a Java application that organizes database extraction following an XML template based on an external Document Type Declaration. Compared with other non-native alternatives, YAdumper substantially reduces memory requirements and considerably improves writing performance.

Enhance hospital performance from intellectual capital to business intelligence.

PubMed

Karami, Mahtab; Fatehi, Mansoor; Torabi, Mashallah; Langarizadeh, Mostafa; Rahimi, Azin; Safdari, Reza

2013-01-01

Business intelligence (BI) refers to technologies, tools, and practices for collecting, integrating, analyzing, and presenting large volumes of information to enable better decision making. The aim of this study is to provide a general overview of BI and its impacts on improving hospital performance. In this paper, literature is reviewed on the concept, classification, and structure of intellectual capital and BI. Research on the building of BI and its impact on the performance of hospitals are briefly summarized. Some areas in healthcare which can utilize BI benefits, including radiology, are also discussed. Used properly, BI is an effective communication tool that can enable hospitals to reach strategic goals and objectives and can also help eliminate information asymmetry.

JUST in time health emergency interventions: an innovative approach to training the citizen for emergency situations using virtual reality techniques and advanced IT tools (the VR Tool).

PubMed

Manganas, A; Tsiknakis, M; Leisch, E; Ponder, M; Molet, T; Herbelin, B; Magnetat-Thalmann, N; Thalmann, D; Fato, M; Schenone, A

2004-01-01

This paper reports the results of the second of the two systems developed by JUST, a collaborative project supported by the European Union under the Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme. The most innovative content of the project has been the design and development of a complementary training course for non-professional health emergency operators, which supports the traditional learning phase, and which purports to improve the retention capability of the trainees. This was achieved with the use of advanced information technology techniques, which provide adequate support and can help to overcome the present weaknesses of the existing training mechanisms.

Designing Computerized Decision Support That Works for Clinicians and Families

PubMed Central

Fiks, Alexander G.

2011-01-01

Evidence-based decision-making is central to the practice of pediatrics. Clinical trials and other biomedical research provide a foundation for this process, and practice guidelines, drawing from their results, inform the optimal management of an increasing number of childhood health problems. However, many clinicians fail to adhere to guidelines. Clinical decision support delivered using health information technology, often in the form of electronic health records, provides a tool to deliver evidence-based information to the point of care and has the potential to overcome barriers to evidence-based practice. An increasing literature now informs how these systems should be designed and implemented to most effectively improve outcomes in pediatrics. Through the examples of computerized physician order entry, as well as the impact of alerts at the point of care on immunization rates, the delivery of evidence-based asthma care, and the follow-up of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the following review addresses strategies for success in using these tools. The following review argues that, as decision support evolves, the clinician should no longer be the sole target of information and alerts. Through the Internet and other technologies, families are increasingly seeking health information and gathering input to guide health decisions. By enlisting clinical decision support systems to deliver evidence-based information to both clinicians and families, help families express their preferences and goals, and connect families to the medical home, clinical decision support may ultimately be most effective in improving outcomes. PMID:21315295

Measuring the Process and Quality of Informed Consent for Clinical Research: Development and Testing

PubMed Central

Cohn, Elizabeth Gross; Jia, Haomiao; Smith, Winifred Chapman; Erwin, Katherine; Larson, Elaine L.

2013-01-01

Purpose/Objectives To develop and assess the reliability and validity of an observational instrument, the Process and Quality of Informed Consent (P-QIC). Design A pilot study of the psychometrics of a tool designed to measure the quality and process of the informed consent encounter in clinical research. The study used professionally filmed, simulated consent encounters designed to vary in process and quality. Setting A major urban teaching hospital in the northeastern region of the United States. Sample 63 students enrolled in health-related programs participated in psychometric testing, 16 students participated in test-retest reliability, and 5 investigator-participant dyads were observed for the actual consent encounters. Methods For reliability and validity testing, students watched and rated videotaped simulations of four consent encounters intentionally varied in process and content and rated them with the proposed instrument. Test-retest reliability was established by raters watching the videotaped simulations twice. Inter-rater reliability was demonstrated by two simultaneous but independent raters observing an actual consent encounter. Main Research Variables The essential elements of information and communication for informed consent. Findings The initial testing of the P-QIC demonstrated reliable and valid psychometric properties in both the simulated standardized consent encounters and actual consent encounters in the hospital setting. Conclusions The P-QIC is an easy-to-use observational tool that provides a quick assessment of the areas of strength and areas that need improvement in a consent encounter. It can be used in the initial trainings of new investigators or consent administrators and in ongoing programs of improvement for informed consent. Implications for Nursing The development of a validated observational instrument will allow investigators to assess the consent process more accurately and evaluate strategies designed to improve it. PMID:21708532

Care coordination gaps due to lack of interoperability in the United States: a qualitative study and literature review.

PubMed

Samal, Lipika; Dykes, Patricia C; Greenberg, Jeffrey O; Hasan, Omar; Venkatesh, Arjun K; Volk, Lynn A; Bates, David W

2016-04-22

Health information technology (HIT) could improve care coordination by providing clinicians remote access to information, improving legibility, and allowing asynchronous communication, among other mechanisms. We sought to determine, from a clinician perspective, how care is coordinated and to what extent HIT is involved when transitioning patients between emergency departments, acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies in settings across the United States. We performed a qualitative study with clinicians and information technology professionals from six regions of the U.S. which were chosen as national leaders in HIT. We analyzed data through a two person consensus approach, assigning responses to each of nine care coordination activities. We also conducted a literature review of MEDLINE®, CINAHL®, and Embase, analyzing results of studies that examined interventions to improve information transfer during transitions of care. We enrolled 29 respondents from 17 organizations and conducted six focus groups. Respondents reported how HIT is currently used for care coordination activities. HIT is currently used to monitor patients and to align systems-level resources with population needs. However, we identified multiple areas where the lack of interoperability leads to inefficient processes and missing data. Additionally, the literature review identified ten intervention studies that address information transfer, seven of which employed HIT and three of which utilized other communication methods such as telephone calls, faxed records, and nurse case management. Significant care coordination gaps exist due to the lack of interoperability across the United States. We must design, evaluate, and incentivize the use of HIT for care coordination. We should focus on the domains where we found the largest gaps: information transfer, systems to monitor patients, tools to support patients' self-management goals, and tools to link patients and their caregivers with community resources.

The strategic use of outcome information.

PubMed

Thompson, D I; Sirio, C; Holt, P

2000-10-01

Most health care executives see outcome measurement as a technical or tactical matter rather than as a strategic tool. Accordingly, provider investment in outcome measurement and management is relatively small. Nevertheless, outcome information can be key to achieving an organization's strategic objectives. Advances in risk adjustment and improvements in technology for data collection and analysis have made outcome measurement a practical tool for individual hospital use. Strategically integrated outcome measurement efforts can give providers a competitive advantage over organizations that only use outcomes tactically. One of the best examples of an acute care provider that has used outcome information for strategic advantage is Intermountain Health Care (IHC; Salt Lake City). In 1997 IHC made clinical quality and outcomes the primary focus of its five-year strategic plan. To support the new strategy IHC's board of trustees approved the development of an outcome information system that generated data along clinical processes of care and the creation of a new management structure to use these data to hold professionals accountable and to set and achieve clinical improvement goals. From 1996 to 1999, IHC's share of the commercial health care market in Utah increased from roughly 50% to about 62% of the market, with the result that it has stopped actively marketing its services. Health care executives will not willingly invest in outcomes until they believe that they have business value. Therefore, making the business case for outcomes can help improve the quality of health care and the lives of individuals.

Fertility preservation: a challenge for IVF-clinics.

PubMed

Dahhan, Taghride; Mol, Femke; Kenter, Gemma G; Balkenende, Eva M E; de Melker, Annemieke A; van der Veen, Fulco; Dancet, Eline A F; Goddijn, Mariëtte

2015-11-01

Acute fertility preservation for women is an interdisciplinary treatment that requires adequate information provision and early referral. This quality management project aimed to improve fertility preservation care by using a practical tool: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Quality management project was executed between May 2011 and July 2013. This project has been executed in a university affiliated IVF-clinic in cooperation with two oncological sites and used a four-step strategy: (1) monitoring baseline referral process, (2) exploring baseline fertility preservation program by Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats' (SWOT)-analysis, (3) setting up a new fertility preservation program and (4) evaluating the new fertility preservation program by means of SWOT-analysis. During the three-months monitoring period, fertility preservation was requested for a total of 126 women. The mean age of the women was 33.8 years old (range 1-42 years old). Most requests came from women who wanted to cryopreserve oocytes because of age-related decline of fertility (n=90; 71%). Most requests for acute fertility preservation concerned women with breast cancer (n=16; 57%). Information leaflets and pre-consultation questionnaires for women improved the quality of first fertility preservation consultation as evaluated by final SWOT-analysis. Collaboration with oncological centres and information about fertility preservation improved the referral process. SWOT-analysis proved useful for setting up a new fertility preservation-program and can be recommended as a tool to improve the management and organisation of new types of reproductive care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using a Service Planning Approach to Improve the Impact of Earth Observations in the Developing World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irwin, D.; Frankel-Reed, J.

2017-12-01

SERVIR is joint development initiative of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), working in partnership with leading regional organizations around the world to help developing countries use information provided by Earth observing satellites and geospatial technologies to empower decision-makers with tools, products, and services to better address critical issues related to food security, water resources, natural disasters, and land use. Since its launch in 2005, SERVIR has grown into a global network of four active hubs that are improving awareness, increasing access to information, and supporting analysis to help people in Africa, Hindu Kush Himalaya, and the Lower Mekong regions better manage today's complex environmental challenges. To help improve the impact of SERVIR activities throughout the global network, a Service Planning Approach was developed with three main steps that involve: 1) consultation and needs assessment, 2) service design and 3) service delivery. To successfully accomplish these steps, SERVIR has created a series of capacity building tools that focus on specific activities to better engage stakeholders, design a more successful service, and to conduct end-to-end monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Currently, all four SERVIR hubs in different regions of the world are implementing this Service Planning Approach and helping to improve it by providing feedback based on their implementation. This presentation will describe the SERVIR Service Planning Approach and discuss the various tools, which ultimately can empower remote sensing scientists and application developers to obtain a greater impact from the Earth Observation products they develop.

Development of a Comprehensive and Interactive Tool to Inform State Violence and Injury Prevention Plans.

PubMed

Wilson, Lauren; Deokar, Angela J; Zaesim, Araya; Thomas, Karen; Kresnow-Sedacca, Marcie-Jo

The Center of Disease Control and Prevention's Core State Violence and Injury Prevention Program (Core SVIPP) provides an opportunity for states to engage with their partners to implement, evaluate, and disseminate strategies that lead to the reduction and prevention of injury and violence. Core SVIPP requires awardees to develop or update their state injury and violence plans. Currently, literature informing state planning efforts is limited, especially regarding materials related to injury and violence. Presumably, plans that are higher quality result in having a greater impact on preventing injury and violence, and literature to improve quality would benefit prevention programming. (1) To create a comprehensive injury-specific index to aid in the development and revision of state injury and violence prevention plans, and (2) to assess the reliability and utility of this index. Through an iterative development process, a workgroup of subject matter experts created the Violence and Injury Prevention: Comprehensive Index Tool (VIP:CIT). The tool was pilot tested on 3 state injury and violence prevention plans and assessed for initial usability. Following revisions to the tool (ie, a rubric was developed to further delineate consistent criteria for rating; items were added and clarified), the same state plans were reassessed to test interrater reliability and tool utility. For the second assessment, reliability of the VIP:CIT improved, indicating that the rubric was a useful addition. Qualitative feedback from states suggested that the tool significantly helped guide plan development and communicate about planning processes. The final VIP:CIT is a tool that can help increase plan quality, decrease the research-to-practice gap, and increase connectivity to emerging public health paradigms. The tool provides an example of tailoring guidance materials to reflect academic literature, and it can be easily adapted to other topic areas to promote quality of strategic plans for numerous outcomes.

