bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Kotor Bay Area Hydrodynamics and Pollutant Dispersion Simulations: A Tool for Contingency Plans
Authors: Zanier Giulia  , Giunto Francesco  , Petronio Andrea  , Roman Federico  , Gagić Radmila  , Nikolic Danilo
Published: February 2025

Harbor and coastal areas, according to ITOPF statistics, are frequent scenarios of small oil spill accidents, usually caused by oil tanker collision in maneuvering or during oil download. For sake of marine environment and human activities, contingency plans are required to minimize the damages of oil spills. In this regard numerical simulations are an useful tool to explore both the worst or more probable accident scenarios. We present the case study of Kotor Bay, a semi-closed basin in the Adriatic Sea, an environmental and historical heritage, under UNESCO protection. LESCOAST model, a LES model suitable to simulate sea currents in harbor and coastal areas is adopted to reproduce the hydrodynamic. The sea surface stress, required by the model, of the most frequent wind conditions is computed through preliminary low-atmosphere simulations which account for the surrounding orography. Hydrodynamic and wind stress maps give an accurate input to a state of art model for the prediction of oil spill dispersion, which account for the main forcing on the oil, namely gravity and friction. Finally, the computed pollutant dispersion process is used to map the sensitive areas and intervention time in the Kotor Bay.
Exploring Nurses' Perceptions and Expectations Toward a BCMA Implementation Using a Mobile App and Workstations as a Change Management Strategy
Authors: Giraldo Liliana  , Schachner Bibiana  , Luna Daniel  , Benítez Sonia
Published: February 2025

The inclusion of new technologies in health, such as the 2D Codes scanning Drug Administration System (BCMA), has an impact on the perception of nurses, mainly changes in their workflow, and incorporation of mobile devices for patient care. The objective of this study is to know the perceptions and expectations of nurses regarding the implementation of BCMA. Qualitative research was conducted based on interviews with groups of nurses from different inpatient wards of the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, with and without system implementation. The analysis of the interviews produced the categorization of information for future interventions and the need to create standard strategies for the effective continuity during the implementation of the project. Some determinants for the acceptance of the system by the nursing staff: the ease of use of the mobile station, the device, the nursing application and its usefulness, and high expectations about the new process.
User Requirements Analysis of the Intelligent Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist
Authors: Ren Xing  , Wu Ying  , Yang Fangyu
Published: February 2025

The Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC) is an ICU delirium assessment recommended by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Its diagnostic accuracy, however, is relatively low during routine practice among bedside nurses. This study aims to analyze the potential errors or mistakes made by bedside nurses using ICDSC, and to provide evidence for developing an intelligent ICDSC. The results showed issues associated with the paper–based ICDSC include easy to miss items, scored errors.
Mobile Physical Activity Intervention for Breast Cancer Patients During Chemotherapy
Authors: Geng Zhaohui  , Wu Fulei  , Zhang Yingting  , Wang Jingting  , Wang Jiashu  , Liu Huan  , Yuan Changrong
Published: February 2025

Breast cancer patients showed low engagement in physical activity (PA) during chemotherapy. Evidence showed regular PA has potential to reduce mortality and risks of cancer recurrence, relieve psychological distress, manage symptoms and improve quality of life. Mobile health intervention displays a great advantage to deliver cancer care timely and remotely. A Mobile Physical Activity Program was constructed in a mobile phone application. The application contained 5 modes: information delivering, disease tracking, events reminders, online interaction, health behavior recording (daily walking steps, sleeping time and body weight) and self-reported assessment. Both applications and web-based administration portal were developed by engineers.
Patients as Partners in the Hospital Setting: Engagement Methods in Research, Quality Improvement and Beyond
Authors: Hull Susan  , Strudwick Gillian  , Collins Sarah  , Dykes Patricia  , Schnock Kumiko O.  , Jeoung Kang Min
Published: February 2025

Benefits have been demonstrated when patients and family members have been meaningfully engaged in all stages of research beginning with topic generation. When this engagement is done well, research becomes more relevant to those receiving health services, and there is an increased sense of accountability and transparency provided. However, health informatics researchers have not consistently used patient and family member engagement methods despite their many potential benefits. This panel will outline various methods that can be used to engage patients and family members in all stages of the research process in a health informatics context. In addition to these strategies, this panel will provide real–life examples of how patients and family members have been engaged in health informatics research in both Canada and the United States.
Development of e-Learning System for Nurses to Learn Medical English and Chinese Conversation
Authors: Nakamura Yumiko  , Majima Yukie  , Fukayama Kaori
Published: February 2025

