bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Health Informatics and Healthcare Redesign Using ICT to Move from an Evolutionary to a Revolutionary Stage
Authors: Vimarlund Vivian
Published: May 2010

This chapter introduces a framework to analyze the pre-requisites to move from an evolutionary stage to a revolutionary one when using ICT in healthcare. It argues that the degree of transformation should be determined by the role ICT has in the organization when initiating the redesigning process, but also by the aims technology is supposed to achieve. The suggested framework can be used to identify preconditions and areas affected from the implementation and use of ICT providing a structure to evaluate how changes will affect key actors and the organization. The classification suggested to identify different steps of transformation should indicate stakeholders, healthcare personnel, and managers how to refocus their priorities to be able to built organizations that can be adapted to the revolutionary stage to obtain the same benefits that the industry has previously identified from the implementation of use of ICT .
Regional Patient Safety Initiatives
Authors: Anderson James G.
Published: May 2010

Data-sharing systems—where healthcare providers jointly implement a common reporting system to promote voluntary reporting, information sharing, and learning—are emerging as an important regional, state-level, and national strategy for improving patient safety. The objective of this chapter is to review the evidence regarding the effectiveness of these data-sharing systems and to report on the results of an analysis of data from the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative (PRHI). PRHI consists of 42 hospitals, purchasers, and insurers in southwestern Pennsylvania that implemented Medmarx, an online medication error reporting systems. Analysis of data from the PRHI hospitals indicated that the number of errors and corrective actions reported initially varied widely with organizational characteristics such as hospital size, JCAHO accreditation score and teaching status. But the subsequent trends in reporting errors and reporting actions were different. Whereas the number of reported errors increased significantly, and at similar rates, across the participating hospitals, the number of corrective actions reported per error remained mostly unchanged over the 12-month period. A computer simulation model was developed to explore organizational changes designed to improve patient safety. Four interventions were simulated involving the implementation of computerized physician order entry, decision support systems and a clinical pharmacist on hospital rounds. The results of this study carry implications for the design and assessment of data-sharing systems. Improvements in patient safety require more than voluntary reporting and clinical initiatives. Organizational changes are essential in order to significantly reduce medical errors and adverse events.
A Comparison of How Canada, England, and Denmark are Managing their Electronic Health Record Journeys
Authors: Protti Denis
Published: May 2010

Healthcare is one of the world’s most information-intensive industries. Every day, volumes of data are produced which, properly used, can improve clinical practice and outcomes, guide planning and resource allocation, and enhance accountability. Electronic health information is fundamental to better healthcare. There will be no significant increase in healthcare quality and efficiency without high quality, user-friendly health information compiled and delivered electronically. The growing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the healthcare sector has introduced numerous opportunities and benefits to patients, providers and governments alike. Patients are being provided with tools to help them manage and monitor their healthcare, providers are able to seamlessly access up-to-date patient information, and governments are showing transparency to the public by reporting health data and information on their websites. There is mounting evidence that national, regional, and organizational e-health strategies are being developed and implemented worldwide. This chapter provides an overview of three different national e-health strategies, and identifies the lessons learned from the e-health strategies of Canada, England and Denmark.
Accountability, Beneficence, and Self-Determination
Authors: Saryeddine Tina
Published: May 2010

Existing literature often addresses the ethical problems posed by health informatics. Instead of this problem-based approach, this chapter explores the ethical benefits of health information systems in an attempt to answer the question “can health information systems make organizations more accountable, beneficent, and more responsive to a patient’s right to self determination?” It does so by unpacking the accountability for reasonableness framework in ethical decision making and the concepts of beneficence and self-determination. The framework and the concepts are discussed in light of four commonly used health information systems, namely: Web-based publicly accessible inventories of services; Web-based patient education; telemedicine; and the electronic medical record. The objective of this chapter is to discuss the ethical principles that health information systems actually help to achieve, with a view to enabling researchers, clinicians, and managers make the case for the development and maintenance of these systems in a client-centered fashion.
Technology Enabled Knowledge Translation
Authors: Ho Kendall
Published: May 2010