Development of a Comprehensive and Interactive Tool to Inform State Violence and Injury Prevention Plans

PubMed Central

Wilson, Lauren; Deokar, Angela J.; Zaesim, Araya; Thomas, Karen; Kresnow-Sedacca, Marcie-jo

2018-01-01

Context The Center of Disease Control and Prevention’s Core State Violence and Injury Prevention Program (Core SVIPP) provides an opportunity for states to engage with their partners to implement, evaluate, and disseminate strategies that lead to the reduction and prevention of injury and violence. Core SVIPP requires awardees to develop or update their state injury and violence plans. Currently, literature informing state planning efforts is limited, especially regarding materials related to injury and violence. Presumably, plans that are higher quality result in having a greater impact on preventing injury and violence, and literature to improve quality would benefit prevention programming. Objective (1) To create a comprehensive injury-specific index to aid in the development and revision of state injury and violence prevention plans, and (2) to assess the reliability and utility of this index. Design Through an iterative development process, a workgroup of subject matter experts created the Violence and Injury Prevention: Comprehensive Index Tool (VIP:CIT). The tool was pilot tested on 3 state injury and violence prevention plans and assessed for initial usability. Following revisions to the tool (ie, a rubric was developed to further delineate consistent criteria for rating; items were added and clarified), the same state plans were reassessed to test interrater reliability and tool utility. Results For the second assessment, reliability of the VIP:CIT improved, indicating that the rubric was a useful addition. Qualitative feedback from states suggested that the tool significantly helped guide plan development and communicate about planning processes. Conclusion The final VIP:CIT is a tool that can help increase plan quality, decrease the research-to-practice gap, and increase connectivity to emerging public health paradigms. The tool provides an example of tailoring guidance materials to reflect academic literature, and it can be easily adapted to other topic areas to promote quality of strategic plans for numerous outcomes. PMID:29189505

CyanoBase: the cyanobacteria genome database update 2010

PubMed Central

Nakao, Mitsuteru; Okamoto, Shinobu; Kohara, Mitsuyo; Fujishiro, Tsunakazu; Fujisawa, Takatomo; Sato, Shusei; Tabata, Satoshi; Kaneko, Takakazu; Nakamura, Yasukazu

2010-01-01

CyanoBase (http://genome.kazusa.or.jp/cyanobase) is the genome database for cyanobacteria, which are model organisms for photosynthesis. The database houses cyanobacteria species information, complete genome sequences, genome-scale experiment data, gene information, gene annotations and mutant information. In this version, we updated these datasets and improved the navigation and the visual display of the data views. In addition, a web service API now enables users to retrieve the data in various formats with other tools, seamlessly. PMID:19880388

Using eHealth to improve health literacy among the patient population.

PubMed

Landry, Kathryn E

2015-01-01

There is no denying the global influence of eHealth, in its various forms, on the health care system in the 21st Century. Health care professionals are often familiar with technological tools used to enhance health outcomes by assisting clinicians in meeting the needs of the patient population. In an age of social media, web-based information, and material available literally in an instant, it is crucial for nurses to use and proactively share their knowledge regarding accessing and finding credible sources of online health information with the patient population. By improving health literacy among consumers, self-sufficiency and competence can be developed and promoted to improve health outcomes, placing the patient in a participatory starring role of managing and improving his or her overall well-being.

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.

MyPOD: an EMR-Based Tool that Facilitates Quality Improvement and Maintenance of Certification.

PubMed

Berman, Loren; Duffy, Brian; Randall Brenn, B; Vinocur, Charles

2017-03-01

Maintenance of Certification (MOC) was designed to assess physician competencies including operative case volume and outcomes. This information, if collected consistently and systematically, can be used to facilitate quality improvement. Information automatically extracted from the electronic medical record (EMR) can be used as a prompt to compile these data. We developed an EMR-based program called MyPOD (My Personal Outcomes Data) to track surgical outcomes at our institution. We compared occurrences reported in the first 18 months to those captured in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric (ACS NSQIP-P) over the same time period. During the first 18 months of using MyPOD, 691 cases were captured in both MyPOD and NSQIP-P. There were 48 cases with occurrences in NSQIP-P (6.9% occurrence rate). MyPOD captured 33% of the occurrences and 83% of the deaths reported in NSQIP-P. Use of the MyPOD program helped to identify series of complications and facilitated systematic change to improve outcomes. MyPOD provides comparative data that is essential in performance evaluation and facilitates quality improvement in surgery. This program and similar EMR-driven tools are becoming essential components of the MOC process. Our initial review has revealed opportunities for improvement in self-reporting which we can continue to measure by comparison to NSQIP-P. In addition, it has identified systems issues that have led to hospital-wide improvements.

An overview of suite for automated global electronic biosurveillance (SAGES)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Sheri L.; Feighner, Brian H.; Loschen, Wayne A.; Wojcik, Richard A.; Skora, Joseph F.; Coberly, Jacqueline S.; Blazes, David L.

2012-06-01

Public health surveillance is undergoing a revolution driven by advances in the field of information technology. Many countries have experienced vast improvements in the collection, ingestion, analysis, visualization, and dissemination of public health data. Resource-limited countries have lagged behind due to challenges in information technology infrastructure, public health resources, and the costs of proprietary software. The Suite for Automated Global Electronic bioSurveillance (SAGES) is a collection of modular, flexible, freely-available software tools for electronic disease surveillance in resource-limited settings. One or more SAGES tools may be used in concert with existing surveillance applications or the SAGES tools may be used en masse for an end-to-end biosurveillance capability. This flexibility allows for the development of an inexpensive, customized, and sustainable disease surveillance system. The ability to rapidly assess anomalous disease activity may lead to more efficient use of limited resources and better compliance with World Health Organization International Health Regulations.

LibKiSAO: a Java library for Querying KiSAO.

PubMed

Zhukova, Anna; Adams, Richard; Laibe, Camille; Le Novère, Nicolas

2012-09-24

The Kinetic Simulation Algorithm Ontology (KiSAO) supplies information about existing algorithms available for the simulation of Systems Biology models, their characteristics, parameters and inter-relationships. KiSAO enables the unambiguous identification of algorithms from simulation descriptions. Information about analogous methods having similar characteristics and about algorithm parameters incorporated into KiSAO is desirable for simulation tools. To retrieve this information programmatically an application programming interface (API) for KiSAO is needed. We developed libKiSAO, a Java library to enable querying of the KiSA Ontology. It implements methods to retrieve information about simulation algorithms stored in KiSAO, their characteristics and parameters, and methods to query the algorithm hierarchy and search for similar algorithms providing comparable results for the same simulation set-up. Using libKiSAO, simulation tools can make logical inferences based on this knowledge and choose the most appropriate algorithm to perform a simulation. LibKiSAO also enables simulation tools to handle a wider range of simulation descriptions by determining which of the available methods are similar and can be used instead of the one indicated in the simulation description if that one is not implemented. LibKiSAO enables Java applications to easily access information about simulation algorithms, their characteristics and parameters stored in the OWL-encoded Kinetic Simulation Algorithm Ontology. LibKiSAO can be used by simulation description editors and simulation tools to improve reproducibility of computational simulation tasks and facilitate model re-use.

Ground subsidence information as a valuable layer in GIS analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdzek, Radosław; Malik, Hubert; Leśniak, Andrzej

2018-04-01

Among the technologies used to improve functioning of local governments the geographic information systems (GIS) are widely used. GIS tools allow to simultaneously integrate spatial data resources, analyse them, process and use them to make strategic decisions. Nowadays GIS analysis is widely used in spatial planning or environmental protection. In these applications a number of spatial information are utilized, but rarely it is an information about environmental hazards. This paper includes information about ground subsidence that occurred in USCB mining area into GIS analysis. Monitoring of this phenomenon can be carried out using the radar differential interferometry (DInSAR) method.

SOIL Geo-Wiki: A tool for improving soil information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skalský, Rastislav; Balkovic, Juraj; Fritz, Steffen; See, Linda; van der Velde, Marijn; Obersteiner, Michael

2014-05-01

Crowdsourcing is increasingly being used as a way of collecting data for scientific research, e.g. species identification, classification of galaxies and unravelling of protein structures. The WorldSoilProfiles.org database at ISRIC is a global collection of soil profiles, which have been 'crowdsourced' from experts. This system, however, requires contributors to have a priori knowledge about soils. Yet many soil parameters can be observed in the field without specific knowledge or equipment such as stone content, soil depth or color. By crowdsourcing this information over thousands of locations, the uncertainty in current soil datasets could be radically reduced, particularly in areas currently without information or where multiple interpretations are possible from different existing soil maps. Improved information on soils could benefit many research fields and applications. Better soil data could enhance assessments of soil ecosystem services (e.g. soil carbon storage) and facilitate improved process-based ecosystem modeling from local to global scales. Geo-Wiki is a crowdsourcing tool that was developed at IIASA for land cover validation using satellite imagery. Several branches are now available focused on specific aspects of land cover validation, e.g. validating cropland extent or urbanized areas. Geo-Wiki Pictures is a smart phone application for collecting land cover related information on the ground. The extension of Geo-Wiki to a mobile environment provides a tool for experts in land cover validation but is also a way of reaching the general public in the validation of land cover. Here we propose a Soil Geo-Wiki tool that builds on the existing functionality of the Geo-Wiki application, which will be largely designed for the collection and sharing of soil information. Two distinct applications are envisaged: an expert-oriented application mainly for scientific purposes, which will use soil science related language (e.g. WRB or any other global reference soil classification system) and allow experts to upload and share scientifically rigorous soil data; and an application oriented towards the general public, which will be more focused on describing well observed, individual soil properties using simplified classification keys. The latter application will avoid the use of soil science related terminology and focus on the most useful soil parameters such as soil surface features, stone content, soil texture, soil plasticity, calcium carbonate presence, soil color, soil pH, soil repellency, and soil depth. Collection of soil and landscape pictures will also be supported in Soil Geo-Wiki to allow for comprehensive data collection while simultaneously allowing for quality checking by experts.

Lessons Learned from Development of De-identification System for Biomedical Research in a Korean Tertiary Hospital.

PubMed

Shin, Soo-Yong; Lyu, Yongman; Shin, Yongdon; Choi, Hyo Joung; Park, Jihyun; Kim, Woo-Sung; Lee, Jae Ho

2013-06-01

The Korean government has enacted two laws, namely, the Personal Information Protection Act and the Bioethics and Safety Act to prevent the unauthorized use of medical information. To protect patients' privacy by complying with governmental regulations and improve the convenience of research, Asan Medical Center has been developing a de-identification system for biomedical research. We reviewed Korean regulations to define the scope of the de-identification methods and well-known previous biomedical research platforms to extract the functionalities of the systems. Based on these review results, we implemented necessary programs based on the Asan Medical Center Information System framework which was built using the Microsoft. NET Framework and C#. The developed de-identification system comprises three main components: a de-identification tool, a search tool, and a chart review tool. The de-identification tool can substitute a randomly assigned research ID for a hospital patient ID, remove the identifiers in the structured format, and mask them in the unstructured format, i.e., texts. This tool achieved 98.14% precision and 97.39% recall for 6,520 clinical notes. The search tool can find the number of patients which satisfies given search criteria. The chart review tool can provide de-identified patient's clinical data for review purposes. We found that a clinical data warehouse was essential for successful implementation of the de-identification system, and this system should be tightly linked to an electronic Institutional Review Board system for easy operation of honest brokers. Additionally, we found that a secure cloud environment could be adopted to protect patients' privacy more thoroughly.

MED32/442: Internet Lectures: A five years experience at the University of Vienna

PubMed Central

Kritz, H; Najemnik, C; Sinzinger, H

1999-01-01

Introduction Internet lectures are a very useful specialized tool to distribute information to interested people. Our experience started 1994 and we want to give a survey. Methods We started with a special lecture on atherosclerosis and improved the method within the last years. We had a lot of problems with certification and identification procedures, but they are solved now. In the last years we added web casting tools. Results At this time we have 80- 140 student per term, which are participants of a lectures. These are students attending a certificate course. Additionally we distribute our content over two homepages which we have installed to improve our work http://www.lipidforum.at, http://www.billrothhaus.at (10000 hits/month). Discussion Internet will be the most important tool for future teaching. It is an interesting experience to teach students from all over the world and you learn a lot from these people by yourself.

Web-Enabled and Improved Software Tools and Data Are Needed to Measure Nutrient Intakes and Physical Activity for Personalized Health Research123

PubMed Central

Stumbo, Phyllis J.; Weiss, Rick; Newman, John W.; Pennington, Jean A.; Tucker, Katherine L.; Wiesenfeld, Paddy L.; Illner, Anne-Kathrin; Klurfeld, David M.; Kaput, Jim

2010-01-01

Food intake, physical activity (PA), and genetic makeup each affect health and each factor influences the impact of the other 2 factors. Nutrigenomics describes interactions between genes and environment. Knowledge about the interplay between environment and genetics would be improved if experimental designs included measures of nutrient intake and PA. Lack of familiarity about how to analyze environmental variables and ease of access to tools and measurement instruments are 2 deterrents to these combined studies. This article describes the state of the art for measuring food intake and PA to encourage researchers to make their tools better known and more available to workers in other fields. Information presented was discussed during a workshop on this topic sponsored by the USDA, NIH, and FDA in the spring of 2009. PMID:20980656

Automated Text Markup for Information Retrieval from an Electronic Textbook of Infectious Disease

PubMed Central

Berrios, Daniel C.; Kehler, Andrew; Kim, David K.; Yu, Victor L.; Fagan, Lawrence M.