Globalization has brought an increase of non-Japanese residents in Japan; it has been urgent for nurses to improve conversational skills. We designed and developed an e-learning system for nurses to learn medical English and Chinese conversation. The teaching materials were created as a video including conversations in a hospital in English and in Chinese between a patient and a nurse. Subtitles are shown and read out twice in English and Chinese and once in Japanese.
Mobile Augmented Reality as Usability to Enhance Nurse Prevent Violence Learning Satisfaction
Authors: Hsu Han-jen  , Weng Wei-kai  , Chou Yung-lang  , Huang Pin-wei
Published: February 2025

Violence in hospitals, nurses are at high risk of patient's aggression in the workplace. This learning course application Mobile Augmented Reality to enhance nurse to prevent violence skill. Increasingly, mobile technologies introduced and integrated into classroom teaching and clinical applications. Improving the quality of learning course and providing new experiences for nurses.
Physical Fitness Forecasting and Risk Estimation in Slovenian Schoolchildren
Authors: Gradišek Anton  , Mlakar Miha  , Cigale Matej  , Lajovic Luka  , Luštrek Mitja  , Sorić Maroje  , Starc Gregor  , Leskošek Bojan  , Jurak Gregor
Published: February 2025

Physical fitness is important in view of reducing risks for a number of non-communicable diseases, both for individuals and policy-makers. In this paper, we present a prototype tool that combines forecasting of individual fitness parameters of schoolchildren to early adulthood with estimation of relative risk for all-cause early mortality in adulthood based on the forecasted fitness. This tool is a first step in the development of a platform that will show age, gender, and geographical distributions of risk and suggest potential interventions.
How Connected Insurance Is Reshaping the Health Insurance Industry
Authors: Silvello Andrea
Published: February 2025

The role of today's insurer is changing towards a more preventive and digital or connected approach. In this context, connected health insurance has the potential to contribute towards the general wellbeing of the population. New technologies put to use by the insurance industry might even help deal with major issues related to the rising number of people globally, of chronic disease patients and that of elders while keeping them healthier and the same time protected by insurance.
Facilitators and Barriers of Electronic Medical Records Systems Implementation in Low Resource Settings: A Holistic View
Authors: Ngugi Philomena  , Were Martin C.  , Babic Ankica
Published: February 2025

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems show promise for facilitating health care improvement in quality patient care, patient safety and cost reduction. Nevertheless, their adoption requires careful planning and execution for successful implementation and optimal benefits. The main objective of this review was to identify, analyse and categorize facilitators and barriers to the implementation of EMRs in resource constrained settings in order to gain insight for successful EMR implementation. A literature review on papers from 2007 to 2017 concerning facilitators and barriers to EMRs implementation was conducted. The study included 18 articles that met selection criteria. Four categories of facilitators and barriers including a total of 28 sub-categories were identified from content analysis. These are technical, human, processes and organizational. EMR implementers should pay attention to these issues and adopt a change management strategy for sustainable EMR use in resource-constrained settings.
User Evaluation of a Multiple Sclerosis Self-Management Mobile Application
Authors: Tonheim Aleksander Nygård  , Babic Ankica
Published: February 2025

This paper presents user evaluation of a high-fidelity prototype of a mobile application for patient self-management within the field of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The application named msHelse consists of four modules: Diary module, Summary module, Stress management module, and a Todo-list. Four study subjects were interviewed in semi-structured interviews with questions regarding the functionalities and the user experience after using the application, as well as using System Usability Scale (SUS). User feedback resulted in functionality adjustments of the high-fidelity prototype, especially in data representation of the Summary module and the way the Diary module would assess user entered data. Thus, the msHelse application has been refined to tune into the needs of Norwegian users.
Blockchains in IHE-Based Networks
Authors: Mangesius Patrick  , Bachmann Johannes  , Healy Thomas  , Saboor Samrend  , Schabetsberger Thomas
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Interoperability of health information systems is one of the key challenges of modern healthcare systems. A weak spot in this technology stack of interoperability protocols as defined by HL7 and IHE is cross affinity domain exchange of access control information and policies. In several industries the Blockchain technology had a major breakthrough. The goal of this paper is to elaborate how to exchange cross affinity domain access information enhancing well established IHE networks with block chain technology.
Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics: A Mapping Approach
Authors: Kolokathi Aikaterini  , Mantas John
Published: February 2025

The emergence of the information technologies has seriously changed the healthcare system. Thus, health professionals need to be well-educated in order to respond successfully to the challenges of their job. In higher education programs in, biomedical informatics and health informatics are continuously developing. At this study more than 500 universities and colleges in Europe were checked in order to find related educational programs at all academic levels. The outcome of the research includes 316 study programs at undergraduate and postgraduate level including a variety of specializations. The majority of these programs are taking place in Czech Republic, Ireland and Austria. In contrast, countries such as Croatia and Cyprus have very low number of study programs in these fields.
UMOD: A Device for Monitoring Postoperative Urination
Authors: Katzis Konstantinos  , Despotou Georgios  , Jones Richard W.
Published: February 2025