Because of the rapid growth of health evidence and knowledge generated through research, and growing complexity of the health system, clinical care gaps increasingly widen where best practices based on latest evidence are not routinely integrated into everyday health service delivery. Therefore, there is a strong need to inculcate knowledge translation strategies into our health system so as to promote seamless incorporation of new knowledge into routine service delivery and education to promote positive change in individuals and the health system towards eliminating the clinical care gaps. E-health, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in health which encompasses telehealth, health informatics, and e-learning, can play a prominently supportive role. This chapter examines the opportunities and challenges of technology enabled knowledge translation (TEKT) using ICT to accelerate knowledge translation in today’s health system with two case studies for illustration. Future TEKT research and evaluation directions are also articulated.
A Window on Digital Games Interactions in Home Settings
Authors: Gazit Elhanan
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents an analysis of the dynamics of children’s digital games interactions, which take place in their home surroundings, based on empirical case study. Since digital games have become one of the main building blocks in children’s world, there is a need to examine the impact of the widespread use of digital games in children’s everyday life. The study’s framework served as a window for close observation of the ways young children spontaneously play digital games and interact with each other. Theoretical implications for digital games research and the pedagogical implications regarding the design and implementation of interactive learning environments are discussed. In addition, there are methodological challenges of finding new pathways for studying the complex relationships between digital games and real-world learning interactions. The study’s findings and their implications could serve as a small step in perusing these challenges.
Enhanced Interaction in Mixed Social Environments
Authors: Oliverio James , Beck Dennis
Published: May 2010

We introduce the term ‘mixed social environments’ as a strategic learning construct to augment student interaction when utilizing virtual world environments such as Second Life in the classroom. While an increasing number of institutions are investigating the use of virtual world environments for enhanced learning, at present there are at least three major areas that are underdeveloped: interdisciplinary research, documentation of best practices, and exploration of the use of mixed social environments. In the spring of 2007, a new interdisciplinary research seminar addressing these aspects was offered at a large American university. We present an overview of the resultant learning artifacts, outcomes, and research questions in hopes of helping to inform best practices, expand interdisciplinary research, and assist in the design of future mixed social environments for enhanced learning.
Computer-Mediated Communication Learning Environments
Authors: Manca Stefania
Published: May 2010

The social, relational, and affective dynamics are receiving more and more attention in the study of learning processes, as cognitive, affective, and emotional dimensions of learning seem to be closely related. This kind of co-origination, borne out in the context of neurosciences, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and education, has also been recognized in the field of Web-based learning. The research framework of computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has emphasized the role that a well-established social dimension plays in collaborative learning and groupbased working within communities of learners. According to the socioconstructivist model, learning always implies a social dialogical process where individuals are mutually engaged in the construction and sharing of new knowledge (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994; Wenger, 1998). Pedagogical approaches based on these assumptions combine the advantages of a learning strategy that promotes deeper level learning, critical thinking, and shared understanding with those related to the development of social and communication skills (Garrison & Anderson, 2003).
The Changing Nature of Business Process Modeling
Authors: Cameron Brian H.
Published: May 2010

Business process modeling (BPM) is a topic that is generating much interest in the information technology (IT) industry today. Business analysts, process designers, system architects, software engineers, and systems consultants must understand the foundational concepts behind BPM and evolving modeling standards and technologies that have the potential to dramatically change the nature of phases of the systems development life cycle (SDLC). Pareto’s 80/20 rule, as applied to the SDLC, is in the process of being drastically altered. In the past, approximately 20 % of the SDLC was spent on analysis and design activities with the remaining 80 % spent on systems development and implementation (Weske, Goesmann, Holten, & Striemer, 1999). Today, with the introduction of the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI), Web services, and the services-oriented architecture (SOA), the enterprise SDLC paradigm is poised for a dramatic shift. In this new paradigm, approximately 80 % of the SDLC is spent on analysis and design activities with the remaining 20 % spent of systems development and implementation. Once referred to as workflow and process automation, business process modeling (BPM) has evolved into a suite of interrelated components providing significant business value. Emerging BPM technologies will be the primary vehicle by which current application portfolios transition to service-oriented architectures and Web services (Aversano, & Canfora, 2002). Business Process Management Initiative’s Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) subgroup is currently finalizing a standardized notation for business process modeling. Although the notation is still in working draft format, system architects and designers should consider incorporating the concepts of BPM into their current and future systems analysis and design procedures.
An Overview of Executive Information Systems
Authors: Moynihan Gary P.
Published: May 2010

An executive information system (EIS) is a software system designed to support the informational needs of senior management. The EIS is characterized by an easy to use and maintainable graphical user interface; integrated capabilities for data access, analysis, and control; analysis and report generation across multiple files; and on-request “drill down” capability. Most existing management information systems provide an enormous quantity of detailed status reports. However, they lack the capability of providing summarized levels of information, in an appropriate format, for higher levels of management. This problem has continued despite the emergence of enterprise resource planning systems. By understanding the concept and functionality of traditional executive information systems, readers will also be able to better understand how EIS has adapted to meet the requirements of senior management in an enterprise system environment.
The Impact of Enterprise Systems on Business Value
Authors: Mathrani Sanjay , Rashid Mohammad A. , Viehland Dennis
Published: May 2010