1998-01-01

The information needs of practicing clinicians frequently require textbook or journal searches. Making these sources available in electronic form improves the speed of these searches, but precision (i.e., the fraction of relevant to total documents retrieved) remains low. Improving the traditional keyword search by transforming search terms into canonical concepts does not improve search precision greatly. Kim et al. have designed and built a prototype system (MYCIN II) for computer-based information retrieval from a forthcoming electronic textbook of infectious disease. The system requires manual indexing by experts in the form of complex text markup. However, this mark-up process is time consuming (about 3 person-hours to generate, review, and transcribe the index for each of 218 chapters). We have designed and implemented a system to semiautomate the markup process. The system, information extraction for semiautomated indexing of documents (ISAID), uses query models and existing information-extraction tools to provide support for any user, including the author of the source material, to mark up tertiary information sources quickly and accurately.

The Feasibility of "oscar" as AN Information System for Sustainable Rehabilitation of Built Heritage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farmer, C.; Rouillard, C.

2017-08-01

This paper aims to examine the feasibility of the Online Sustainable Conservation Assistance Resource (OSCAR) as an information system and framework to help find appropriate ways to improve the sustainable performance of heritage buildings in North America. The paper reviews the need for holistic comprehensive authoritative information in the field of sustainable conservation, how OSCAR addresses this gap, the OSCAR workflow, and how it was used in two case studies. It was found that OSCAR has potential to become a practical educational tool and design aide to address the sustainable performance of heritage buildings. The paper contributes to the discourse on sustainable conservation by examining resources and tools which address the need for holistic retrofit approaches. The findings will be useful to educators and professionals in the fields of sustainable design and heritage conservation.

Improving User Experience by Taking Advance of Semantic Information of Microformats on Municipal Websites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez, Rocío; Vera, Pablo; Estevez, Elsa; Giulianelli, Daniel; Welicki, León; Trigueros, Artemisa

This research regards about the use of microformats as a tool to add semantic information to government web sites. The use of microformats allows the developer to add different resources such as maps, calendars, etc, in an easy way. The paper also shows a survey of the already existing microformats and which of them are useful to be applied to government web sites.

Applying the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) to support risk-informed decision making: The Gold Pan Fire, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana, USA

Treesearch

Erin K. Noonan-Wright; Tonja S. Opperman

2015-01-01

In response to federal wildfire policy changes, risk-informed decision-making by way of improved decision support, is increasingly becoming a component of managing wildfires. As fire incidents escalate in size and complexity, the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) provides support with different analytical tools as fire conditions change. We demonstrate the...

Using Model Based Systems Engineering and the Systems Modeling Language to Develop Space Mission Area Architectures

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

processes used in space system acquisitions, simply implementing a data exchange specification would not fundamentally improve how information is...instruction, searching existing data sources , gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information ...and manage the configuration of all critical program models, processes , and tools used throughout the DoD. Second, mandate a data exchange

Validation of Caregiver-Centered Delirium Detection Tools: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Rosgen, Brianna; Krewulak, Karla; Demiantschuk, Danielle; Ely, E Wesley; Davidson, Judy E; Stelfox, Henry T; Fiest, Kirsten M

2018-04-18

To summarize the validity of caregiver-centered delirium detection tools in hospitalized adults and assess associated patient and caregiver outcomes. Systematic review. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Scopus from inception to May 15, 2017. Hospitalized adults. Caregiver-centered delirium detection tools. We drafted a protocol from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Two reviewers independently completed abstract and full-text review, data extraction, and quality assessment. We summarized findings using descriptive statistics including mean, median, standard deviation, range, frequencies (percentages), and Cohen's kappa. Studies that reported on the validity of caregiver-centered delirium detection tools or associated patient and caregiver outcomes and were cohort or cross-sectional in design were included. We reviewed 6,056 titles and abstracts, included 6 articles, and identified 6 caregiver-centered tools. All tools were designed to be administered in several minutes or less and had 11 items or fewer. Three tools were caregiver administered (completed independently by caregivers): Family Confusion Assessment Method (FAM-CAM), Informant Assessment of Geriatric Delirium (I-AGeD), and Sour Seven. Three tools were caregiver informed (administered by a healthcare professional using caregiver input): Single Question in Delirium (SQiD), Single Screening Question Delirium (SSQ-Delirium), and Stressful Caregiving Response to Experiences of Dying. Caregiver-administered tools had better psychometric properties (FAM-CAM sensitivity 75%, 95% confidence interval (CI)=35-95%, specificity 91%, 95% CI=74-97%; Sour Seven positive predictive value 89.5%, negative predictive value 90%) than caregiver-informed tools (SQiD: sensitivity 80%, 95% CI=28.4-99.5%; specificity 71%, 95% CI=41.9-91.6%; SSQ-Delirium sensitivity 79.6%, specificity 56.1%). Delirium detection is essential for appropriate delirium management. Caregiver-centered delirium detection tools show promise in improving delirium detection and associated patient and caregiver outcomes. Comparative studies using larger sample sizes and multiple centers are required to determine validity and reliability characteristics. © 2018, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2018, The American Geriatrics Society.

78 FR 43066 - Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; National Standard 2-Scientific Information

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-19

... situations where simpler tools and assessment methods are warranted, scientific advice should be accompanied... higher data category and improve assessment methods.'' One commenter also suggested adding... consistent with appropriate scientific methods, undergo scientific review, and peer review, which may include...

The treatable intellectual disability APP www.treatable-id.org: a digital tool to enhance diagnosis & care for rare diseases.

PubMed

van Karnebeek, Clara D M; Houben, Roderick F A; Lafek, Mirafe; Giannasi, Wynona; Stockler, Sylvia

2012-07-23

Intellectual disability (ID) is a devastating and frequent condition, affecting 2-3% of the population worldwide. Early recognition of treatable underlying conditions drastically improves health outcomes and decreases burdens to patients, families and society. Our systematic literature review identified 81 such inborn errors of metabolism, which present with ID as a prominent feature and are amenable to causal therapy. The WebAPP translates this knowledge of rare diseases into a diagnostic tool and information portal. Freely available as a WebAPP via http://www.treatable-id.org and end 2012 via the APP store, this diagnostic tool is designed for all specialists evaluating children with global delay / ID and laboratory scientists. Information on the 81 diseases is presented in different ways with search functions: 15 biochemical categories, neurologic and non-neurologic signs & symptoms, diagnostic investigations (metabolic screening tests in blood and urine identify 65% of all IEM), therapies & effects on primary (IQ/developmental quotient) and secondary outcomes, and available evidence For each rare condition a 'disease page' serves as an information portal with online access to specific genetics, biochemistry, phenotype, diagnostic tests and therapeutic options. As new knowledge and evidence is gained from expert input and PubMed searches this tool will be continually updated. The WebAPP is an integral part of a protocol prioritizing treatability in the work-up of every child with global delay / ID. A 3-year funded study will enable an evaluation of its effectiveness. For rare diseases, a field for which financial and scientific resources are particularly scarce, knowledge translation challenges are abundant. With this WebAPP technology is capitalized to raise awareness for rare treatable diseases and their common presenting clinical feature of ID, with the potential to improve health outcomes. This innovative digital tool is designed to motivate health care providers to search actively for treatable causes of ID, and support an evidence-based approach to rare metabolic diseases. In our current -omics world with continuous information flow, the effective synthesis of data into accessible, clinical knowledge has become ever more essential to bridge the gap between research and care.

Development of a decision aid for energy resource management for the Navajo Nation incorporating environmental cultural values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Necefer, Len Edward

Decision-making surrounding pathways of future energy resource management are complexity and requires balancing tradeoffs of multiple environmental, social, economic, and technical outcomes. Technical decision aid can provide a framework for informed decision making, allowing individuals to better understand the tradeoff between resources, technology, energy services, and prices. While technical decision aid have made significant advances in evaluating these quantitative aspects of energy planning and performance, they have not been designed to incorporate human factors, such as preferences and behavior that are informed by cultural values. Incorporating cultural values into decision tools can provide not only an improved decision framework for the Navajo Nation, but also generate new insights on how these perspective can improve decision making on energy resources. Ensuring these aids are a cultural fit for each context has the potential to increase trust and promote understanding of the tradeoffs involved in energy resource management. In this dissertation I present the development of a technical tool that explicitly addresses cultural and spiritual values and experimentally assesses their influence on the preferences and decision making of Navajo citizens. Chapter 2 describes the results of a public elicitation effort to gather information about stakeholder views and concerns related to energy development in the Navajo Nation in order to develop a larger sample survey and a decision-support tool that links techno-economic energy models with sociocultural attributes. Chapter 3 details the methods of developing the energy decision aid and its underlying assumptions for alternative energy projects and their impacts. This tool also provides an alternative to economic valuation of cultural impacts based upon an ordinal index tied to environmental impacts. Chapter 4 details the the influence of various cultural, environmental, and economic outcome information provided through the developed decision aid on beliefs and preferences related to the type and scale of energy development, trust of decision makers, and larger concern for environmental protection. Finally, chapter 5 presents concluding thoughts future research and on how technical-social decision tools can provide a means ensuring effective decision making on the Navajo Nation and other American Indian communities.

The treatable intellectual disability APP www.treatable-id.org: A digital tool to enhance diagnosis & care for rare diseases

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Intellectual disability (ID) is a devastating and frequent condition, affecting 2-3% of the population worldwide. Early recognition of treatable underlying conditions drastically improves health outcomes and decreases burdens to patients, families and society. Our systematic literature review identified 81 such inborn errors of metabolism, which present with ID as a prominent feature and are amenable to causal therapy. The WebAPP translates this knowledge of rare diseases into a diagnostic tool and information portal. Methods & results Freely available as a WebAPP via http://www.treatable-id.org and end 2012 via the APP store, this diagnostic tool is designed for all specialists evaluating children with global delay / ID and laboratory scientists. Information on the 81 diseases is presented in different ways with search functions: 15 biochemical categories, neurologic and non-neurologic signs & symptoms, diagnostic investigations (metabolic screening tests in blood and urine identify 65% of all IEM), therapies & effects on primary (IQ/developmental quotient) and secondary outcomes, and available evidence For each rare condition a ‘disease page’ serves as an information portal with online access to specific genetics, biochemistry, phenotype, diagnostic tests and therapeutic options. As new knowledge and evidence is gained from expert input and PubMed searches this tool will be continually updated. The WebAPP is an integral part of a protocol prioritizing treatability in the work-up of every child with global delay / ID. A 3-year funded study will enable an evaluation of its effectiveness. Conclusions For rare diseases, a field for which financial and scientific resources are particularly scarce, knowledge translation challenges are abundant. With this WebAPP technology is capitalized to raise awareness for rare treatable diseases and their common presenting clinical feature of ID, with the potential to improve health outcomes. This innovative digital tool is designed to motivate health care providers to search actively for treatable causes of ID, and support an evidence-based approach to rare metabolic diseases. In our current –omics world with continuous information flow, the effective synthesis of data into accessible, clinical knowledge has become ever more essential to bridge the gap between research and care. PMID:22824307

Finding collaborators: toward interactive discovery tools for research network systems.

PubMed

Borromeo, Charles D; Schleyer, Titus K; Becich, Michael J; Hochheiser, Harry

2014-11-04

Research networking systems hold great promise for helping biomedical scientists identify collaborators with the expertise needed to build interdisciplinary teams. Although efforts to date have focused primarily on collecting and aggregating information, less attention has been paid to the design of end-user tools for using these collections to identify collaborators. To be effective, collaborator search tools must provide researchers with easy access to information relevant to their collaboration needs. The aim was to study user requirements and preferences for research networking system collaborator search tools and to design and evaluate a functional prototype. Paper prototypes exploring possible interface designs were presented to 18 participants in semistructured interviews aimed at eliciting collaborator search needs. Interview data were coded and analyzed to identify recurrent themes and related software requirements. Analysis results and elements from paper prototypes were used to design a Web-based prototype using the D3 JavaScript library and VIVO data. Preliminary usability studies asked 20 participants to use the tool and to provide feedback through semistructured interviews and completion of the System Usability Scale (SUS). Initial interviews identified consensus regarding several novel requirements for collaborator search tools, including chronological display of publication and research funding information, the need for conjunctive keyword searches, and tools for tracking candidate collaborators. Participant responses were positive (SUS score: mean 76.4%, SD 13.9). Opportunities for improving the interface design were identified. Interactive, timeline-based displays that support comparison of researcher productivity in funding and publication have the potential to effectively support searching for collaborators. Further refinement and longitudinal studies may be needed to better understand the implications of collaborator search tools for researcher workflows.