A Urine Monitoring Device (UMOD) has been designed and implemented for monitoring postoperative urination. This device has been created primarily to assist nurses and doctors monitor patients during their postoperative and recovery period. Furthermore, to reduce the burden of the nursing staff required to regularly monitor and empty the urine bags saving them precious time. The device consists of a stand and a load cell where the urine bag is attached. The stand is light and can easily move shall the patient require to move. An ESP Wi-Fi microprocessor module is used to calculate the rate of flow of urine in real time, identify and ignore any false readings due to accidental movements of the urine bag using an accelerometer and transmit the readings to a server / cloud through the local Wi-Fi.
Concept for Sharing Distributed Personal Health Records with Blockchains
Authors: Mense Alexander  , Athanasiadis Leandros
Published: February 2025

The characteristics of the “blockchain” technology and especially its decentralized nature lead to the notion of neutrality, censorship resistance, and absolute truths, which makes the concept interesting for many different domains, such as finance, supply chain management, or the energy sector – of course also for the healthcare area (eHealth). Blockchains also offer the possibility for well-known access points for a distributed system with easy to use and simple to integrate programming interfaces, which makes it interesting as a central point for electronic healthcare data exchange in a distributed environment. This paper presents a concept for integrating and sharing distributed personal healthcare records based on smart contracts implemented on an Ethereum blockchain.
mHealth Applications: A Tool for Behaviour Change in Weight Management
Authors: Vlahu-Gjorgievska Elena  , Mulakaparambil Unnikrishnan Suparna  , Win Khin Than
Published: February 2025

Obesity has become a public concern all over the world and weight management is of interest to consumers. Heavy intake of food and lack of exercise are the foremost factors for obese condition. Self-management programs are essential for the prevention and treatment of obesity and weight management. Mobile health (m-Health) applications for weight management can be a useful tool in monitoring behaviour and self-management programs, thus engaging consumers in lifestyle changes to mitigate the risk of obesity. The aim of this review is to identify and compare the features supported in mHealth applications for weight management.
Comparative Analysis of Algorithmic Approaches for Auto-Coding with ICD-10-AM and ACHI
Authors: Kaur Rajvir  , Ginige Jeewani Anupama
Published: February 2025

Clinical coding is done using ICD-10-AM (International Classification of Diseases, version 10, Australian Modification) and ACHI (Australian Classification of Health Interventions) in acute and sub-acute hospitals in Australia for funding, insurance claims processing and research. The task of assigning a code to an episode of care is a manual process. This has posed challenges due to increase set of codes, the complexity of care episodes, and large training and recruitment costs of clinical coders. Use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques is considered as a solution to this problem. This paper carries out a comparative analysis on a selected set of NLP and ML techniques to identify the most efficient algorithm for clinical coding based on a set of standard metrics: precision, recall, F-score, accuracy, Hamming loss and Jaccard similarity.
Conducting a Multilingual Study Researching Traumatised Refugees Utilizing a Patient-Reported Outcome System
Authors: Storck Michael  , Christians Gundula  , Möller Birgit  , Dugas Martin  , Soto-Rey Iñaki
Published: February 2025

Approximately 300,000 asylum-seeking children arrived in Europe in 2015. The chance of experiencing a traumatic event is very high for fleeing children. Since the origin of the refugees is widespread, the languages spoken are diverse. Multilingual electronic patient-reported outcome systems (ePROs) can be used to gather medical data in a foreign language and display the results in the health professionals' language, which helps overcoming the language barrier. Utilizing such a system, a two-phase study aiming to screen refugee minors for potential mental health issues has started. Potential eligible participants are examined using questionnaires with good psychometric properties and cross-cultural applicability. To date, 75 minors and 21 of their relatives participated in the study, being German and Arabic the most desired languages for the electronic survey. Developing a system that provides multilingual questionnaires entails several drawbacks like a cumbersome translation process and dealing with writing directions. The proposed translation process and the ePRO can be re-used in similar studies.
Visualization and Analysis of miRNAs Implicated in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Within Gene Regulatory Pathways
Authors: Hamzeiy Hamid  , Suluyayla Rabia  , Brinkrolf Christoph  , Janowski Sebastian Jan  , Hofestädt Ralf  , Allmer Jens
Published: February 2025