A significant investment in resources is required for implementation of integrated enterprise systems as technology solutions while the effectiveness of these systems to achieve business value remains unclear and empirically largely unexplored. Enterprise systems integrate and automate business processes, but unarguably, the real business value can only be achieved from improvements through the transformation of enterprise systems data into knowledge by applying analytic and decision making processes. This study explores a model of transforming ES data into knowledge and results by comparing two case studies that examine the impact of enterprise systems information on organizational functions and processes leading to realization of business value.
Enterprise System in the German Manufacturing Mittelstand
Authors: Schoenherr Tobias , Hilpert Ditmar , Soni Ashok K. , Venkataramanan M.A. , Mabert Vincent A.
Published: May 2010

Although the research on integrated enterprise systems (ES) is proliferating, the knowledge base about ES implementations, usage and experiences outside the United States is still small. This is also true for Germany, despite the crucial importance of ES in the country, and the potential uniqueness of its ES environment. Most ES research to date has also been focusing on larger corporations, neglecting the challenges and issues that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have been experiencing. Collectively often referred to as the Mittelstand, German SMEs form the backbone of the German economy. This chapter brings attention to these areas by describing observations obtained from eight SMEs in the German manufacturing sector. These findings about ES implementation, usage, and experiences are reported and summarized along nine points of interest.
Enterprise Resource Systems Software Implementation
Authors: Vaidyanathan Ganesh
Published: May 2010

Enterprise resource planning systems are complex yet single, integrated software programs that runs off a single database so that the various departments can easily share information and communicate with each other. The integrated approach can have a tremendous payback if companies implement the software correctly. This chapter illustrates the implementation steps as followed by major corporations in the United States, and provide an insight into the practical implementation issues. A business case for such systems is introduced in this chapter as well. The chapter provides seven ERP issues and elaborates these issues in the context of implementation. The implementation details during conceptualization, design, implementation, go-live, and operation stages are provided with a note to practitioners on ERP implementation.
ERP Systems in Higher Education from Regional Perspective
Authors: Podlogar Mateja , Ternai Katalin
Published: May 2010

This chapter introduces the ERP systems, their complexity, and especially their integration in higher education as a significant challenge for many institutions. Information society paradigm, globalization, and the rapidly changing environment affect the contents and organization of higher education. In the always-conservative academic world, the organizational structure is very hierarchical and the knowledge transfer is fragmented. The real-world requirements are just the opposite; there is a vast demand for students and professionals having the ability of integration, cooperation, and knowledge absorption. During the last years, European Countries went through an intensive development and changing phase in which the experiences of transition and coping with the information society requirements mixed up. A way to develop training programs in the higher education on an integrated ERP platform from regional perspective is also illustrated in the chapter.
E-Government and ERP
Authors: Kumta Gita A.
Published: May 2010

The chapter introduces the essence of ERP in government as a tool for integration of government functions which provides the basis for citizen services. It discusses the challenges faced in modernization of government “businesses” and discusses strategies for implementation. The basis of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions is integration of functions which capture basic data through transactions to support critical administrative functions such as budgeting and financial management, revenue management, supply chain management and human resources management. Today, Enterprise solutions (ES) go beyond ERP to automate citizen-facing processes. The integration of data sources with each contact point is essential to ensure a consistent level of service. The author expects that researchers, governments and solution providers will be able to appreciate the underlying constraints and issues in implementation of ERP and hopes that the learning from industry would be useful to plan implementation of ES in government using emerging technologies.
Next-Generation IT for Knowledge Distribution in Enterprises
Authors: Brena Ramón , Valerio Gabriel , Aguirre Jose-Luis
Published: May 2010

From the Knowledge Management perspective, Knowledge distribution is a critical process in organizations. As many of the other Knowledge-related processes, it has received basic support from Information Technologies in the form of databases and repositories, client-server systems and other standard IT. Nevertheless, most basic IT tools fail to provide the flexible environment Knowledge distribution needs to be effective in many organizations. In this chapter we review some very advanced IT that are being proposed for supporting Knowledge distribution processes. Even though they are not mainstream technologies nowadays, they show actual trends that are expected to materialize in future generations of IT for Knowledge distribution.
Acoustic Feature Analysis for Hypernasality Detection in Children
Authors: Daza Genaro , Sánchez Luis Gonzalo , Sepúlveda Franklin A. , Germán Castellanos D.
Published: May 2010