Finding Collaborators: Toward Interactive Discovery Tools for Research Network Systems

PubMed Central

Schleyer, Titus K; Becich, Michael J; Hochheiser, Harry

2014-01-01

Background Research networking systems hold great promise for helping biomedical scientists identify collaborators with the expertise needed to build interdisciplinary teams. Although efforts to date have focused primarily on collecting and aggregating information, less attention has been paid to the design of end-user tools for using these collections to identify collaborators. To be effective, collaborator search tools must provide researchers with easy access to information relevant to their collaboration needs. Objective The aim was to study user requirements and preferences for research networking system collaborator search tools and to design and evaluate a functional prototype. Methods Paper prototypes exploring possible interface designs were presented to 18 participants in semistructured interviews aimed at eliciting collaborator search needs. Interview data were coded and analyzed to identify recurrent themes and related software requirements. Analysis results and elements from paper prototypes were used to design a Web-based prototype using the D3 JavaScript library and VIVO data. Preliminary usability studies asked 20 participants to use the tool and to provide feedback through semistructured interviews and completion of the System Usability Scale (SUS). Results Initial interviews identified consensus regarding several novel requirements for collaborator search tools, including chronological display of publication and research funding information, the need for conjunctive keyword searches, and tools for tracking candidate collaborators. Participant responses were positive (SUS score: mean 76.4%, SD 13.9). Opportunities for improving the interface design were identified. Conclusions Interactive, timeline-based displays that support comparison of researcher productivity in funding and publication have the potential to effectively support searching for collaborators. Further refinement and longitudinal studies may be needed to better understand the implications of collaborator search tools for researcher workflows. PMID:25370463

Learnings From the Pilot Implementation of Mobile Medical Milestones Application.

PubMed

Page, Cristen P; Reid, Alfred; Coe, Catherine L; Carlough, Martha; Rosenbaum, Daryl; Beste, Janalynn; Fagan, Blake; Steinbacher, Erika; Jones, Geoffrey; Newton, Warren P

2016-10-01

Implementation of the educational milestones benefits from mobile technology that facilitates ready assessments in the clinical environment. We developed a point-of-care resident evaluation tool, the Mobile Medical Milestones Application (M3App), and piloted it in 8 North Carolina family medicine residency programs. We sought to examine variations we found in the use of the tool across programs and explored the experiences of program directors, faculty, and residents to better understand the perceived benefits and challenges of implementing the new tool. Residents and faculty completed presurveys and postsurveys about the tool and the evaluation process in their program. Program directors were interviewed individually. Interviews and open-ended survey responses were analyzed and coded using the constant comparative method, and responses were tabulated under themes. Common perceptions included increased data collection, enhanced efficiency, and increased perceived quality of the information gathered with the M3App. Residents appreciated the timely, high-quality feedback they received. Faculty reported becoming more comfortable with the tool over time, and a more favorable evaluation of the tool was associated with higher utilization. Program directors reported improvements in faculty knowledge of the milestones and resident satisfaction with feedback. Faculty and residents credited the M3App with improving the quality and efficiency of resident feedback. Residents appreciated the frequency, proximity, and specificity of feedback, and faculty reported the app improved their familiarity with the milestones. Implementation challenges included lack of a physician champion and competing demands on faculty time.

Asthma 1-2-3: a low literacy multimedia tool to educate African American adults about asthma.

PubMed

Sobel, Rina M; Paasche-Orlow, Michael K; Waite, Katherine R; Rittner, Sarah S; Wilson, Elizabeth A H; Wolf, Michael S

2009-08-01

Asthma 1-2-3 is a newly-developed low-literacy multimedia education tool designed to promote asthma self-care concepts among African American adults. An expert panel (n = 10) informed content development for the tool. The video script and storyboard imagery were shown to 30 African Americans recruited from the American Lung Association, whose reactions and comments guided further revisions. The final version was pilot tested in three diverse community settings in Chicago to determine the efficacy of Asthma 1-2-3 at improving patient understanding of asthma and its symptoms. In all, 130 adults participated in the pilot test. Knowledge scores significantly improved from pretest to posttest following presentation of the developed tool for subjects across all literacy levels (Pretest: Mean = 4.2 [SD = 1.6]; Posttest: M = 6.8 [SD = 2.0], P < 0.001). Symptom pathophysiology concepts were the least understood. Individuals with low literacy had less total knowledge score gains compared to those with marginal and adequate literacy (1.8, 2.6, and 3.2 respectively; P = 0.002). The multimedia tool significantly improved understanding of asthma. Individuals with limited literacy may require additional instruction, repeated viewing, or added tangible cues (i.e. supplementary print materials) to support knowledge retention. In general, feedback from the target population was particularly helpful in the development of the tool and its initial evaluation, and should be considered as a necessary step in the creation of other patient education materials.

PREPARE: innovative integrated tools and platforms for radiological emergency preparedness and post-accident response in Europe.

PubMed

Raskob, Wolfgang; Schneider, Thierry; Gering, Florian; Charron, Sylvie; Zhelezniak, Mark; Andronopoulos, Spyros; Heriard-Dubreuil, Gilles; Camps, Johan

2015-04-01

The PREPARE project that started in February 2013 and will end at the beginning of 2016 aims to close gaps that have been identified in nuclear and radiological preparedness in Europe following the first evaluation of the Fukushima disaster. Among others, the project will address the review of existing operational procedures for dealing with long-lasting releases and cross-border problems in radiation monitoring and food safety and further develop missing functionalities in decision support systems (DSS) ranging from improved source-term estimation and dispersion modelling to the inclusion of hydrological pathways for European water bodies. In addition, a so-called Analytical Platform will be developed exploring the scientific and operational means to improve information collection, information exchange and the evaluation of such types of disasters. The tools developed within the project will be partly integrated into the two DSS ARGOS and RODOS. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Current Space Station Experiments Investigating Component Level Electronics Repair

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Easton, John W.; Struk, Peter M.

2010-01-01

The Soldering in a Reduced Gravity Experiment (SoRGE) and Component Repair Experiment (CRE)-1 are tests performed on the International Space Station to determine the techniques, tools, and training necessary to allow future crews to perform manual electronics repairs at the component level. SoRGE provides information on the formation and internal structure of through-hole solder joints, illustrating the challenges and implications of soldering in reduced gravity. SoRGE showed a significant increase in internal void defects for joints formed in low gravity compared to normal gravity. Methods for mitigating these void defects were evaluated using a modified soldering process. CRE-1 demonstrated the removal, cleaning, and replacement of electronics components by manual means on functional circuit boards. The majority of components successful passed a post-repair functional test demonstrating the feasibility of component-level repair within the confines of a spacecraft. Together, these tasks provide information to recommend material and tool improvements, training improvements, and future work to help enable electronics repairs in future space missions.

AGREEing on Canadian cardiovascular clinical practice guidelines.

PubMed

Stone, James A; Austford, Leslie; Parker, John H; Gledhill, Norm; Tremblay, Guy; Arthur, Heather M

2008-10-01

The use of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), particularly the routine implementation of evidence-based cardiovascular health maintenance and disease management recommendations, affords both expert and nonexpert practitioners the opportunity to achieve better, and at least theoretically similar, patient outcomes. However, health care practitioners are often stymied in their efforts to follow even well-researched and well-written CPGs as a consequence of contradictory information. The purposeful integration and harmonization of Canadian cardiovascular CPGs, regardless of their specific risk factor or clinical management focus, is critical to their widespread acceptance and implementation. This level of cooperation and coordination among CPG groups and organizations would help to ensure that their clinical practice roadmaps (ie, best practice recommendations) contain clear, concise and complementary, rather than contradictory, patient care information. Similarly, the application of specific tools intended to improve the quality of CPGs, such as the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) assessment tool, may also lead to improvements in CPG quality and potentially enhance their acceptance and implementation.

Process evaluation of software using the international classification of external causes of injuries for collecting burn injury data at burn centers in the United States.

PubMed

Villaveces, Andrés; Peck, Michael; Faraklas, Iris; Hsu-Chang, Naiwei; Joe, Victor; Wibbenmeyer, Lucy

2014-01-01

Detailed information on the cause of burns is necessary to construct effective prevention programs. The International Classification of External Causes of Injury (ICECI) is a data collection tool that allows comprehensive categorization of multiple facets of injury events. The objective of this study was to conduct a process evaluation of software designed to improve the ease of use of the ICECI so as to identify key additional variables useful for understanding the occurrence of burn injuries, and compare this software with existing data-collection practices conducted for burn injuries. The authors completed a process evaluation of the implementation and ease of use of the software in six U.S. burn centers. They also collected preliminary burn injury data and compared them with existing variables reported to the American Burn Association's National Burn Repository (NBR). The authors accomplished their goals of 1) creating a data-collection tool for the ICECI, which can be linked to existing operational programs of the NBR, 2) training registrars in the use of this tool, 3) establishing quality-control mechanisms for ensuring accuracy and reliability, 4) incorporating ICECI data entry into the weekly routine of the burn registrar, and 5) demonstrating the quality differences between data collected using this tool and the NBR. Using this or similar tools with the ICECI structure or key selected variables can improve the quantity and quality of data on burn injuries in the United States and elsewhere and thus can be more useful in informing prevention strategies.

Socio-technical issues and challenges in implementing safe patient handovers: insights from ethnographic case studies.

PubMed

Balka, Ellen; Tolar, Marianne; Coates, Shannon; Whitehouse, Sandra

2013-12-01

Ineffective handovers in patient care, including those where information loss occurs between care providers, have been identified as a risk to patient safety. Computerization of health information is often offered as a solution to improve the quality of care handovers and decrease adverse events related to patient safety. The purpose of this paper is to broaden our understanding of clinical handover as a patient safety issue, and to identify socio-technical issues which may come to bear on the success of computer based handover tools. Three in depth ethnographic case studies were undertaken. Field notes were transcribed and analyzed with the aid of qualitative data analysis software. Within case analysis was performed on each case, and subsequently, cross case analyses were performed. We identified five types of socio-technical issues which must be addressed if electronic handover tools are to succeed. The inter-dependencies of these issues are addressed in relation to arenas in which health care work takes place. We suggest that the contextual nature of information, ethical and medico-legal issues arising in relation to information handover, and issues related to data standards and system interoperability must be addressed if computerized health information systems are to achieve improvements in patient safety related to handovers in care. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item generation in the development of an inpatient experience questionnaire: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Patient experience is a key feature of quality improvement in modern health-care delivery. Measuring patient experience is one of several tools used to assess and monitor the quality of health services. This study aims to develop a tool for assessing patient experience with inpatient care in public hospitals in Hong Kong. Methods Based on the General Inpatient Questionnaire (GIQ) framework of the Care Quality Commission as a discussion guide, a qualitative study involving focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews with patients was employed to develop a tool for measuring inpatient experience in Hong Kong. Results All participants agreed that a patient satisfaction survey is an important platform for collecting patients’ views on improving the quality of health-care services. Findings of the focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews identified nine key themes as important hospital quality indicators: prompt access, information provision, care and involvement in decision making, physical and emotional needs, coordination of care, respect and privacy, environment and facilities, handling of patient feedback, and overall care from health-care professionals and quality of care. Privacy, complaint mechanisms, patient involvement, and information provision were further highlighted as particularly important areas for item revision by the in-depth individual interviews. Thus, the initial version of the Hong Kong Inpatient Experience Questionnaire (HKIEQ), comprising 58 core items under nine themes, was developed. Conclusions A set of dimensions and core items of the HKIEQ was developed and the instrument will undergo validity and reliability tests through a validation survey. A valid and reliable tool is important in accurately assessing patient experience with care delivery in hospitals to improve the quality of health-care services. PMID:23835186

A Method for the Design and Development of Medical or Health Care Information Websites to Optimize Search Engine Results Page Rankings on Google

PubMed Central

Cummins, Niamh Maria; Hannigan, Ailish; Shannon, Bill; Dunne, Colum; Cullen, Walter

2013-01-01

Background The Internet is a widely used source of information for patients searching for medical/health care information. While many studies have assessed existing medical/health care information on the Internet, relatively few have examined methods for design and delivery of such websites, particularly those aimed at the general public. Objective This study describes a method of evaluating material for new medical/health care websites, or for assessing those already in existence, which is correlated with higher rankings on Google's Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Methods A website quality assessment (WQA) tool was developed using criteria related to the quality of the information to be contained in the website in addition to an assessment of the readability of the text. This was retrospectively applied to assess existing websites that provide information about generic medicines. The reproducibility of the WQA tool and its predictive validity were assessed in this study. Results The WQA tool demonstrated very high reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.95) between 2 independent users. A moderate to strong correlation was found between WQA scores and rankings on Google SERPs. Analogous correlations were seen between rankings and readability of websites as determined by Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scores. Conclusions The use of the WQA tool developed in this study is recommended as part of the design phase of a medical or health care information provision website, along with assessment of readability of the material to be used. This may ensure that the website performs better on Google searches. The tool can also be used retrospectively to make improvements to existing websites, thus, potentially enabling better Google search result positions without incurring the costs associated with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals or paid promotion. PMID:23981848

Using the "No Child Left Behind Act" To Improve Schools in Your State: A Tool Kit for Business Leaders. Information Resources for Business Leadership To Increase Student Achivement under the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Business Roundtable, Washington, DC.

