The influence of goal setting and SmartRoom patient education videos on readmission rate, length of stay, and patient satisfaction in the orthopedic spine population.

The SmartRoom technology, a system now owned by TeleTracking Technologies, aims to transform the delivery of patient care in the inpatient environment. The purpose of this project was to use goal setting and SmartRoom patient education videos to examine whether the videos more effectively engaged patients and their families in their discharge plan and encouraged them to take a more active role in their care while hospitalized. This study used a descriptive design to analyze the effect of goal setting and patient education videos on patient satisfaction at discharge, hospital average length of stay, and 30-day readmission rate in the orthopedic spine surgical care setting. Comparisons were made among three patient groups. No statistically significant difference was found for average length of stay and 30-day readmission across these three groups. However, patient satisfaction with discharge, as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems, revealed an increase in five items regarding discharge with statistically significant differences on two of the five items.

Third-year medical students' knowledge of privacy and security issues concerning mobile devices.

BACKGROUND: The use of mobile devices are ubiquitous in medical-care professional settings, but information on privacy and security concerns of mobile devices for medical students is scarce. AIMS: To gain baseline information about third-year medical students' mobile device use and knowledge of privacy and security issues concerning mobile devices. METHODS: We surveyed 67 third-year medical students at a Midwestern university on their use of mobile devices and knowledge of how to protect information available through mobile devices. Students were also presented with clinical scenarios to rate their level of concern in regards to privacy and security of information. RESULTS: The most used features of mobile devices were: voice-to-voice (100%), text messaging (SMS) (94%), Internet (76.9%), and email (69.3%). For locking of one's personal mobile phone, 54.1% never physically lock their phone, and 58% never electronically lock their personal PDA. Scenarios considering definitely privacy concerns include emailing patient information intact (66.7%), and posting de-identified information on YouTube (45.2%) or Facebook (42.2%). CONCLUSIONS: As the ease of sharing data increases with the use of mobile devices, students need more education and training on possible privacy and security risks posed with mobile devices.

A description of a Web-based educational tool for understanding the PICO framework in evidence-based practice with a citation ranking system.

Asking a well-defined clinical question has revealed itself as a learned skill. Asking a "good" question is not an innate response to a clinical problem or clinical case but a task that requires insight, critical thinking, and evaluation, as well as grounding in subject-specific background information. To aid in the proficiency of asking an answerable clinical question, a Web-based tool named Accessing and Assessing the Evidence was developed to tutor students in asking such questions. The tool, consisting of two modules, presents the principles of evidence-based practice question formulation in the first module and permits users to compare their critical opinions of article citations and abstracts to those of their peers and experts in the second module. Initial findings suggest that the Accessing and Assessing the Evidence tool may be a valuable independent learning tool for undergraduate nursing students by providing question structure guidance with practical learning scenarios.

Linking the health data system in the U.S.: Challenges to the benefits.

In order to improve patient care in the United States there, the government made a mandate called HIE (Health Information Exchange). This order was created from the belief that sharing digital health information between, across, and within health communities will improve one's healthcare experience across their lifespan. Patient health information, i.e. the personal health record, should be shareable between healthcare providers; such as private practice physicians, home health agencies, hospitals and nursing care facilities. Most of the U.S. hospitals now have electronic health records, however, with a lack of standards for structuring health information and unified communication protocols to share health information across providers, only a small percentage of U.S. hospitals engage in computerized HIE. In order to understand barriers and facilitators in the U.S. of HIE adoption, we reviewed the published research literature between 2010 and 2015. Our search yielded 664 articles from Medline, PsychInfo, Global health, InSpec, Scopus and Business Source Complete databases. Thirty-nine articles met our inclusion criteria. This article presents the compiled organizational and end user barriers and facilitators along with suggested methods to achieve continuity of care through HIE.

Transitioning from clinician to clinical research coordinator.

Use your nursing skills and personal qualities to move into this fast-growing, intellectually stimulating field.

Patient first: a patient sensitivity tool for an electronic health record implementation.

Throughout the country, use of electronic health records continues to increase. For successful implementation of an electronic health record system in an acute care setting, it is vital to educate and address the patient's perceptions about the use of technology when caring for the patient. This article describes the development of an educational sensitivity tool designed to enhance clinicians' simultaneous interactions with patients and computers in a midsize community hospital. The Patient First tool brings attention to the thoughts and perceptions a patient may have in various situations, promoting alternative solutions for staff to properly address the patient's concerns. A committee was developed to address concerns regarding the impact a computer at the bedside would have on patient and clinician interactions. One primary educational tool developed was the Patient First sensitivity presentation that cautioned and guided clinicians to be aware of patient perceptions.

Using GIS to establish a public library consumer health collection.

BACKGROUND: Learning the exact demographic characteristics of a neighborhood in which a public library serves, assists the collection development librarian in building an appropriate collection. Gathering that demographic information can be a lengthy process, and then formatting the information for the neighborhood in question becomes arduous.As society ages and the methods for health care evolve, people may take charge of their own health. With this prospectus, public libraries should consider creating a consumer health collection to assist the public in their health care needs. Using neighborhood demographic information can inform the collection development librarians as to the dominant age groups, sex, and races within the neighborhood. With this information, appropriate consumer health materials may be assembled in the public library. METHODS: In order to visualize the demographics of a neighborhood, the computer program ArcView GIS (geographic information systems) was used to create maps for specified areas. The neighborhood data was taken from the U.S. Census Department's annual census and library addresses were accumulated through a free database. After downloading the census block information from http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/ the data was manipulated with ArcView GIS and queried to produce maps displaying the requested neighborhood demographics to view in respect to libraries. RESULTS: ArcView GIS produced maps displaying public libraries and requested demographics. After viewing the maps the collection development librarian can see exactly what populations are served by the library and adjust the library's collection accordingly. CONCLUSIONS: ArcView GIS can be used to produce maps displaying the communities that libraries serve, spot boundaries, be it "man-made or natural," that exist prohibiting customer service, and assist collection development librarians in justifying their purchases for a dedicated consumer health collection or resources in general.