The present work analyzes the statistical effectiveness of different acoustic features in the automatic identification of hypernasality. Acoustic features reflect part of information contained in perceptual analysis; in part, due to their estimation is derived directly or indirectly from the vocal cords behavior. Consequently, it is convenient to apply multivariate analysis techniques in determining the effectiveness of voice features. The effectiveness is studied by using multivariate analysis techniques that are meant for feature extraction and feature selection, as well (latent variable models, heuristic search algorithms).
Advances and Trends in Tissue Engineering of Heart Valves
Authors: Morsi Y. S. , Wong C. S. , Patel S. S.
Published: May 2010

Improvements in health care and treatment of diseases have led to an increase in life expectancy in developed countries. However, this achievement has also inadvertently increased the prevalence of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, adding to the growing burden of health care cost globally. Unfortunately, this trend is expected to escalate in the foreseeable future. Cardiovascular disease remains one of the main problems in contemporary health care worldwide, accounting for approximately one third of the world’s total death (Poole-Wilson, 2005). This article focuses on a subgroup of cardiovascular disease known as valvular heart disease whereby abnormalities or malfunctions of the heart valves are detected. It is estimated that 93,000 valvular surgeries were conducted in the United States in 2002 (American Stroke Association & American Heart Association, 2005) and valve replacement surgeries accounted for 75% of the surgery performed for valvular defects in Australia and, of that, 56% were for aortic valves (Davies & Senes, 2003).
Applying the Quality Loss Function in Healthcare
Authors: Cudney Elizabeth , Paris Bonnie
Published: May 2010

Using the quadratic loss function is one way to quantify a fundamental value in the provision of health care services: we must provide the best care and best service to every patient, every time. Sole reliance on specification limits leads to a focus on “acceptable” performance rather than “ideal” performance. This paper presents the application of the quadratic loss function to quantify improvement opportunities in the healthcare industry.
Assessing the Information Content of Microarray Time Series
Authors: Yang E. , Androulakis I. P.
Published: May 2010

While the rise of microarrays has heralded a new era in molecular biology with its ability to measure the expression level of thousands of genes at once, the usefulness of microarrays is exigent upon the ability to obtain accurate gene expression data for the individual genes (Bowtell, 1999; Brown & Botstein, 1999; Cheung, Morley, Aguilar, Massimi, Kucherlapati, & Childs, 1999). However, there has been significant criticism as to how meaningful the information derived via microarrays is. In cases where one has attempted to find genes that correlated to types of cancer or survival rate, it was found that different analysis techniques would often times yield radically different set of genes, calling into question the validity of the overall experiment itself (Dupuy & Simon, 2007). It is our contention that part of the problem associated with microarrays is that there does not exist a coherent method for dealing with data quality, and if a coherent method for dealing with data quality existed, many of the criticisms of microarrays could be addressed.
Automatic Quantification of P-Wave Morphological Features
Authors: Censi Federica , Calcagnini Giovanni , Mattei Eugenio , Triventi Michele , Bartolini Pietro
Published: May 2010

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequently occurring sustained cardiac rhythm disturbance (Wolf, Mitchell, Baker, Kannel, & D’Agostino, 1998). Although relatively easy to diagnose by analysis of the surface ECG, AF has modalities, mechanisms, and predisposing conditions that still remain poorly understood. AF is not a direct life-threatening arrhythmia. However, because of the associated strong symptomatology, it frequently results in hospitalisation, physician visits, and drug therapy, hereby limiting the physical and social activities of many patients. It not only affects the quality of life, but it also increases the likelihood of prothrombotic effects and the risk for mortality because of cerebrovascular events or progressive ventricular dysfunction (Wolf et al., 1998).
Clinical Decision Making by Emergency Room Physicians and Residents
Authors: Farion Ken J. , Hine Michael J. , Michalowski Wojtek , Wilk Szymon
Published: May 2010

Clinical decision-making is a complex process that is reliant on accurate and timely information. Clinicians are dependent (or should be dependent) on massive amounts of information and knowledge to make decisions that are in the best interest of the patient. Increasingly, information technology (IT) solutions are being used as a knowledge transfer mechanism to ensure that clinicians have access to appropriate knowledge sources to support and facilitate medical decision making. One particular class of IT that the medical community is showing increased interest in is clinical decision support systems (CDSSs).
Costs and New Technologies in Healthcare Delivery
Authors: Thaize Challier Marie-Christine
Published: May 2010