This tool kit is intended to help business leaders seize specific opportunities to partner with educators and political leaders in the next year to implement reforms called for by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which provides new accountability measures and resources to raise the achievement of students throughout the United States. The…

The availability and effectiveness of tools supporting shared decision making in metastatic breast cancer care: a review.

PubMed

Spronk, Inge; Burgers, Jako S; Schellevis, François G; van Vliet, Liesbeth M; Korevaar, Joke C

2018-05-11

Shared decision-making (SDM) in the management of metastatic breast cancer care is associated with positive patient outcomes. In daily clinical practice, however, SDM is not fully integrated yet. Initiatives to improve the implementation of SDM would be helpful. The aim of this review was to assess the availability and effectiveness of tools supporting SDM in metastatic breast cancer care. Literature databases were systematically searched for articles published since 2006 focusing on the development or evaluation of tools to improve information-provision and to support decision-making in metastatic breast cancer care. Internet searches and experts identified additional tools. Data from included tools were extracted and the evaluation of tools was appraised using the GRADE grading system. The literature search yielded five instruments. In addition, two tools were identified via internet searches and consultation of experts. Four tools were specifically developed for supporting SDM in metastatic breast cancer, the other three tools focused on metastatic cancer in general. Tools were mainly applicable across the care process, and usable for decisions on supportive care with or without chemotherapy. All tools were designed for patients to be used before a consultation with the physician. Effects on patient outcomes were generally weakly positive although most tools were not studied in well-designed studies. Despite its recognized importance, only two tools were positively evaluated on effectiveness and are available to support patients with metastatic breast cancer in SDM. These tools show promising results in pilot studies and focus on different aspects of care. However, their effectiveness should be confirmed in well-designed studies before implementation in clinical practice. Innovation and development of SDM tools targeting clinicians as well as patients during a clinical encounter is recommended.

Bridging the gap between finance and clinical operations with activity-based cost management.

PubMed

Storfjell, J L; Jessup, S

1996-12-01

Activity-based cost management (ABCM) is an exciting management tool that links financial information with operations. By determining the costs of specific activities and processes, nurse managers accurately determine true costs of services more accurately than traditional cost accounting methods, and then can target processes for improvement and monitor them for change and improvement. The authors describe the ABCM process applied to nursing management situations.

Enhancements to Demilitarization Process Maps Program (ProMap)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-14

map tool, ProMap, was improved by implementing new features, and sharing data with MIDAS and AMDIT databases . Specifically, process efficiency was...improved by 1) providing access to APE information contained in the AMDIT database directly from inside ProMap when constructing a process map, 2...what equipment can be efficiently used to demil a particular munition. Associated with this task was the upgrade of the AMDIT database so that

A Comprehensive Approach in Dissemination of Evidence-Based Care for PTSD

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

been published, to provide evidence-based resources to facilitate practice evaluation and identification of potential gaps in care. In order to...practice’s capacity to provide evidence-based care and identify potential gaps in care as targets for improvement. Finally, strategies to implement...existing patients, the PIP tools can inform improvement efforts at the clinician-, practice-or systems-level, facilitate detection of potential gaps in

How Can Value-Added Measures Be Used for Teacher Improvement? What We Know Series: Value-Added Methods and Applications. Knowledge Brief 13

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loeb, Susanna

2013-01-01

The question for this brief is whether education leaders can use value-added measures as tools for improving schooling and, if so, how to do this. Districts, states, and schools can, at least in theory, generate gains in educational outcomes for students using value-added measures in three ways: creating information on effective programs, making…

Improving communication in level 1 trauma centers: replacing pagers with smartphones.

PubMed

Joseph, Bellal; Pandit, Viraj; Khreiss, Mohammad; Aziz, Hassan; Kulvatunyou, Narong; Tang, Andrew; Wynne, Julie; O'Keeffe, Terence; Friese, Randall S; Weinstein, Ronald S; Rhee, Peter

2013-03-01

Communication among healthcare providers continues to change, and 90% of healthcare providers are now carrying cellular phones. Compared with pagers, the rate and amount of information immediately available via cellular phones are far superior. Wireless devices such as smartphones are ideal in acute trauma settings as they can transfer patient information quickly in a coordinate manner to all the team members responsible for patient care. A questionnaire survey was distributed among all the trauma surgeons, surgery residents, and nurse practitioners who were a part of the trauma surgery team at a Level 1 trauma center. Answers to each question were recorded on a 5-point Likert scale. The completed survey questionnaires were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS version 17; SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). The respondents had an overall positive experience with the usage of the third-generation (3G) smartphones, with 94% of respondents in favor of having wireless means of communication at a Level 1 trauma center. Of respondents, 78% found the device very user friendly, 98% stated that use of smartphones had improved the speed and quality of communication, 96% indicated that 3G smartphones were a useful teaching tool, 90% of the individuals felt there was improvement in the physician's response time to both routine and critical patients, and 88% of respondents were aware of the rules and regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Smartphones in an acute trauma setting are easy to use and improve the means of communication among the team members by providing accurate and reliable information in real time. Smartphones are effective in patient follow-up and as a teaching tool. Strict rules need to be used to govern the use of smartphones to secure the safety and secrecy of patient information.

WISE: Automated support for software project management and measurement. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramakrishnan, Sudhakar

1995-01-01

One important aspect of software development and IV&V is measurement. Unless a software development effort is measured in some way, it is difficult to judge the effectiveness of current efforts and predict future performances. Collection of metrics and adherence to a process are difficult tasks in a software project. Change activity is a powerful indicator of project status. Automated systems that can handle change requests, issues, and other process documents provide an excellent platform for tracking the status of the project. A World Wide Web based architecture is developed for (a) making metrics collection an implicit part of the software process, (b) providing metric analysis dynamically, (c) supporting automated tools that can complement current practices of in-process improvement, and (d) overcoming geographical barrier. An operational system (WISE) instantiates this architecture allowing for the improvement of software process in a realistic environment. The tool tracks issues in software development process, provides informal communication between the users with different roles, supports to-do lists (TDL), and helps in software process improvement. WISE minimizes the time devoted to metrics collection, analysis, and captures software change data. Automated tools like WISE focus on understanding and managing the software process. The goal is improvement through measurement.

Surgical process improvement tools: defining quality gaps and priority areas in gastrointestinal cancer surgery.

PubMed

Wei, A C; Devitt, K S; Wiebe, M; Bathe, O F; McLeod, R S; Urbach, D R

2014-04-01

Surgery is a cornerstone of cancer treatment, but significant differences in the quality of surgery have been reported. Surgical process improvement tools (spits) modify the processes of care as a means to quality improvement (qi). We were interested in developing spits in the area of gastrointestinal (gi) cancer surgery. We report the recommendations of an expert panel held to define quality gaps and establish priority areas that would benefit from spits. The present study used the knowledge-to-action cycle was as a framework. Canadian experts in qi and in gi cancer surgery were assembled in a nominal group workshop. Participants evaluated the merits of spits, described gaps in current knowledge, and identified and ranked processes of care that would benefit from qi. A qualitative analysis of the workshop deliberations using modified grounded theory methods identified major themes. The expert panel consisted of 22 participants. Experts confirmed that spits were an important strategy for qi. The top-rated spits included clinical pathways, electronic information technology, and patient safety tools. The preferred settings for use of spits included preoperative and intraoperative settings and multidisciplinary contexts. Outcomes of interest were cancer-related outcomes, process, and the technical quality of surgery measures. Surgical process improvement tools were confirmed as an important strategy. Expert panel recommendations will be used to guide future research efforts for spits in gi cancer surgery.

Surgical process improvement tools: defining quality gaps and priority areas in gastrointestinal cancer surgery

PubMed Central

Wei, A.C.; Devitt, K.S.; Wiebe, M.; Bathe, O.F.; McLeod, R.S.; Urbach, D.R.

2014-01-01

Background Surgery is a cornerstone of cancer treatment, but significant differences in the quality of surgery have been reported. Surgical process improvement tools (spits) modify the processes of care as a means to quality improvement (qi). We were interested in developing spits in the area of gastrointestinal (gi) cancer surgery. We report the recommendations of an expert panel held to define quality gaps and establish priority areas that would benefit from spits. Methods The present study used the knowledge-to-action cycle was as a framework. Canadian experts in qi and in gi cancer surgery were assembled in a nominal group workshop. Participants evaluated the merits of spits, described gaps in current knowledge, and identified and ranked processes of care that would benefit from qi. A qualitative analysis of the workshop deliberations using modified grounded theory methods identified major themes. Results The expert panel consisted of 22 participants. Experts confirmed that spits were an important strategy for qi. The top-rated spits included clinical pathways, electronic information technology, and patient safety tools. The preferred settings for use of spits included preoperative and intraoperative settings and multidisciplinary contexts. Outcomes of interest were cancer-related outcomes, process, and the technical quality of surgery measures. Conclusions Surgical process improvement tools were confirmed as an important strategy. Expert panel recommendations will be used to guide future research efforts for spits in gi cancer surgery. PMID:24764704

A tool to determine financial impact of adverse events in health care: healthcare quality calculator.

PubMed

Yarbrough, Wendell G; Sewell, Andrew; Tickle, Erin; Rhinehardt, Eric; Harkleroad, Rod; Bennett, Marc; Johnson, Deborah; Wen, Li; Pfeiffer, Matthew; Benegas, Manny; Morath, Julie

2014-12-01

Hospital leaders lack tools to determine the financial impact of poor patient outcomes and adverse events. To provide health-care leaders with decision support for investments to improve care, we created a tool, the Healthcare Quality Calculator (HQCal), which uses institution-specific financial data to calculate impact of poor patient outcomes or quality improvement on present and future margin. Excel and Web-based versions of the HQCal were based on a cohort study framework and created with modular components including major drivers of cost and reimbursement. The Healthcare Quality Calculator (HQCal) compares payment, cost, and profit/loss for patients with and without poor outcomes or quality issues. Cost and payment information for groups with and without quality issues are used by the HQCal to calculate profit or loss. Importantly, institution-specific payment and cost data are used to calculate financial impact and attributable cost associated with poor patient outcomes, adverse events, or quality issues. Because future cost and reimbursement changes can be forecast, the HQCal incorporates a forward-looking component. The flexibility of the HQCal was demonstrated using surgical site infections after abdominal surgery and postoperative surgical airway complications. The Healthcare Quality Calculator determines financial impact of poor patient outcomes and the benefit of initiatives to improve quality. The calculator can identify quality issues that would provide the largest financial benefit if improved; however, it cannot identify specific interventions. The calculator provides a tool to improve transparency regarding both short- and long-term financial consequences of funding, or failing to fund, initiatives to close gaps in quality or improve patient outcomes.

Development of a Performance Improvement Program: A Workplace-Based Educational Intervention on Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Spinal Trauma.