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), approximately 22 nucleotides long, post-transcriptionally active gene expression regulators, play active roles in modulating cellular processes. Gene regulation and miRNA regulation are intertwined and the main aim of this study is to facilitate the analysis of miRNAs within gene regulatory pathways. VANESA enables the reconstruction of biological pathways and supports visualization and simulation. To support integrative miRNA and gene pathway analyses, a custom database of experimentally proven miRNAs, integrating data from miRBase, TarBase and miRTarBase, was added to DAWIS-M.D., which is the main data source for VANESA. Analysis of human KEGG pathways within DAWIS-M.D. showed that 661 miRNAs (~1/3 recorded human miRNAs) lead to 65,474 interactions. hsa-miR-335-5p targets most genes in our system (2,544); while the most targeted gene (with 71 miRNAs) is NUFIP2 (Nuclear Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein Interacting Protein 2). Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a complex neurodegenerative disease, was chosen as a proof of concept model. Using our system, it was possible to reduce the initially several hundred genes and miRNAs associated with ALS to eight genes, 19 miRNAs and 31 interactions. This highlights the effectiveness of the implemented system to distill important information from otherwise hard to access, highly convoluted and vast regulatory networks.
Smart Glasses in Nursing – Situation Change and Further Usages Exemplified on a Wound Care Application
Authors: Wüller Hanna  , Behrens Jonathan  , Klinker Kai  , Wiesche Manuel  , Krcmar Helmut  , Remmers Hartmut
Published: February 2025

Smart Glasses are a promising technology that can be leveraged to improve flexible service processes. Especially in the field of nursing where practitioners are facing complex tasks and challenges. Introducing such pervasive computing devices in service processes may have both positive and negative consequences. This leads us to the following research questions: How does the usage of the Smart Glass applications change the caring situation? Which ideas for future usage of Smart Glasses do nurses have? To answer these questions we followed a design science research approach to design a prototype for support of wound care management in nursing. We evaluated the prototype in a real life situation. Five nurses used the application in a real world setting to perform a wound documentation. Afterwards, we conducted semi-structured interviews with the nurses. The intent of the interviews was not only to get information on the current prototype, but to generate knowledge about dimensions of changing the caring situation which should be considered further. The nurses gave the application an overall positive evaluation. They stated that they would expect an improvement of the quality of the wound documentation when using the device. In addition, they mentioned a change in the communication structure with the patient would be necessary. Furthermore, opinions regarding further use cases did differ.
User Evaluation Indicates High Quality of the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) After Field Deployment in Nigeria in 2015 and 2018
Authors: Tom-Aba Daniel  , Toikkanen Salla E.  , Glöckner Stephan  , Adeoye Olawunmi  , Mall Sabine  , Fähnrich Cindy  , Denecke Kerstin  , Benzler Justus  , Kirchner Göran  , Schwarz Norbert  , Poggensee Gabriele  , Silenou Bernard C.  , Ameh Celestine A.  , Nguku Patrick  , Olubunmi Ojo  , Ihekweazu Chikwe  , Krause Gérard
Published: February 2025

During the West African Ebola virus disease outbreak in 2014–15, health agencies had severe challenges with case notification and contact tracing. To overcome these, we developed the Surveillance, Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS). The objective of this study was to measure perceived quality of SORMAS and its change over time. We ran a 4-week-pilot and 8-week-implementation of SORMAS among hospital informants in Kano state, Nigeria in 2015 and 2018 respectively. We carried out surveys after the pilot and implementation asking about usefulness and acceptability. We calculated the proportions of users per answer together with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) and compared whether the 2015 response distributions differed from those from 2018. Total of 31 and 74 hospital informants participated in the survey in 2015 and 2018, respectively. In 2018, 94% (CI: 89–100%) of users indicated that the tool was useful, 92% (CI: 86–98%) would recommend SORMAS to colleagues and 18% (CI: 10–28%) had login difficulties. In 2015, the proportions were 74% (CI: 59–90%), 90% (CI: 80–100%), and 87% (CI: 75–99%) respectively. Results indicate high usefulness and acceptability of SORMAS. We recommend mHealth tools to be evaluated to allow repeated measurements and comparisons between different versions and users.
Biomedical Informatics Investigator
Authors: Elkin Peter L.  , Mullin Sarah  , Sakilay Sylvester
Published: February 2025

The BMI Investigator is a computer human interface built in .Net which allows simultaneous query of structured data such as demographics, administrative codes, medications (coded in RxNorm), laboratory test results (coded in LOINC) and formerly unstructured data in clinical notes (coded in SNOMED CT). The ontology terms identified using SNOMED are all coded as either positive, negative or uncertain assertions. They are then where applicable built into compositional expressions and stored in both a graph database and a triple store. The SNOMED CT codes are stored in a NOSQL database, Berkley DB, and the structured data is stored in SQL using the OMOP/OHDSI format. The BMI investigator also lets you develop models for cohort selection (data driven recruitment to clinical trials) and automated retrospective research using genomic criteria and we are adding image feature data currently to the system. We performed a usability experiment and the users identified some usability flaws which were used to improve the software. Overall, the BMI Investigator was felt to be usable by subject matter experts. Next steps for the software are to integrate genomic criteria and image features into the query engine.
Development of a Secure Cross-Institutional Data Collection System Based on Distributed Standardized EMR Storage
Authors: Tanaka Katsuya  , Yamamoto Ryuichi  , Nakasho Kazuhisa  , Miyaji Atsuko
Published: February 2025