Reducing medical costs is one of the major policy questions. A well understanding of this issue requires specific insight into some domains. The three main points which must be clarified relate to: (1) the nature of the costs (production costs and transaction costs), (2) the nature of new healthcare technologies (the biotechnology and biomedical engineering vs. the e-healthcare system, the face-to-face communications between the primary care physicians or other providers and the patients vs. the non face-to-face communications), and (3) the nature of information (which can be asymmetric, incomplete, or imperfect). This article studies what differences there are when considerations about informational issues and types of medicine are taken into account in the modern health economy characterized by the generation and the implementation of new healthcare technologies. To do this, this article first clarifies and presents some concepts in the framework of the health economy. Then, from these issues, it discusses the cost containment in the current case of the development and adoption of new technologies, and contrasts the opinions and perspectives.
Critical Role of Bionanotechnology in Healthcare and Society
Authors: Choudhary Shivani , Geisler Eliezer , Wickramasinghe Nilmini
Published: May 2010

Bionanotechnology is a combination of three terms: “bios” meaning “life,” “nano” (origin in Greek) meaning “dwarf,” and “technologia” (origin in Greek—comprised of “techne” meaning “craft” and “logia” meaning “saying”), which is a broad term dealing with the use and knowledge of humanity’s tools and crafts. Bionanotechnology is a term coined for the area of study where nanotechnology has applications in the field of biology and medical sciences. Healthcare is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the “care for the general health of a person, community, etc., especially that is provided by an organized health service.” Moreover, Healthcare can also be defined as the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions1.
Current Source Design for Electrical Bioimpedance Spectroscopy
Authors: Seoane Fernando , Bragos Ramón , Lindecrantz Kaj , Riu Pere
Published: May 2010

The passive electrical properties of biological tissue have been studied since the 1920s, and with time, the use of Electrical Bioimpedance (EBI) in medicine has successfully spread (Schwan, 1999). Since the electrical properties of tissue are frequency-dependent (Schwan, 1957), observations of the bioimpedance spectrum have created the discipline of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), a discipline that has experienced a development closely related to the progress of electronic instrumentation and the dissemination of EBI technology through medicine.
Decision Support Systems for Cardiovascular Diseases Based on Data Mining and Fuzzy Modelling
Authors: Tsipouras Markos G. , Exarchos Themis P. , Fotiadis Dimitrios I. , Bechlioulis Aris , Naka Katerina K.
Published: May 2010

This article addresses the decision support regarding cardiovascular diseases, using computer-based methods, focusing on the coronary artery disease (CAD) diagnosis and on the prediction of clinical restenosis in patients undergoing angioplasty. Methods reported in the literature are reviewed with respect to (i) the medical information that are employing in order to reach the diagnosis and (ii) the data analysis techniques used for the creation of the CDSSs. In what concerns medical information, easily and noninvasively-obtained data present several advantages compared to other types of data, while data analysis techniques that are characterized by transparency regarding their decisions are more suitable for medical decision making. A recently developed approach that complies with the above requirements is presented. The approach is based on data mining and fuzzy modelling. Using this approach, one CDSS has been developed for each of the two cardiovascular problems mentioned above. These CDSSs are extensively evaluated and comments about the discovered knowledge are provided by medical experts. The later is of great importance in designing and evaluating CDSSs, since it allows them to be integrated into real clinical environments.
Definition and Measurement of the Technology Readiness Concept
Authors: Martín Maria Teresa , Román Maria Victoria , Recio Manuel
Published: May 2010

During the last few decades, various theoretical developments have been carried out with a view to describing the characteristic and distinct behavioral process that lies under any adoption of technological services and products. These developments are based mainly on the Social Psychology approach. There are three extensive theories within the field of Social Psychology whose ultimate purpose has been to define the internal psychological factors that explain human behavior: the Expectancy-Value Theory, the Cognitive Dissonance Theory, and the Self-Perception Theory. While the Expectancy-Value Theory has been used widely in the research of adoption and usage of information systems, the other two theories have been less recognized.
The Detection of Abnormal Breathing Activity by Vision Analysis in Application to Diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Authors: Wang Ching Wei , Ahmed Amr , Hunter Andrew
Published: May 2010

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is increasingly seen as a common and important condition, contributing to sleep disturbance and consequential daytime sleepiness. This has potentially serious consequences for the individual, employers, and society as a whole. Apnea refers to short spells when breathing stops. In obstructive sleep apnea, the throat constricts during sleep, preventing breathing; the apnea episode often ends with a loud snore and/or gasp. Such an event is sufficient to open the throat muscles to allow breathing, and the patient usually falls asleep again so quickly that the event is not remembered. This cycle repeats itself throughout the night as the muscles relax and the throat blocks again, and the frequency of the episode is used to determine the severity of the syndrome.
Electrical Bioimpedance Cerebral Monitoring
Authors: Seoane Fernando , Lindecrantz Kaj
Published: May 2010