PubMed

Kraus, Michael David; Mueller, Marguerite; Schmitz, Bernd; Cunningham, Michael; Gebhard, Florian

2016-01-01

Performance improvement (PI) programs are an educational tool used to analyze clinical performance of clinicians. The effect of this tool has not been fully explored in orthopedic and trauma surgery. A needs assessment was conducted in connection with a worldwide webinar on magnetic resonance imaging in spinal injuries to identify the clinical need for an educational intervention. A 3-step PI process was defined and implemented over a 6-month period in 1 hospital department. Opportunities for improvement were identified by applying a 10-item quality checklist to 26 cases. A focused educational intervention was delivered to address the identified gaps, and a set of 22 posteducation cases was compared. The department of radiology and the department of trauma surgery of a level I university hospital participated in this study. A total of 26 cases collected before the educational intervention showed several areas for potential improvement. Important information was not provided by the surgeons in their communication with the radiologist. The educational intervention outlined the data and suggested actions. Comparing the information transfer of the preintervention and postintervention data, there was a significant improvement following the intervention (p = 0.0013). Our PI program was able to demonstrate a significant influence on the behavior and the attitude of surgeons and radiologists. Copyright © 2016 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Space Station Information Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pittman, Clarence W.

1988-01-01

The utility of the Space Station is improved, the ability to manage and integrate its development and operation enhanced, and the cost and risk of developing the software for it is minimized by three major information systems. The Space Station Information System (SSIS) provides for the transparent collection and dissemination of operational information to all users and operators. The Technical and Management Information System (TMIS) provides all the developers with timely and consistent program information and a project management 'window' to assess the project status. The Software Support Environment (SSE) provides automated tools and standards to be used by all software developers. Together, these three systems are vital to the successful execution of the program.

Effectiveness of the Heart Age tool for improving modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in a Southern European population: a randomized trial.

PubMed

Lopez-Gonzalez, Angel A; Aguilo, Antoni; Frontera, Margalida; Bennasar-Veny, Miquel; Campos, Irene; Vicente-Herrero, Teofila; Tomas-Salva, Matias; De Pedro-Gomez, Joan; Tauler, Pedro

2015-03-01

To test whether communicating cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk using a novel risk assessment tool (Heart Age) will be able to motivate a population to adopt healthier lifestyles and improve CVD risk profile over the use of a traditional percentage-based tool. A single-blind randomized intervention study was carried out in a Caucasian population. A total of 3153 subjects were randomly allocated to one of three study groups: control (conventional medical advice was given to the subjects), Framingham REGICOR (10-year percentage risk score, calibrated to Spanish population was given to the subjects), or Heart Age group (Heart Age tool was administered to the subjects). Anthropometrical and metabolic parameters were measured and lifestyle habits were recorded at recruitment and 12-months post intervention. Both the Framingham REGICOR and the Heart Age intervention groups demonstrated significant decreases in their risk scores at post intervention compared to the control group, with the improvement being of a greater magnitude in the Heart Age group. No differences per gender were observed in the Heart Age group. Informing patients about their CVD risk expressed as the new Heart Age tool results in a reduction in their CVD risk higher than the one observed when the Framingham REGICOR risk score was used. © The European Society of Cardiology 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Implementing electronic handover: interventions to improve efficiency, safety and sustainability.

PubMed

Alhamid, Sharifah Munirah; Lee, Desmond Xue-Yuan; Wong, Hei Man; Chuah, Matthew Bingfeng; Wong, Yu Jun; Narasimhalu, Kaavya; Tan, Thuan Tong; Low, Su Ying

2016-10-01

Effective handovers are critical for patient care and safety. Electronic handover tools are increasingly used today to provide an effective and standardized platform for information exchange. The implementation of an electronic handover system in tertiary hospitals can be a major challenge. Previous efforts in implementing an electronic handover tool failed due to poor compliance and buy-in from end-users. A new electronic handover tool was developed and incorporated into the existing electronic medical records (EMRs) for medical patients in Singapore General Hospital (SGH). There was poor compliance by on-call doctors in acknowledging electronic handovers, and lack of adherence to safety rules, raising concerns about the safety and efficiency of the electronic handover tool. Urgent measures were needed to ensure its safe and sustained use. A quality improvement group comprising stakeholders, including end-users, developed multi-faceted interventions using rapid PDSA (P-Plan, D-Do, S-Study, A-Act ) cycles to address these issues. Innovative solutions using media and online software provided cost-efficient measures to improve compliance. The percentage of unacknowledged handovers per day was used as the main outcome measure throughout all PDSA cycles. Doctors were also assessed for improvement in their knowledge of safety rules and their perception of the electronic handover tool. An electronic handover tool complementing daily clinical practice can be successfully implemented using solutions devised through close collaboration with end-users supported by the senior leadership. A combined 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' approach with regular process evaluations is crucial for its long-term sustainability. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Development and preliminary evaluation of a practice-based learning and improvement tool for assessing resident competence and guiding curriculum development.

PubMed

Lawrence, Renée H; Tomolo, Anne M

2011-03-01

Although practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) is now recognized as a fundamental and necessary skill set, we are still in need of tools that yield specific information about gaps in knowledge and application to help nurture the development of quality improvement (QI) skills in physicians in a proficient and proactive manner. We developed a questionnaire and coding system as an assessment tool to evaluate and provide feedback regarding PBLI self-efficacy, knowledge, and application skills for residency programs and related professional requirements. Five nationally recognized QI experts/leaders reviewed and completed our questionnaire. Through an iterative process, a coding system based on identifying key variables needed for ideal responses was developed to score project proposals. The coding system comprised 14 variables related to the QI projects, and an additional 30 variables related to the core knowledge concepts related to PBLI. A total of 86 residents completed the questionnaire, and 2 raters coded their open-ended responses. Interrater reliability was assessed by percentage agreement and Cohen κ for individual variables and Lin concordance correlation for total scores for knowledge and application. Discriminative validity (t test to compare known groups) and coefficient of reproducibility as an indicator of construct validity (item difficulty hierarchy) were also assessed. Interrater reliability estimates were good (percentage of agreements, above 90%; κ, above 0.4 for most variables; concordances for total scores were R  =  .88 for knowledge and R  =  .98 for application). Despite the residents' limited range of experiences in the group with prior PBLI exposure, our tool met our goal of differentiating between the 2 groups in our preliminary analyses. Correcting for chance agreement identified some variables that are potentially problematic. Although additional evaluation is needed, our tool may prove helpful and provide detailed information about trainees' progress and the curriculum.

Development and Preliminary Evaluation of a Practice-Based Learning and Improvement Tool for Assessing Resident Competence and Guiding Curriculum Development

PubMed Central

Lawrence, Renée H; Tomolo, Anne M

2011-01-01

Background Although practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) is now recognized as a fundamental and necessary skill set, we are still in need of tools that yield specific information about gaps in knowledge and application to help nurture the development of quality improvement (QI) skills in physicians in a proficient and proactive manner. We developed a questionnaire and coding system as an assessment tool to evaluate and provide feedback regarding PBLI self-efficacy, knowledge, and application skills for residency programs and related professional requirements. Methods Five nationally recognized QI experts/leaders reviewed and completed our questionnaire. Through an iterative process, a coding system based on identifying key variables needed for ideal responses was developed to score project proposals. The coding system comprised 14 variables related to the QI projects, and an additional 30 variables related to the core knowledge concepts related to PBLI. A total of 86 residents completed the questionnaire, and 2 raters coded their open-ended responses. Interrater reliability was assessed by percentage agreement and Cohen κ for individual variables and Lin concordance correlation for total scores for knowledge and application. Discriminative validity (t test to compare known groups) and coefficient of reproducibility as an indicator of construct validity (item difficulty hierarchy) were also assessed. Results Interrater reliability estimates were good (percentage of agreements, above 90%; κ, above 0.4 for most variables; concordances for total scores were R  =  .88 for knowledge and R  =  .98 for application). Conclusion Despite the residents' limited range of experiences in the group with prior PBLI exposure, our tool met our goal of differentiating between the 2 groups in our preliminary analyses. Correcting for chance agreement identified some variables that are potentially problematic. Although additional evaluation is needed, our tool may prove helpful and provide detailed information about trainees' progress and the curriculum. PMID:22379522

Women's Perceptions of Usefulness and Ease of Use of Four Healthy Eating Blog Characteristics: A Qualitative Study of 33 French-Canadian Women.

PubMed

Bissonnette-Maheux, Véronique; Dumas, Audrée-Anne; Provencher, Véronique; Lapointe, Annie; Dugrenier, Marilyn; Straus, Sharon; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Desroches, Sophie

2017-10-26

Healthy eating blogs are knowledge translation tools used by nutrition and dietetics practitioners for helping people improve their health behaviors and food choices. Our aim was to explore women's perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of healthy eating blog (HEB) characteristics that might increase potential users' intention to use them as tools to improve their dietary habits. We conducted qualitative research using semi-structured individual interviews. Thirty-three women (mean age of 44 years; range=27 to 61 years) living in the Quebec City, Canada, metropolitan area were studied. Four existing HEBs, written by French-Canadian registered dietitians (RDs) whose main objective was the promotion of a healthy diet, were explored by women during individual interviews. A standardized open-ended interview questionnaire based on the Technology Acceptance Model was used to identify women's perceptions about characteristics of type of blog content delivery, RD blogger's delivery of information, blog layout, and blog design. Women's perceptions toward the contribution of HEB characteristics to the usefulness and ease of use of those tools to improve their dietary habits were measured. Interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed through an inductive content analysis using NVivo software. The most useful characteristics of type of blog content delivery identified by women were recipes, hyperlinks, and references. Among characteristics of RD blogger's delivery of information, most women reported that interaction between blog readers and the RD blogger created a sense of proximity and of connection that was helpful for improving their dietary behaviors. Women's perceptions toward various characteristics of blog layout and design were also discussed. Incorporating specific characteristics when designing HEBs should be considered by RDs and future research to promote the use of those tools to support dietary behavior change efforts of internet users. Copyright © 2017 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The UMLS Knowledge Sources: Tools for Building Better User Interfaces

PubMed Central

Lindberg, Donald A. B.; Humphreys, Betsy L.

1990-01-01

The current focus of the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) project is the development, testing, and evaluation of the first versions of three new knowledge sources: the Metathesaurus, the Semantic Network, and the Information Sources Map. These three knowledge sources can be used by interface programs to conduct an intelligent interaction with the user and to make the conceptual link between the user's question and relevant machine-readable information. NLM is providing experimental copies of the initial versions of the UMLS knowledge sources in exchange for feedback on ways they can and should be improved. The hope is that the results of such experimentation will provide both immediate improvements in biomedical information service and useful suggestions for enhancements to the UMLS.

Improving the quality of cancer care in America through health information technology.

PubMed

Feeley, Thomas W; Sledge, George W; Levit, Laura; Ganz, Patricia A

2014-01-01

A recent report from the Institute of Medicine titled Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis, identifies improvement in information technology (IT) as essential to improving the quality of cancer care in America. The report calls for implementation of a learning healthcare IT system: a system that supports patient-clinician interactions by providing patients and clinicians with the information and tools necessary to make well informed medical decisions and to support quality measurement and improvement. While some elements needed for a learning healthcare system are already in place for cancer, they are incompletely implemented, have functional deficiencies, and are not integrated in a way that creates a true learning healthcare system. To achieve the goal of a learning cancer care delivery system, clinicians, professional organizations, government, and the IT industry will have to partner, develop, and incentivize participation. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Trabecular bone score (TBS): Method and applications.

PubMed

Martineau, P; Leslie, W D

2017-11-01

Trabecular bone score (TBS) is a texture index derived from standard lumbar spine dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) images and provides information about the underlying bone independent of the bone mineral density (BMD). Several salient observations have emerged. Numerous studies have examined the relationship between TBS and fracture risk and have shown that lower TBS values are associated with increased risk for major osteoporotic fracture in postmenopausal women and older men, with this result being independent of BMD values and other clinical risk factors. Therefore, despite being derived from standard DXA images, the information contained in TBS is independent and complementary to the information provided by BMD and the FRAX® tool. A procedure to generate TBS-adjusted FRAX probabilities has become available with the resultant predicted fracture risks shown to be more accurate than the standard FRAX tool. With these developments, TBS has emerged as a clinical tool for improved fracture risk prediction and guiding decisions regarding treatment initiation, particularly for patients with FRAX probabilities around an intervention threshold. In this article, we review the development, validation, clinical application, and limitations of TBS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Popularity Prediction Tool for ATLAS Distributed Data Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beermann, T.; Maettig, P.; Stewart, G.; Lassnig, M.; Garonne, V.; Barisits, M.; Vigne, R.; Serfon, C.; Goossens, L.; Nairz, A.; Molfetas, A.; Atlas Collaboration

2014-06-01

This paper describes a popularity prediction tool for data-intensive data management systems, such as ATLAS distributed data management (DDM). It is fed by the DDM popularity system, which produces historical reports about ATLAS data usage, providing information about files, datasets, users and sites where data was accessed. The tool described in this contribution uses this historical information to make a prediction about the future popularity of data. It finds trends in the usage of data using a set of neural networks and a set of input parameters and predicts the number of accesses in the near term future. This information can then be used in a second step to improve the distribution of replicas at sites, taking into account the cost of creating new replicas (bandwidth and load on the storage system) compared to gain of having new ones (faster access of data for analysis). To evaluate the benefit of the redistribution a grid simulator is introduced that is able replay real workload on different data distributions. This article describes the popularity prediction method and the simulator that is used to evaluate the redistribution.