This paper describes a secure data collection infrastructure involving standardized electronic medical record (EMR) storage and Private Set Intersection, a secure data collection technology based on Bloom filter. The objective of this infrastructure is to facilitate rapid secondary use of exported EMR data in cross-patient or cross-institutional analyses based on the Standardized Structured Medical Information eXchange (SS-MIX), Japan's domestic standard for EMR exporting. Design of the infrastructure and its underlying concepts are described herein. In an experimental test, an intersection operation involving approximately 1 million records was completed within a minute; this result is expected to be representative of the system in actual use. In forthcoming work, we plan to verify the system performance using larger data sets.
Re-Examining the Creativity of Universal Design Initiatives in Public Spaces in Japan
Authors: Dobashi Yoshito  , Ohmori Nobuaki
Published: February 2025

Since after the enactment of a series of accessible laws, accessibility in public spaces in Japan has improved. Many creative initiatives have also been introduced in addition to these conventional facilities. In Sapporo, the city introduced a “special seat system” to the subway instead of the more common “priority seats.” In Fukuoka, the local transportation bureau introduced a Braille block with wheelchair crossing points so that wheelchair users could cross them with ease when boarding the train. In Sendai, the Transport Bureau introduced wide entrance/exit gates to enable all passengers, including wheelchair users and others to pass through the gates more easily. What is common to them is that they required only a simple modification of existing systems, and that they were implemented by the bold decisions of transportation operators who lent an ear to users' voices as possible solutions. There is still ample room to improve accessibility in public spaces by examining the actual usage and status of relevant measures in Japan.
A Universal Design Perspective on Care Homes for Elderly People with and Without Dementia
Authors: Mathiasen Nanet  , Kirkeby Inge Mette  , Sigbrand Lone
Published: February 2025

Within the coming years considerable resources will be spent on designing assisted living facilities for elderly people with dementia. Traditionally care homes are designed for elderly with physical impairment. However, people with dementia have others and supplementary needs. An important challenge is therefore to identify differences and similarities in what makes supportive, pleasant environments for both groups. As the group of people with Alzheimer's disease is numerous, this paper focuses on characteristics related to Alzheimer's – typically difficulties related to orientation, coping with larger groups of residential units and a lack of ability to handle welfare technology. In these respects, care homes for people with dementia differ from other settings. However, people with dementia are known to be positively sensitive to a wide range of architectural qualities such as sensory experiences, atmosphere and access to green outdoor areas. The paper argues that since these qualities have importance for a wider group of elderly, the design of care homes in this respect can be considered as an example of universal design in general. Pointing out some similarities and differences in demands for elderly with and without dementia the paper raises the question in how far it might be possible to apply some architectural qualities to care homes in general. If possible, it may lift the quality of the physical environment and at the same time make fewer alterations necessary when care homes are changed to house other inhabitants. The analysis is based on existing literature combined with own studies.
Holistic Perspective to Individual Study Plan: Personal Development Project Plan
Authors: Kivimäki Ville  , Meriluoto Saara
Published: February 2025

How could we reinvent the Individual Study Plan (ISP) in order to promote students' study planning? What kind of ISP model could truly motivate students?
Empowering Students to Perform an Enhanced Role in the Assessment Process: Possibilities and Challenges
Authors: Dervan Paul
Published: February 2025

Assessment is key to student learning. This paper examines the case for increased participation by higher education students in the assessment process to deepen learning and improve learner motivation. While increased student participation may not solve all problems relating to assessment, a review of the literature dealing with enhancing the role of students in the assessment process, and original research conducted amongst academics and students at the author's institution, suggests improvements can be made leading to increased student satisfaction, motivation and competency. This paper therefore argues for change in the approach to assessment by empowering students to become partners in the assessment process rather than being mere recipients of grades.
Career Services and Student Success in Canadian Postsecondary Institutions
Authors: Dietsche Peter
Published: February 2025

This paper argues that while Career Clarity plays a major role in the performance and persistence of postsecondary students, opportunities for secondary graduates to clarify career directions when transitioning to postsecondary study are restricted. Ideally, colleges and universities should be organized to support career uncertain learners but research shows that unlike other jurisdictions only a minority of PSE institutions in Canada currently fulfill this role. The study of postsecondary career services models, however, suggests the Impressive Model of career services with its focus on proactively delivering services and developing partnerships with campus stakeholders could improve success for postsecondary learners.
A Practitioner's Universal Design Approach Making a Difference to Distressed Assets in Sri Lanka
Authors: Galbraith Penny
Published: February 2025