Electrical Bioimpedance (EBI) is now a mature technology in medicine, with applications in clinical investigations, physiological research, and medical diagnosis (Schwan, 1999). The first monitoring application of bioimpedance techniques, impedance cardiography, date back to 1940. Since then, bioimpedance measurements have been used in several medical applications, from lung function monitoring and body composition, to skin cancer detection. A complete historical review is available in Malmivuo and Plonsey (1995). A medical imaging modality based on bioimpedance, Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) has also been developed (Bayford, 2006). EBI has been used to study the effect in the brain of spreading depression, seizure activity, asphyxia and cardiac arrest since 1950s and 1960s (Ochs & Van Harreveld, 1956), but the most important activities in electrical cerebral bioimpedance research has been during the last 20 years (Holder, 1987; Holder & Gardner-Medwin, 1988).
Electrocutaneous Stimulation of Skin Mechanoreceptors for Tactile Studies with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Authors: Hartwig Valentina , Cappelli Claudia , Vanello Nicola , Ricciardi Emiliano , Scilingo Enzo Pasquale , Giovannetti Giulio , Santarelli Maria Filomena , Positano Vincenzo , Pietrini Pietro , Landini Lu
Published: May 2010

To evoke specific sensations related to specific types of mechanoreceptors, we consider here the possibility of using electrotactile stimulation, varying the amplitude and the frequency of the stimulating electric signal, but maintaining the same waveform. According to a different specificity of the mechanoreceptors at different mechanical stimulus (Kaczmarek, Webster, Bach-y- Rita, & Tompkins, 1991), there might exist receptor specificity for different amplitude and frequency of electrical stimulus. In this case it could be possible to stimulate specifically several types of mechanoreceptors maintaining the same waveform and varying only its amplitude or frequency, with the possibility of creating a different sensation for tactile studies and augmented reality applications.
Electronic Test Management Systems and Hospital Pathology Laboratory Services
Authors: Georgiou Andrew , Westbrook Johanna , Callen Joanne , Braithwaite Jeffrey
Published: May 2010

Pathology can be described as the branch of medicine that deals with the nature, causes, and process of disease (McGrath, 2003). Pathology laboratories consider clinical and pathologic data and integrate them within an ever-changing context and then transmit a meaningful answer back to doctors and patients. In doing so, pathology laboratories play a key role in translating data into meaningful information (Hardwick, 1998). Pathology services are information intense organisational bodies that rely heavily on the proficient administration of information for patient care purposes (Travers, 1997). It is estimated that 70% of all important decisions affecting a patient’s life involve a laboratory or pathology test, and pathology data represent an average of 70% of documents residing in electronic repositories (Becich, 2000).
Evaluation of External Cardiac Massage Performance During Hypogravity Simulation
Authors: Delmarco Gustavo , Russomano Thais , Calder Alyson , Falcão Felipe , Azevedo Dario F.G. , Sarkar Subhajit , Evetts Simon , Moniz Samuel
Published: May 2010

Preservation of astronaut crew health during an exploration mission to the Moon or Mars will be crucial to mission success. The likelihood of a life-threatening medical condition occuring during a mission to Mars has been estimated by NASA to be 1% per year (Johnston, 1998; Johnston, Campbell, Billica, & Gilmore, 2004). Since basic life support is a vital skill in critical care medicine, plans must be in place for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in both microgravity and hypogravity (i.e., on the surface of the Moon or Mars). Following the design of a body suspension device to simulate a hypogravity environment, subjects performed external chest compressions in 1G, 0.17G (Lunar), 0.38G (Mars), and 0.7G (Planet X). Chest compression adequacy was assessed by means of rate and depth. Heart rate immediately before and after three minutes of chest compression gave a measure of rescuer fatigue. Elbow flexion was measured using an electrogoniometer in order to assess the use of arm muscles to achieve chest compressions. This study found that the mean depth (Lunar and Mars) and rate (Mars) of chest compression was below American Heart Association recommendations during hypogravity simulation in the female group. Furthermore, elbow flexion proved to be significantly greater during Lunar and Mars hypogravity simulation than that of the 1G control condition, suggesting that upper arm force may be used to counter the loss of body weight in an attempt to maintain adequate chest compression under these conditions.
Guided Interactive Diagnostic Assistance
Authors: Sacco Giovanni Maria
Published: May 2010