[The balanced scorecard used as a management tool in a clinical laboratory: internal business processes indicators].

PubMed

Salinas La Casta, Maria; Flores Pardo, Emilio; Uris Selles, Joaquín

2009-01-01

to propose a set of indicators as a management tool for a clinical laboratory, by using the balanced scorecard internal business processes perspective. indicators proposed are obtained from different sources; external proficiency testing of the Valencia Community Government, by means of internal surveys and laboratory information system registers. One year testing process proportion indicators results are showed. internal management indicators are proposed (process, appropriateness and proficiency testing). The process indicators results show gradual improvement since its establishment. after one years of using a conceptually solid Balanced Scorecard Internal business processes perspective indicators, the obtained results validate the usefulness as a laboratory management tool.

Improving the recommender algorithms with the detected communities in bipartite networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Peng; Wang, Duo; Xiao, Jinghua

2017-04-01

Recommender system offers a powerful tool to make information overload problem well solved and thus gains wide concerns of scholars and engineers. A key challenge is how to make recommendations more accurate and personalized. We notice that community structures widely exist in many real networks, which could significantly affect the recommendation results. By incorporating the information of detected communities in the recommendation algorithms, an improved recommendation approach for the networks with communities is proposed. The approach is examined in both artificial and real networks, the results show that the improvement on accuracy and diversity can be 20% and 7%, respectively. This reveals that it is beneficial to classify the nodes based on the inherent properties in recommender systems.

Developing an automated database for monitoring ultrasound- and computed tomography-guided procedure complications and diagnostic yield.

PubMed

Itri, Jason N; Jones, Lisa P; Kim, Woojin; Boonn, William W; Kolansky, Ana S; Hilton, Susan; Zafar, Hanna M

2014-04-01

Monitoring complications and diagnostic yield for image-guided procedures is an important component of maintaining high quality patient care promoted by professional societies in radiology and accreditation organizations such as the American College of Radiology (ACR) and Joint Commission. These outcome metrics can be used as part of a comprehensive quality assurance/quality improvement program to reduce variation in clinical practice, provide opportunities to engage in practice quality improvement, and contribute to developing national benchmarks and standards. The purpose of this article is to describe the development and successful implementation of an automated web-based software application to monitor procedural outcomes for US- and CT-guided procedures in an academic radiology department. The open source tools PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) and MySQL were used to extract relevant procedural information from the Radiology Information System (RIS), auto-populate the procedure log database, and develop a user interface that generates real-time reports of complication rates and diagnostic yield by site and by operator. Utilizing structured radiology report templates resulted in significantly improved accuracy of information auto-populated from radiology reports, as well as greater compliance with manual data entry. An automated web-based procedure log database is an effective tool to reliably track complication rates and diagnostic yield for US- and CT-guided procedures performed in a radiology department.

Developing a tool to support diagnostic delivery of dementia.

PubMed

Bennett, Claire E; De Boos, Danielle; Moghaddam, Nima G

2018-01-01

It is increasingly recognised that there are challenges affecting the current delivery of dementia diagnoses. Steps are required to address this. Current good practice guidelines provide insufficient direction and interventions from other healthcare settings do not appear to fully translate to dementia care settings. This project has taken a sequential two-phase design to developing a tool specific to dementia diagnostic delivery. Interviews with 14 participants explored good diagnostic delivery. Thematic analysis produced key themes (overcoming barriers, navigation of multiple journeys and completing overt and covert tasks) that were used to inform the design of a tool for use by clinicians, patients and companions. The tool was evaluated for acceptability in focused group discussions with 13 participants, which indicated a desire to use the tool and that it could encourage good practice. Adaptations were highlighted and incorporated to improve acceptability. Future research is now required to further evaluate the tool.

Usability evaluation of a clinical decision support tool for osteoporosis disease management.

PubMed

Kastner, Monika; Lottridge, Danielle; Marquez, Christine; Newton, David; Straus, Sharon E

2010-12-10

Osteoporosis affects over 200 million people worldwide at a high cost to healthcare systems. Although guidelines are available, patients are not receiving appropriate diagnostic testing or treatment. Findings from a systematic review of osteoporosis interventions and a series of focus groups were used to develop a functional multifaceted tool that can support clinical decision-making in osteoporosis disease management at the point of care. The objective of our study was to assess how well the prototype met functional goals and usability needs. We conducted a usability study for each component of the tool--the Best Practice Recommendation Prompt (BestPROMPT), the Risk Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ), and the Customised Osteoporosis Education (COPE) sheet--using the framework described by Kushniruk and Patel. All studies consisted of one-on-one sessions with a moderator using a standardised worksheet. Sessions were audio- and video-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis consisted of a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses. In study 1, physicians liked that the BestPROMPT can provide customised recommendations based on risk factors identified from the RAQ. Barriers included lack of time to use the tool, the need to alter clinic workflow to enable point-of-care use, and that the tool may disrupt the real reason for the visit. In study 2, patients completed the RAQ in a mean of 6 minutes, 35 seconds. Of the 42 critical incidents, 60% were navigational and most occurred when the first nine participants were using the stylus pen; no critical incidents were observed with the last six participants that used the touch screen. Patients thought that the RAQ questions were easy to read and understand, but they found it difficult to initiate the questionnaire. Suggestions for improvement included improving aspects of the interface and navigation. The results of study 3 showed that most patients were able to understand and describe sections of the COPE sheet, and all considered discussing the information with their physicians. Suggestions for improvement included simplifying the language and improving the layout. Findings from the three studies informed changes to the tool and confirmed the importance of usability testing on all end users to reduce errors, and as an important step in the development process of knowledge translation interventions.

Usability evaluation of a clinical decision support tool for osteoporosis disease management

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Osteoporosis affects over 200 million people worldwide at a high cost to healthcare systems. Although guidelines are available, patients are not receiving appropriate diagnostic testing or treatment. Findings from a systematic review of osteoporosis interventions and a series of focus groups were used to develop a functional multifaceted tool that can support clinical decision-making in osteoporosis disease management at the point of care. The objective of our study was to assess how well the prototype met functional goals and usability needs. Methods We conducted a usability study for each component of the tool--the Best Practice Recommendation Prompt (BestPROMPT), the Risk Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ), and the Customised Osteoporosis Education (COPE) sheet--using the framework described by Kushniruk and Patel. All studies consisted of one-on-one sessions with a moderator using a standardised worksheet. Sessions were audio- and video-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis consisted of a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses. Results In study 1, physicians liked that the BestPROMPT can provide customised recommendations based on risk factors identified from the RAQ. Barriers included lack of time to use the tool, the need to alter clinic workflow to enable point-of-care use, and that the tool may disrupt the real reason for the visit. In study 2, patients completed the RAQ in a mean of 6 minutes, 35 seconds. Of the 42 critical incidents, 60% were navigational and most occurred when the first nine participants were using the stylus pen; no critical incidents were observed with the last six participants that used the touch screen. Patients thought that the RAQ questions were easy to read and understand, but they found it difficult to initiate the questionnaire. Suggestions for improvement included improving aspects of the interface and navigation. The results of study 3 showed that most patients were able to understand and describe sections of the COPE sheet, and all considered discussing the information with their physicians. Suggestions for improvement included simplifying the language and improving the layout. Conclusions Findings from the three studies informed changes to the tool and confirmed the importance of usability testing on all end users to reduce errors, and as an important step in the development process of knowledge translation interventions. PMID:21143978

Experiences of Indian Health Workers Using WhatsApp for Improving Aseptic Practices With Newborns: Exploratory Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Pahwa, Parika; Lunsford, Sarah; Livesley, Nigel

2018-03-01

Quality improvement (QI) involves the following 4 steps: (1) forming a team to work on a specific aim, (2) analyzing the reasons for current underperformance, (3) developing changes that could improve care and testing these changes using plan-do-study-act cycles (PDSA), and (4) implementing successful interventions to sustain improvements. Teamwork and group discussion are key for effective QI, but convening in-person meetings with all staff can be challenging due to workload and shift changes. Mobile technologies can support communication within a team when face-to-face meetings are not possible. WhatsApp, a mobile messaging platform, was implemented as a communication tool by a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team in an Indian tertiary hospital seeking to reduce nosocomial infections in newborns. This exploratory qualitative study aimed to examine experiences with WhatsApp as a communication tool among improvement team members and an external coach to improve adherence to aseptic protocols. Ten QI team members and the external coach were interviewed on communication processes and approaches and thematically analyzed. The WhatsApp transcript for the implementation period was also included in the analysis. WhatsApp was effective for disseminating information, including guidance on QI and clinical practice, and data on performance indicators. It was not effective as a platform for group discussion to generate change ideas or analyze the performance indicator data. The decision of who to include in the WhatsApp group and how members engaged in the group may have reinforced existing hierarchies. Using WhatsApp created a work environment in which members were accessible all the time, breaking down barriers between personal and professional time. The continual influx of messages was distracting to some respondents, and how respondents managed these messages (eg, using the silent function) may have influenced their perceptions of WhatsApp. The coach used WhatsApp to share information, schedule site visits, and prompt action on behalf of the team. WhatsApp is a productive communication tool that can be used by teams and coaches to disseminate information and prompt action to improve the quality of care, but cannot replace in-person meetings. ©Parika Pahwa, Sarah Lunsford, Nigel Livesley. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http://medinform.jmir.org), 01.03.2018.

Experiences of Indian Health Workers Using WhatsApp for Improving Aseptic Practices With Newborns: Exploratory Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

Livesley, Nigel

2018-01-01

Background Quality improvement (QI) involves the following 4 steps: (1) forming a team to work on a specific aim, (2) analyzing the reasons for current underperformance, (3) developing changes that could improve care and testing these changes using plan-do-study-act cycles (PDSA), and (4) implementing successful interventions to sustain improvements. Teamwork and group discussion are key for effective QI, but convening in-person meetings with all staff can be challenging due to workload and shift changes. Mobile technologies can support communication within a team when face-to-face meetings are not possible. WhatsApp, a mobile messaging platform, was implemented as a communication tool by a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team in an Indian tertiary hospital seeking to reduce nosocomial infections in newborns. Objective This exploratory qualitative study aimed to examine experiences with WhatsApp as a communication tool among improvement team members and an external coach to improve adherence to aseptic protocols. Methods Ten QI team members and the external coach were interviewed on communication processes and approaches and thematically analyzed. The WhatsApp transcript for the implementation period was also included in the analysis. Results WhatsApp was effective for disseminating information, including guidance on QI and clinical practice, and data on performance indicators. It was not effective as a platform for group discussion to generate change ideas or analyze the performance indicator data. The decision of who to include in the WhatsApp group and how members engaged in the group may have reinforced existing hierarchies. Using WhatsApp created a work environment in which members were accessible all the time, breaking down barriers between personal and professional time. The continual influx of messages was distracting to some respondents, and how respondents managed these messages (eg, using the silent function) may have influenced their perceptions of WhatsApp. The coach used WhatsApp to share information, schedule site visits, and prompt action on behalf of the team. Conclusions WhatsApp is a productive communication tool that can be used by teams and coaches to disseminate information and prompt action to improve the quality of care, but cannot replace in-person meetings. PMID:29496651

Bim Orientation: Grades of Generation and Information for Different Type of Analysis and Management Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banfi, F.