Prescriptive and retrospective accessibility regulations, a rich architectural and cultural history, recent civil war and a distressed asset base make for considerable challenges. This paper describes how universal design principles formed the foundation of technical training delivered to Sri Lankan professionals, to assist them comply with accessibility regulations, and their obligations under the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The paper is based on work funded by the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and delivered by a delegation from the Australian Human Rights Commission. The training was based on 25 years' practitioner experience of applying universal design in the built environment. The commitment to removing barriers to the built environment for people with disabilities is evidenced by a set of robust regulations that are prescriptive and retrospective. Further, drafting and translation errors contribute to difficulty achieving these objectives and thus there is a poor level of understanding and compliance with accessibility regulations. This presented a seemingly intractable combination of difficulties. However, it was decided that providing the delegates with a robust understanding of universal design principles would allow them to navigate these difficulties by thinking about the problems differently, even if they could not achieve strict compliance. There were particular concerns about transport and the public realm. Lessons from Australia were shared including whole-of-journey transport planning and prioritisation methods such as principle pedestrian networks. Community and industry engagement were central themes to taking more strategic and universal design approach to solving complex problems.
Method for Semi-Automated Evaluation of User Experience Using Brain Activity
Authors: Bai Aleksander  , Fuglerud Kristin S.
Published: February 2025

There is a large interest in user experience today, both from a usability and accessibility point of view. However, in order to verify what the users actually like and don't like, user testing must be conducted. Traditionally, user experience is measured retrospective with surveys and interviews, but this is not the most optimal approach since it does not measure user experience in the moment and it is prone for human error because of our inaccurate memory recollection. Here we propose a method that does semi-automated evaluation of user experience by utilizing electrophysiological equipment that monitors electrical activity of the brain. We describe an approach that together with brain activity monitoring will collect and quantify user experience in a non-intrusive manner. We demonstrate the method by showing how a low cost device can record brain activity during a user test, and auto-detect where the user has difficulties understand or navigating a solution. All this is done in an unsupervised manner, but an observer must still verify the feedback with the actual user to remove false positives. Our method is not limited to digital solutions and can also be used for evaluating user experience of physical installations.
Use of Agile Project Methodology in Health Care IT Implementations: A Scoping Review
Authors: Goodison Rav  , Borycki Elizabeth M.  , Kushniruk Andre W.
Published: February 2025

Health care organizations are investing in system solutions that can be leveraged across the continuum of care (i.e. electronic medical records (EMR's); electronic health records (EHR's); health information exchanges (HIE's) and patient portals. The importance of these systems and how they have evolved over the past 30 years has been well researched. The value and benefits of these systems are therefore well known; however, it is estimated that most projects are typically 100% over budget and a year behind schedule [1, p. 2]. In this paper the authors examine what literature is available on agile project management methodologies in health care settings. A scoping review of the literature available specifically on agile methods use in implementing systems within health care was undertaken. Findings revealed there is very little literature available on agile project management methodologies used in health care IT systems implementations. The authors identify there is a strong need for research to look into project management methodologies and identify areas in the project lifecycle, where change is needed to increase clinical systems adoption.
Ghosts in the Machine: Identifying the Digital Health Information Workforce
Authors: Gray Kathleen  , Gilbert Cecily  , Butler-Henderson Kerryn  , Day Karen  , Pritchard Simone
Published: February 2025

In descriptions of digital health the role of human agency and the work of managing and governing health information and communication technology is often invisible. This paper reports preliminary results of a scoping review of the literature and a national workforce census, undertaken as part of a research program to shed light on the responsibilities and the contributions of the health information workforce. The global literature is not a good indicator of the actual proportion of health informaticians, health information managers, health librarians or other health professionals who are engaged in health information work in Australia. While the research interest in health information work of all descriptions is increasing, the practice of health information work is neither highly skilled nor easily identifiable in findings of an Australian census. Reforming this workforce may be a key to translating digital health rhetoric into measurable improvements in health system performance.
Encouraging the Use of eHealth Services: A Survey of Patients' Experiences
Authors: Karisalmi Nina  , Kaipio Johanna  , Kujala Sari
Published: February 2025

To promote eHealth services effectively, it is important to understand what motivates people to use these services and how they can be further supported. Our aim was to explore user experiences with eHealth services from the viewpoint of patients with chronic illnesses. The survey data included responses from 397 patients actively using eHealth services in Finland. Most of them had positive experiences using the services. We found that these positive experiences and the perceived benefits of eHealth services encouraged patients to continue using the services. In order to bolster the use of eHealth services, patients and other potential users must be informed about the new services and how to access them. Healthcare personnel play a key role in introducing eHealth services to patients and instructing them on their use.
Canadian Validation of German Medical Emergency Datasets
Authors: Koczerginski Josh  , Ho Kendall  , Golby Riley  , Borycki Elizabeth M.  , Kushniruk Andre W.  , Born Judith  , Juhra Christian
Published: February 2025