One of the significant challenges and opportunities in computer-assisted healthcare is how to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients. With respect to the past, diagnosis and treatment have become more and more difficult because of two major reasons: a global society where people, goods, and, consequently, diseases travel very easily; and a growing awareness and emergence of very rare “orphan” pathologies that affect an extremely small percentage of the population. Physicians are very often required to diagnose and correctly treat diseases that they are not familiar with. Especially in this context, but also with more frequent pathologies, computer assistance can become an essential tool in healthcare, especially if it supports all relevant information such as protocols, exceptions, best practices, condition-specific guidelines, and so on, in addition to diagnosis.
Haptic Rendering for Laparoscopic Surgery Simulation & Related Studies
Authors: McColl Ryan , Brown Ian , Seligman Cory , Lim Fabian , Alsaraira Amer
Published: May 2010

This project concerns the application of haptic feedback to a virtual reality laparoscopic surgery simulator. It investigates the hardware required to display haptic forces, and the software required to generate realistic and stable haptic properties. A number of surgery-based studies are undertaken using the developed haptic device. The human sense of touch, or haptic sensory system, is investigated in the context of laparoscopic surgery, where the long laparoscopic instruments reduce haptic sensation. Nonetheless, the sense of touch plays a vital role in navigation, palpation, cutting, tissue manipulation, and pathology detection in surgery. The overall haptic effect has been decomposed into a finite number of haptic attributes. The haptic attributes of mass, friction, stiction, elasticity, and viscosity are individually modeled, validated, and applied to virtual anatomical objects in visual simulations. There are times in surgery when the view from the camera cannot be depended upon. When visual feedback is impeded, haptic feedback must be relied upon more by the surgeon. A realistic simulator should include some sort of visual impedance. Results from a simple tissue holding task suggested the inclusion of haptic feedback in a simulator aids the user when visual feedback is impeded.
Healthcare Training for the Greek Municipalities' Citizens in the Program of "Home Help" With the Medical Educational Websites
Authors: Drougas Bill Ag
Published: May 2010

Today, the Internet is one of the most useful tools for information, education, business, and entertainment. It is one of the modern technology tools giving us many applications. One of the most important applications of the Internet is the health educational Web sites. These sites can be used not only by researchers but also by everyone easily taking important information for continuing self-training. In the division of public health, this part is very important. Medical Web sites give us access to information about our health or about prevention methods. In Greece today, there is a new 12-hour program offering home health help and care to citizens. This program is under the organization of the local municipalities and the affiliation of the Ministry of Health.
Heterogeneous Quality Information in Healthcare Marketplace
Authors: Schumacher Kimberlee , Lee Yang W.
Published: May 2010

In this research, we use the classical stakeholder perspective (Freeman and Reed, 1983; Butterfield, 2004) and information quality research (Lee, Pipino, Funk, and Wang, 2006) to examine what constitutes quality information amongst directly participating stakeholders in the healthcare marketplace. We argue that the role a stakeholder plays in the healthcare marketplace affects the nature of quality information each provides and uses, thus shaping the principles that dictate each stakeholder’s view of quality information. Our findings, based on participatory observation and the analysis of research publications, provide a basis for a shared understanding of quality information in the healthcare market place.
Impact of RFID Technology on Health Care Organizations
Authors: Nabelsi Véronique , Stefanescu Florina
Published: May 2010

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been considered the “next revolution in supply chain management” (Srivastava, 2004, p. 60). Current research and development related to RFID focuses on the manufacturing and retail sectors with the aim of improving supply chain efficiency. After the manufacturing and retail sectors, health care is considered to be the next sector for RFID (Ericson, 2004). RFID technology’s potential to improve asset management in the health sector is considerable, especially with respect to asset management optimization. In fact, health expenses have increased substantially in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in recent years. In Canada, the public health budget amounted to $91.4 billion (CAD) for the year 2005–2006 compared to $79.9 billion in 2003–2004 (CIHI, 2005). Moreover, the health care industry has been the focus of intense public policy attention. In order to curb this upward trend, the public heath sector in Canada is subject to strict budget constraints. Among the different alternatives for reducing expenditures, the improvement of asset management within the different health institutions appears to be worthwhile. RFID technology seems to be a viable alternative to help hospitals effectively manage and locate medical equipment and other assets, track files, capture charges, detect and deter counterfeit products, and maintain and manage materials. In other words, health care organizations would benefit particularly from RFID applications. The main objective of this study is to investigate the potential for RFID technology within one specific supply chain in the health care sector. Based on a field study conducted in a large nonprofit hospital, this article tests some scenarios for integrating RFID technology in the context of two warehousing activities.
Implementing RFID Technology in Hospital Environments
Authors: Littman Marlyn Kemper
Published: May 2010