2017-08-01

Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is facing a great process re-engineering of the management procedures for new constructions, and recent studies show a significant increase of the benefits obtained through the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodologies. This innovative approach needs new developments for information and communication technologies (ICT) in order to improve cooperation and interoperability among different actors and scientific disciplines. Accordingly, BIM could be described as a new tool capable of collect/analyse a great quantity of information (Big data) and improve the management of building during its life of cycle (LC). The main aim of this research is, in addition to a reduction in production times, reduce physical and financial resources (economic impact), to demonstrate how technology development can support a complex generative process with new digital tools (modelling impact). This paper reviews recent BIMs of different historical Italian buildings such as Basilica of Collemaggio in L'Aquila, Masegra Castle in Sondrio, Basilica of Saint Ambrose in Milan and Visconti Bridge in Lecco and carries out a methodological analysis to optimize output information and results combining different data and modelling techniques into a single hub (cloud service) through the use of new Grade of Generation (GoG) and Information (GoI) (management impact). Finally, this study shows the need to orient GoG and GoI for a different type of analysis, which requires a high Grade of Accuracy (GoA) and an Automatic Verification System (AVS ) at the same time.

Evaluating knowledge transfer practices among construction organization in Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaidi, Mohd Azian; Baharuddin, Mohd Nurfaisal; Bahardin, Nur Fadhilah; Yasin, Mohd Fadzil Mat; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd; Deraman, Rafikullah

2016-08-01

The aims of this paper is to identify a key dimension of knowledge transfer component to improve construction organization performance. It investigates the effectiveness of present knowledge transfer practices currently adopted by the Malaysian construction organizations and examines the relationship between knowledge transfer factors and organizational factors. A survey among 151 respondents including a different contractor registration grade was employed for the study. The survey shows that a seven-teen (17) factors known as creating shared awareness for information sharing, communication, personal skills,individual attitude,training, organizational culture, information technology,motivation, monitoring and supervision, service quality,information accessibility, information supply, socialization process,knowledge tools, coaching and monitoring, staff briefing and information sharing were identify as a key dimension for knowledge transfer success. This finding suggest that through improvement of each factor, the recognition of the whole strategic knowledge transfer process can be increase thus helping to strengthen the Malaysian construction organization for competitive advantages.

A Prototype for Content-Rich Decision-Making Support in NOAA using Data as an Asset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Austin, M.; Peng, G.

2015-12-01

Data Producers and Data Providers do not always collaborate to ensure that the data meets the needs of a broad range of user communities. User needs are not always considered in the beginning of the data production and delivery phases. Often data experts are required to explain or create custom output so that the data can be used by decision makers. Lack of documentation and quality information can result in poor user acceptance or data misinterpretation. This presentation will describe how new content integration tools have been created by NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) to improve quality throughout the data management lifecycle. The prototype integrates contents into a decision-making support tool from NOAA's Observing System Integrated Assessment (NOSIA) Value Tree, NOAA's Data Catalog/Digital Object Identifier (DOI) projects (collection-level metadata) and Data/Stewardship Maturity Matrices (Data and Stewardship Quality Rating Information). The National Centers for Environmental Information's (NCEI) Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly (GHCN) dataset is used as a case study to formulate/develop the prototype tool and demonstrate its power with the content-centric approach in addition to completeness of metadata elements. This demonstrates the benefits of the prototype tool in both bottom roll-up and top roll-down fashion. The prototype tool delivers a standards based methodology that allows users to determine the quality and value of data that is fit for purpose. It encourages data producers and data providers/stewards to consider users' needs prior to data creation and dissemination resulting in user driven data requirements increasing return on investment.

Transboundary Water: Improving Methodologies and Developing Integrated Tools to Support Water Security

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hakimdavar, Raha; Wood, Danielle; Eylander, John; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Smith, Jane; Doorn, Brad; Green, David; Hummel, Corey; Moore, Thomas C.

2018-01-01

River basins for which transboundary coordination and governance is a factor are of concern to US national security, yet there is often a lack of sufficient data-driven information available at the needed time horizons to inform transboundary water decision-making for the intelligence, defense, and foreign policy communities. To address this need, a two-day workshop entitled Transboundary Water: Improving Methodologies and Developing Integrated Tools to Support Global Water Security was held in August 2017 in Maryland. The committee that organized and convened the workshop (the Organizing Committee) included representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), and the US Air Force. The primary goal of the workshop was to advance knowledge on the current US Government and partners' technical information needs and gaps to support national security interests in relation to transboundary water. The workshop also aimed to identify avenues for greater communication and collaboration among the scientific, intelligence, defense, and foreign policy communities. The discussion around transboundary water was considered in the context of the greater global water challenges facing US national security.

Determining customer satisfaction in anatomic pathology.

PubMed

Zarbo, Richard J

2006-05-01

Measurement of physicians' and patients' satisfaction with laboratory services has become a standard practice in the United States, prompted by national accreditation requirements. Unlike other surveys of hospital-, outpatient care-, or physician-related activities, no ongoing, comprehensive customer satisfaction survey of anatomic pathology services is available for subscription that would allow continual benchmarking against peer laboratories. Pathologists, therefore, must often design their own local assessment tools to determine physician satisfaction in anatomic pathology. To describe satisfaction survey design that would elicit specific information from physician customers about key elements of anatomic pathology services. The author shares his experience in biannually assessing customer satisfaction in anatomic pathology with survey tools designed at the Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Benchmarks for physician satisfaction, opportunities for improvement, and characteristics that correlated with a high level of physician satisfaction were identified nationally from a standardized survey tool used by 94 laboratories in the 2001 College of American Pathologists Q-Probes quality improvement program. In general, physicians are most satisfied with professional diagnostic services and least satisfied with pathology services related to poor communication. A well-designed and conducted customer satisfaction survey is an opportunity for pathologists to periodically educate physician customers about services offered, manage unrealistic expectations, and understand the evolving needs of the physician customer. Armed with current information from physician customers, the pathologist is better able to strategically plan for resources that facilitate performance improvements in anatomic pathology laboratory services that align with evolving clinical needs in health care delivery.

A software communication tool for the tele-ICU.

PubMed

Pimintel, Denise M; Wei, Shang Heng; Odor, Alberto

2013-01-01

The Tele Intensive Care Unit (tele-ICU) supports a high volume, high acuity population of patients. There is a high-volume of incoming and outgoing calls, especially during the evening and night hours, through the tele-ICU hubs. The tele-ICU clinicians must be able to communicate effectively to team members in order to support the care of complex and critically ill patients while supporting and maintaining a standard to improve time to intervention. This study describes a software communication tool that will improve the time to intervention, over the paper-driven communication format presently used in the tele-ICU. The software provides a multi-relational database of message instances to mine information for evaluation and quality improvement for all entities that touch the tele-ICU. The software design incorporates years of critical care and software design experience combined with new skills acquired in an applied Health Informatics program. This software tool will function in the tele-ICU environment and perform as a front-end application that gathers, routes, and displays internal communication messages for intervention by priority and provider.

Improving the design of nutrition labels to promote healthier food choices and reasonable portion sizes.

PubMed

Roberto, C A; Khandpur, N

2014-07-01

Accurate and easy-to-understand nutrition labeling is a worthy public health goal that should be considered an important strategy among many to address obesity and poor diet. Updating the Nutrition Facts Panel on packaged foods, developing a uniform front-of-package labeling system and providing consumers with nutrition information on restaurant menus offer important opportunities to educate people about food's nutritional content, increase awareness of reasonable portion sizes and motivate consumers to make healthier choices. The aims of this paper were to identify and discuss: (1) current concerns with nutrition label communication strategies; (2) opportunities to improve the communication of nutrition information via food labels, with a specific focus on serving size information; and (3) important future areas of research on nutrition labeling as a tool to improve diet. We suggest that research on nutrition labeling should focus on ways to improve food labels' ability to capture consumer attention, reduce label complexity and convey numeric nutrition information in simpler and more meaningful ways, such as through interpretive food labels, the addition of simple text, reduced use of percentages and easy-to-understand presentation of serving size information.

Confirmation and discovery of maternal grandsires and great grandsires in dairy cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Genetic improvement and selection of dairy animals has required accurate pedigree information. Genomic tools allow paternal ancestors to be easily confirmed or discovered because most sires are genotyped for many markers, but maternal ancestors are more difficult to discover because most female ance...

Alaska Mathematics Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, 2012

2012-01-01

High academic standards are an important first step in ensuring that all Alaska's students have the tools they need for success. These standards reflect the collaborative work of Alaskan educators and national experts from the nonprofit National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment. Further, they are informed by public comments.…

Alternative Land-Use Method for Spatially Informed Watershed Management Decision Making Using SWAT

EPA Science Inventory

In this study, a modification is proposed to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to enable identification of areas where the implementation of best management practices would likely result in the most significant improvement in downstream water quality. To geospatially link...

GIS for livable communities : examination of community perceptions of assets, liabilities and transportation improvements

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-09-01

This report examines the role that the built environment plays in the shaping of an individual's sense of community. New tools such as GIS, which can generate detailed spatial maps, can provide information to decision makers and stakeholders about th...

Creating Quality Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Association of School Administrators, Arlington, VA.

This booklet presents information on how total quality management can be applied to school systems to create educational improvement. Total quality management offers education a systemic approach and a new set of assessment tools. Chapter 1 provides a definition and historical overview of total quality management. Chapter 2 views the school…

The Handbook of Leadership Development Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannum, Kelly M., Ed.; Martineau, Jennifer W., Ed.; Reinelt, Claire, Ed.

2007-01-01

With the increase in the number of organizational leadership development programs, there is a pressing need for evaluation to answer important questions, improve practice, and inform decisions. The Handbook is a comprehensive resource filled with examples, tools, and the most innovative models and approaches designed to evaluate leadership…

Mapping hurricane rita inland storm tide

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berenbrock, C.; Mason, R.R.; Blanchard, S.F.

2009-01-01

Flood-inundation data are most useful for decision makers when presented in the context of maps of affected communities and (or) areas. But because the data are scarce and rarely cover the full extent of the flooding, interpolation and extrapolation of the information are needed. Many geographic information systems provide various interpolation tools, but these tools often ignore the effects of the topographic and hydraulic features that influence flooding. A barrier mapping method was developed to improve maps of storm tide produced by Hurricane Rita. Maps were developed for the maximum storm tide and at 3-h intervals from midnight (00:00 hours) through noon (12:00 hours) on 24 September 2005. The improved maps depict storm-tide elevations and the extent of flooding. The extent of storm-tide inundation from the improved maximum storm-tide map was compared with the extent of flood inundation from a map prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The boundaries from these two maps generally compared quite well especially along the Calcasieu River. Also a cross-section profile that parallels the Louisiana coast was developed from the maximum storm-tide map and included FEMA high-water marks. ?? 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Mapping Hurricane Rita inland storm tide

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berenbrock, Charles; Mason, Jr., Robert R.; Blanchard, Stephen F.; Simonovic, Slobodan P.

2009-01-01

Flood-inundation data are most useful for decision makers when presented in the context of maps of effected communities and (or) areas. But because the data are scarce and rarely cover the full extent of the flooding, interpolation and extrapolation of the information are needed. Many geographic information systems (GIS) provide various interpolation tools, but these tools often ignore the effects of the topographic and hydraulic features that influence flooding. A barrier mapping method was developed to improve maps of storm tide produced by Hurricane Rita. Maps were developed for the maximum storm tide and at 3-hour intervals from midnight (0000 hour) through noon (1200 hour) on September 24, 2005. The improved maps depict storm-tide elevations and the extent of flooding. The extent of storm-tide inundation from the improved maximum storm-tide map was compared to the extent of flood-inundation from a map prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The boundaries from these two maps generally compared quite well especially along the Calcasieu River. Also a cross-section profile that parallels the Louisiana coast was developed from the maximum storm-tide map and included FEMA high-water marks.

On the impact of a refined stochastic model for airborne LiDAR measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolkas, Dimitrios; Fotopoulos, Georgia; Glennie, Craig

2016-09-01

Accurate topographic information is critical for a number of applications in science and engineering. In recent years, airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) has become a standard tool for acquiring high quality topographic information. The assessment of airborne LiDAR derived DEMs is typically based on (i) independent ground control points and (ii) forward error propagation utilizing the LiDAR geo-referencing equation. The latter approach is dependent on the stochastic model information of the LiDAR observation components. In this paper, the well-known statistical tool of variance component estimation (VCE) is implemented for a dataset in Houston, Texas, in order to refine the initial stochastic information. Simulations demonstrate the impact of stochastic-model refinement for two practical applications, namely coastal inundation mapping and surface displacement estimation. Results highlight scenarios where erroneous stochastic information is detrimental. Furthermore, the refined stochastic information provides insights on the effect of each LiDAR measurement in the airborne LiDAR error budget. The latter is important for targeting future advancements in order to improve point cloud accuracy.