Medical Emergency Datasets (MEDs) are brief summarizations of an individual's medical history, providing vital patient information to emergency medical providers. A recent German study [1] evaluated whether MEDs are useful to local emergency physicians and paramedics, and which health data were relevant to their medical management. To validate of the German study internationally, Canadian physicians and paramedics were recruited to provide feedback on the utility of the German MEDs as well as their specific content. Original documents and surveys were translated to English directly, with a goal of collecting quantitative and qualitative feedback. Overall, physicians and paramedics found the MEDs to be useful in their evaluation of hypothetical medical scenarios. Most of the MED content was very useful, with some items appearing extraneous. The findings of this study will be used to inform future development of MEDs as well as to drive future research.
Updated Mapping of Telemedicine Projects in Denmark
Authors: Kristensen Mie Borch Dahl  , Høiberg Lone  , Nøhr Christian
Published: February 2025

Telemedicine is suffering from pilotitis. Only few initiatives manage to scale up to make significant impact. It is challenging to obtain good indicators for dissemination and use, and it is, therefore, difficult to provide evidence that telemedicine projects fulfil the prophecies of reducing cost, improving quality of care and providing equitable access to health care services. The telemedicine mapping project seeks to provide a national contemporary overview of telemedicine initiatives in Denmark. The project is introduced, challenges in keeping the database behind the map updated are presented and attempts to promote rapid update are discussed.
Tools for Engaging Patients on Patient Platforms: A Classification Framework
Authors: Lai Claudia  , Jadad Alejandro R.  , Deber Raisa  , Shachak Aviv
Published: February 2025

This paper outlines a framework for identifying and classifying different types of patient engagement tools, available on online patient platforms, according to the flow of information and patient engagement concepts. We demonstrate the application of the framework using data collected from a purposive sample of eleven patient platforms, stratified by various attributes (for-profit/not-for-profit, single/multiple conditions, different conditions). This framework can help health care organizations in better understanding the processes supported by various tools, and thereby determining better ways to engage patients using web-based Platforms.
Privacy and Policy Implications for Big Data and Health Information Technology for Patients: A Historical and Legal Analysis
Authors: Thakkar Vidhi  , Gordon Kayleigh
Published: February 2025

The consideration of privacy and policy implications for big data is essential to designing patient-centered health technology. A literature review demonstrated a significant gap to moving forward with information technology in healthcare. Ovid Medline and Google Scholar were searched to identify papers related to health technology, patient outcomes, and policy implications of Big Data. The findings of this research showed that despite a robust legal framework and clear outline of the legislation, there exists an innovative opportunity for health technologies to evolve and become patient-centered by integrating privacy and policy knowledge in health information technology. This historical legal analysis is valuable to health system leaders, decision-makers, health technology companies that are creating innovative platforms, and clinicians in both Canada and the United States.
Data Profiling in Support of Entity Resolution of Multi-Institutional EHR Data
Authors: Wang Pei  , Pullen Daniel  , Garza Maryam  , Walden Anita  , Zozus Meredith
Published: February 2025

Information Quality (IQ) is a core tenant of contemporary data management practices. Across many disciplines and industries, it has become a necessary process to improve value and reduce liability in data driven processes. Information quality is a multifaceted discipline with many degrees of complexity in implementation, especially in healthcare. Data profiling is one of the simpler tasks that an organization can perform to understand and monitor the intrinsic quality of its data. This case study demonstrates the application of core concepts of data profiling to entity resolution of multi-institutional Electronic Health Record (EHR) data. We discuss the benefits of using data profiling to better understand quality issues and their impact on entity resolution and how data profiling might be augmented to increase utility to clinical data.
Axe the Fax: What Users Think of Electronic Referral
Authors: Alarakhia Mohamed  , Costa Andrew  , Roudsari Abdul
Published: February 2025

Long wait times for elective services are seen as one of the major challenges for Canadian healthcare. Canadians report that they wait longer for specialists than citizens in other countries. The main reason for this is that the referral process is poorly coordinated and leads to delays in care. Electronic referral (eReferral) is seen as a potential means of improving the referral process and enabling faster access to care. There is the potential for national implementation of eReferral in Canada to help achieve this aim. However, existing initiatives have encountered challenges with user adoption and users have continued to use fax. A validated tool was used to survey both users of fax as well as users of eReferral. These two groups of users were then compared. Most family physicians using fax were satisfied overall with the process. This highlighted how challenging any change of this engrained technology will be. There were, however, some significant areas were eReferral was superior to fax. This included response time, the overall quality of referral information, completeness of the information, the timeliness of the information, and the format and layout. There is an opportunity to leverage these findings to support the adoption of eReferral and help reduce wait times.
Insight into Health Care Outcomes for Persons Living with Heart Failure Using Health Data Analytics
Authors: El Morr Christo  , Ginsburg Liane  , Nam Seungree  , Cheung Wendy  , Brien Heather  , Maloul Asmaa  , Cohen Nancy  , La Croix Helene  , Woolard Susan
Published: February 2025

