Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2003
Establishing health informatics as a recognised and respected profession in the UK National Health Service.
The delivery of healthcare is an information dependent process. National government modernisation targets, and drives to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of care delivery systems and processes have the better use of information and IT at their heart. If we are to realise the benefits information and IT developments can bring, we have to ensure we have a suitable cadre of well educated, proactive professional specialists who understand the business of healthcare. ⋯ One agreed solution has been to work towards establishing health informatics as a recognised and respected national profession. This is in addition to other national work to establish career pathways, make health informatics as a profession "mainstream", and to provide development opportunities at all levels. This paper sets out the background to the establishment of a profession in UK health services, outlines progress to date, and summarises other national development activity to support health informatics professionals.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2003
Use of an augmented reality display of patient monitoring data to enhance anesthesiologists' response to abnormal clinical events.
One obstacle to safety in the operating room is anesthesiologist distraction having to shift attention back and forth from the patient to a vital sign monitor while performing either routine or emergency procedures. The purpose of this study was to measure the decrease in anesthesiologist distraction made possible by using a head-worn, see-through personal display (HWD) using retinal scanning technology. ⋯ The Nomad reduced the number of times the anesthesiologist had to shift their attention by a more than a third (17 times versus 58 times). This allowed them to spend more time focused on the patient.
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Some recent developments around the organisation of ICT applications in healthcare in the Netherlands are discussed, in relation with the installation of a new National ICT Institute for Healthcare (NICTIZ). Some examples are given, especially from the field of Quality Assurance and Information Security.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2003
Federal initiatives in information technology to improve patient safety and quality of care.
In November 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report that focused on patient safety in the United States (U. S.), in which it estimated that up to 98,000 people die in U. S. hospitals each year from medical errors. ⋯ The crux of these initiatives was a series of solicitations that form an integrated set of research and demonstration projects for reducing medical errors in multiple health care settings. This chapter will discuss some of these initiatives, focusing on the role of clinical informatics in the Agency's efforts to improve the safety and quality of health care in the U. S.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2003
Case ReportsDevelopment of a computer assisted craniofacial surgery planning system.
Based upon the idea that both facial appearance and functional outcomes of the craniofacial surgery need to be predicted in the pre-surgery planning stage, a CACSP system has been established. In this system, the input is in vivo CT/MRI scan data of patient with craniofacial deformity, anatomical restoration is simulated using the medical visualization packages ANALYZE, and the finite element analysis of the masticatory system has been integrated to predict the functional improvement such as bite force alteration. Preliminary studies in this laboratory have revealed the potential of this system.