American journal of preventive medicine
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Limited national data on the circumstances of acetaminophen overdoses have hindered identification and implementation of prevention strategies. ⋯ Non-abuse-related overdoses of acetaminophen products lead to many emergency department visits each year, particularly emergency department visits for self-directed violence. Acetaminophen overdose prevention efforts will likely need to be multidimensional.
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Although interactive voice response (IVR) calls can be an effective tool for chronic disease management, many regions of the world lack the infrastructure to provide these services. ⋯ Cloud computing is a feasible strategy for providing IVR services globally. IVR self-care support may improve self-care and glycemic control for patients in underdeveloped countries.
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Obesity affects approximately one third of Americans. Patient and provider characteristics such as gender may influence obesity care. Gender concordance has been associated with clinical practice patterns in chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, but its role in obesity care is unknown. ⋯ The findings of this study suggest that male patient-physician gender concordance is positively associated with diet/nutrition and exercise counseling.
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The cancer care system is increasingly complex, marked by multiple hand-offs between primary care and specialty providers, inadequate communication among providers, and lack of clarity about a "medical home" (the ideal accountable care provider) for cancer patients. Patients and families often cite such difficulties as information deficits, uncoordinated care, and insufficient psychosocial support. ⋯ Using the published literature as background, a review is provided of selected work that is underway to improve communication, coordination, and quality of care. Also discussed are additional challenges and opportunities to advancing understanding of how patient data, provider and patient involvement, and informatics innovations can support high-quality cancer care.
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Rapid advances in information and networking technologies have greatly expanded the modes for conducting business and science. For the past two decades, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been supporting efforts to develop a comprehensive cyberinfrastructure with the goal of transforming the nature of scientific investigations. More recently, the NIH began supporting efforts to develop a cyberinfrastructure of healthcare research and practice. ⋯ Use-inspired research aims to further basic theory but is grounded, inspired, and informed by practical problems. A cyberinfrastructure framework is presented that incorporates three intersecting dimensions: research-practice, health services-public health, and social-technical dimensions. Within this framework, this paper discusses the ways in which cyberinfrastructure provides opportunities to integrate across these dimensions to develop research and actions that can improve both clinical outcomes and public health.