The Integrated Funding Model (IFM) is designed to measure the impact of a bundled model of health care for patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) for a period of 60 days post discharge. CHF is a primary reason for patient admissions. The goal of this study is to gain insight into the effectiveness of the IFM pathway intervention on health care outcomes for persons living with CHF, using Health data Analytics.
Use of Social Networks for Learning Purposes Among Medical and Paramedical Sciences Students, Mashhad, Iran
Authors: Sarbaz Masoumeh  , Banaye Yazdipour Alireza  , Kimiafar Khalil
Published: February 2025

Social networking sites are communication and information technologies which can facilitate the interaction between professors and students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of social networks for learning purposes among medical and paramedical sciences students in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (northeastern Iran). A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2017 and the research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire based on a literature review. The results showed that social networks such as Telegram (3.44 ± 1.27 out of 5) and Instagram (1.83 ± 1.17) were the most frequently used social networks. On the other hand, Snapchat (1.04 ± 0.22) and Flickr (1.05 ± 0.31) were the least used social networks for learning purposes. The findings of the study showed that medical students have problems in using social networks for learning purposes. Familiarizing students with scientific and professional social networks such as ResearchGate and Linkedin and creating dedicated social networks, rather than public social networks, designed to achieve educational goals can resolve many problems.
Query Translation Between openEHR and i2b2
Authors: Fette Georg  , Kaspar Mathias  , Liman Leon  , Dietrich Georg  , Ertl Maximilian  , Krebs Jonathan  , Störk Stefan  , Puppe Frank
Published: February 2025

Secondary use of electronic health records using data warehouses (DW) has become an attractive approach to support clinical research. In order to increase the volume of underlying patient data DWs at different institutions can be connected to research networks. Two obstacles to connect a DW to such a network are the syntactical differences between the involved DW technologies and differences in the data models of the connected DWs. The current work presents an approach to tackle both problems by translating queries from the DW system openEHR into queries from the DW system i2b2 and vice versa. For the subset of queries expressible in the query languages of both systems, the presented approach is well feasible.
Organizations Towards “Big Data”-Driven Approaches in Personalized Medicine? An Empirical-Ethical Study in Health-Related IT
Authors: Rauter Carolin Martina  , Wöhlke Sabine  , Schicktanz Silke
Published: February 2025

Personalized medicine (PM) operates with sensitive biological data to optimize prevention and therapy. Therefore, ethical concerns by stakeholders such as patient organizations (POs) need to be reflected. We used an empirical-ethical approach including a website-analysis and 30 telephone-interviews for gaining in-depth insight into POs attitudes towards PM and Big Data. Three different types of stakeholder commitment can be derived from our data: ‘Biomaterial donors’ support research projects through tissue donation while ‘financers’ provide financial aid. The ‘independent’ keep control over their tissue donations and decide what it is used for. Our insights allow to shape future innovations in IT towards stakeholder's needs.
How to Harness Big Data for the Benefit of Patients
Authors: Meulien Pierre
Published: February 2025

IMI is a large public private partnership which has committed Euro 5 Billion from the European Commission, the European Pharmaceutical sector and other partners, to enable and accelerate bringing medical innovation to patients. IMI is now 10 years old and already has changed the ecosystem and way of working in developing innovative medicines across the public/private divide. Big data represents a significant piece of this investment and projects in this area are attempting to provide solutions to major challenges including:
Establishing an Interoperable Clinical Trial Information System Within MIRACUM
Authors: Hasselblatt Hanna  , Andrae Johanna  , Tassoni Adrian  , Fitzer Kai  , Bahls Thomas  , Prokosch Hans-Ulrich  , Boeker Martin
Published: February 2025

In the long-run we wish to demonstrate the power of linking clinical trial information to routine health records for straightforward patient recruitment – not only at each single hospital but in a large German consortium (called MIRACUM). In such architecture a hospital wide clinical trial registry (CTR) plays a major role. All such site specific CTR however, also need to be interoperable and support automated data provision for a central MIRACUM wide trial registry. Based on a survey of already existing trial information systems at each partner site and a comparison of their functionality, a joint requirement specification was created, a minimal MIRACUM wide trial core dataset was defined and an architecture was designed in which each MIRACUM partner could keep their autonomous system decision. Partners could however also join forces in a cooperative enhancement of a new open source trial registry. Thus, sites with no trial registry could be supported by the others and synergies used. Finally, the newly developed CTR will allow modular site specific add-ons and can also take over the function of the MIRACUM wide trial registry. In this paper we describe the process, how such a consortium-wide CTR was designed and developed, while always keeping cross-site interoperability as a major requirement.