A promising approach for facilitating cost containment and reducing the need for complex manual processes in the healthcare space, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology enables data transport via radio waves to support the automatic detection, monitoring, and electronic tracking of objects ranging from physicians, nurses, patients, and clinical staff to walkers, wheelchairs, syringes, heart valves, laboratory samples, stents, intravenous pumps, catheters, testtubes, and surgical instruments (Karthikeyan & Nesterenko, 2005). RFID implementations streamline hospital applications and work in concert with WLANs (wireless local area networks) and mobile devices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). RFID technology also safeguards the integrity of the drug supply by automatically tracing the movement of medications from the manufacturer to the hospital patient. This article begins with a discussion of RFID development and RFID technical fundamentals. In the sections that follow, the work of standards organizations in the RFID space is introduced, and capabilities of RFID solutions in reducing costs and improving the quality of healthcare are described. Descriptions of RFID initiatives and security and privacy challenges associated with RFID initiatives, are explored. Finally, trends in the use of RFID-augmented wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in the healthcare sector are introduced.
Improving Consumer Health Literacy with Information Technology
Authors: Leroy Gondy
Published: May 2010

Before the Internet became popular as a device for distributing and sharing information, people turned to friends, books and their doctor when they had a medical question. Today, many more options exist (Figure 1). Hundreds of websites provide health information and opportunities for interaction between patients, doctors and caregivers. Estimates differ, but all surveys show that millions of people search online for health information. A Pew survey estimates that 80% of adult Internet users, about 93 million Americans, searched online for at least one of 16 major health topics (Fox & Fallows, 2003). Baker, Wagner, Signer and Bundorf (2003) estimate that 20% of the US population uses the Internet to find health information. A larger proportion (71%) of older people (50 to 64 years old), compared to 53% of younger people (18 to 29 years old), turn to the Internet for health information (Fox & Rainie, 2002). Although there is a digital divide, use of information technology is not simply decided by race or social class. Safran (2003) found that Medicaid families, who are believed not to use these new technologies, accessed their online Baby CareLink from the hospital, work, library or other public access points. Gustafson et al. (2002) point out that poverty is the prime indicator for lack of technology use.
Incremental Neural Network Training for Medical Diagnosis
Authors: Guan Sheng-Uei , Ang Ji Hua , Tan Kay Chen , Al Mamun Abdullah
Published: May 2010

This chapter proposes a novel method of incremental interference-free neural network training (IIFNNT) for medical datasets, which takes into consideration the interference each attribute has on the others. A specially designed network is used to determine if two attributes interfere with each other, after which the attributes are partitioned using some partitioning algorithms. These algorithms make sure that attributes beneficial to each other are trained in the same batch, thus sharing the same subnetwork while interfering attributes are separated to reduce interference. There are several incremental neural networks available in literature (Guan & Li, 2001; Su, Guan & Yeo, 2001). The architecture of IIFNNT employed some incremental algorithm: the ILIA1 and ILIA2 (incremental learning with respect to new incoming attributes) (Guan & Li, 2001).
Information Systems Resource Contribution in Strategic Alliance by Small Healthcare Centers
Authors: Huang Yu-An , Lin Chad
Published: May 2010

The objective of this chapter is to examine how different types of IS resource alignments affect the performance of alliances via the contribution of dissimilar and similar IS resources. The focus of this study is small healthcare centers in Taiwan. These small healthcare centers have formed alliances to confront the fierce competition as well as to absorb the regulatory pressure from the government. Most of these small healthcare centers in recent years have realized that they can only compete with major healthcare service providers through cooperative alliances, as most of the patients prefer to go to big service providers for longterm treatments. The literature on interorganizational collaborations has been criticized for its relatively narrow concentration on large firms and for ignoring SMEs’ alliances where large firms do not operate in similar ways (Prater & Ghosh, 2005). These cost pressures, together with the general dynamic nature of the healthcare industry, require a significant change in approaches to utilize IS resources by these small healthcare centers. Therefore, these small healthcare centers must form alliances to obtain scarce IS resources. Unlike large firms that own a lot of IS resources to be able to form alliances with many partners, these small healthcare centers tend to form alliances with only a small number of partners, and therefore, their dependence on these partners is higher than large firms (Mambula, 2002). In this regard, these small Taiwanese healthcare centers offer an appropriate context for research.
Insulin Metabolism Models for Children with Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Mougiakakou Stavroula G. , Prountzou Aikaterini , Iliopoulou Dimitra , Vazeou Andriani , Bartsocas Christos S. , Nikita Konstantina S.
Published: May 2010

The aim of this article is to describe how NN have been applied for the simulation of glucose—insulin metabolism, and to present two NN based personalized models for children with T1DM. The models, which are able to make short-term glucose predictions, are based on the combined use of MMs and NNs. The models are comparatively assessed using data about glucose levels, insulin intake, and diet during previous time periods, from four children with T1DM.