Providing Telehealth Services to a Public Primary Care Network: The Experience of RedeNUTES in Pernambuco, Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Information technologies have been applied in primary care domains to improve the delivery of health services. This article reports the telehealth network experience in Pernambuco, Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five different data sets were used, one by each service and the structural aspects of the network, collected from 2008 until August 2015. The data include solicited themes for educational activities, users' evaluation of services, numbers of sites, municipalities participating, participants in tele-education activities, teleconsultations, telediagnosis, and remote screenings. The analysis was done in absolute and percentage values using Microsoft Excel (version 2007). RESULTS: The indicators show high utilization of tele-education resources, followed by the teleconsultation service. The synchronous modality was the most used and the general clinical question was the most frequent type of question. Nurses are the professional category that most used the teleconsultation services (36%). Telediagnosis of electrocardiography has growth utilization, overcoming teleconsulting more recently. The satisfaction rate was 89%, and 68.5% of professionals changed their planning to patients' referrals to specialists. CONCLUSIONS: Telehealth has been considered effective since it avoids inappropriate referrals of the patient and provides continuous actualization to health professionals. Our results provide evidence of the feasibility and importance of using telehealth as a tool to ensure the universality, equality, and completeness in the health system.

Telehealth and the COVID-19 Pandemic: International Perspectives and a Health Systems Framework for Telehealth Implementation to Support Critical Response.

OBJECTIVES: Telehealth implementation is a complex systems-based endeavour. This paper compares telehealth responses to (COrona VIrus Disease 2019) COVID-19 across ten countries to identify lessons learned about the complexity of telehealth during critical response such as in response to a global pandemic. Our overall objective is to develop a health systems-based framework for telehealth implementation to support critical response. METHODS: We sought responses from the members of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Telehealth Working Group (WG) on their practices and perception of telehealth practices during the times of COVID-19 pandemic in their respective countries. We then analysed their responses to identify six emerging themes that we mapped to the World Health Organization (WHO) model of health systems. RESULTS: Our analysis identified six emergent themes. (1) Government, legal or regulatory aspects of telehealth; (2) Increase in telehealth capacity and delivery; (3) Regulated and unregulated telehealth; (4) Changes in the uptake and perception of telemedicine; (5) Public engagement in telehealth responses to COVID-19; and (6) Implications for training and education. We discuss these themes and then use them to develop a systems framework for telehealth support in critical response. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 has introduced new challenges for telehealth support in times of critical response. Our themes and systems framework extend the WHO systems model and highlight that telemedicine usage in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is complex and multidimensional. Our systems-based framework provides guidance for telehealth implementation as part of health systems response to a global pandemic such as COVID-19.

An Obstetric Application Architecture for Information, Diagnosis and Control of Diabetes in High Risk Pregnancy.

Hyperglycemia associated with pregnancy has been related to several unfavorable perinatal outcomes, as well as to the increase of incidence on future complications. Thus, the diagnosis of hyperglycemia in the pregnancy-puerperal context should be a global health concern. This article presents the development of a mobile application prototype which informs, imparts accurate diagnosis and provides tools for obstetric telemonitoring in women with pregnancy associated diabetes. After detailed analysis of the proposals for a new diagnostic strategy considering possible scarcity of resources, key elements were selected and inserted into the prototype, in order to cater for the most aspects and make it as thorough as possible. The application has been adapted to the Brazilian reality, however, having adjustments in compliance with international protocols, it has the potential to be used worldwide.

Improving Education of Medical Students Through Telehealth.

Telehealth can be used in medical education to promote teaching-service integration as a low-cost solution to broaden the field of medical practice, especially in rural areas of low and middle-income countries. This article presents our experience in the use of telehealth to broaden the practice field of medical students. In 2017, two itinerants' actions were carried out in municipalities in the state of Pernambuco. In both actions, 396 patients were assisted by a team of professionals, teachers and students in various specialties, with emphasis on mental health and dermatology. 9 students experimented with the use of an electronic patient record system, telehealth platform and a mobile application for tracking of disorders and diseases. The students reported high satisfaction with digital distance practices, and the enrichment of their learning. This digital approach to medical education has fostered greater collaboration among students, faculty and staff, teaching students the skills necessary for their future digital practices.

Prototype of Care Application for Obstetric Telemonitoring of Hypertensive Syndromes in High Risk Pregnancy.

This article describes the development of a prototype application for obstetric telemonitoring of hypertensive syndromes during pregnancy. A workflow was elaborated with the conduct for gestational hypertensive syndromes. Subsequently, prototyping was performed using Balsamiq. The prototype presents daily monitoring of blood pressure, signs and symptoms, displays accompanying charts, and generates alerts when there are changes to more or less the normal values, which are sent to the pregnant woman and the health professional.

Calidad de los registros de enfermería en el posoperatorio / Quality of Postoperative Nursing Records

Introducción: Los registros de enfermería se utilizan para comunicar la información del paciente entre las enfermeras y el equipo multidisciplinario durante todo el período perioperatorio. Sin embargo, hay estudios que muestran que las prácticas de documentación de las enfermeras se caracterizan por la subjetividad, la aleatoriedad y la mala calidad. Objetivo: Analizar la evidencia en la literatura científica sobre la calidad de los registros de enfermería en el posoperatorio. Métodos: Revisión integradora de literatura basada en las directrices del PRISMA en las bases de datos LILACS, PubMed, BDENF, Web of Science, Scopus y Embase. Los artículos fueron seleccionados con los siguientes descriptores: "calidad de la atención de salud", "atención posoperatoria", "registros de enfermería". Para la estrategia de búsqueda se utilizaron los operadores booleanos AND y OR, con búsqueda conjunta e individual. Los criterios de inclusión fueron abordar la calidad de los registros de enfermería en el título o resumen, ser un artículo de investigación y estar publicado en su totalidad. Se excluyó la literatura gris y los estudios que no respondieron a la pregunta de investigación. El procesamiento y análisis de los datos se llevó a cabo con la ayuda del software Rayyan QCRI® y Microsoft Excel®, donde se organizaron artículos con información metodológica y temática. Conclusión: Las prácticas de registros de enfermería son incipientes. Fue clara la necesidad de un mayor apoyo de la gerencia de las instituciones de salud en la implementación del registro de enfermería concomitante al proceso de enfermería y educación continua(AU)

Introduction: Nursing records are used to communicate patient information between nurses and the multidisciplinary team throughout the perioperative period. However, studies show that nurses' documentation practices are characterized by subjectivity, randomness, and poor quality. Objective: To analyze the evidence in the scientific literature on the quality of postoperative nursing records. Methods: Integrative literature review based on PRISMA guidelines in LILACS, PubMed, BDENF, Web of Science, Scopus and Embase databases. Articles were selected with the following descriptors: "quality of health care", "postoperative care", "nursing records". For the search strategy, the Boolean operators AND and OR were used, with joint and individual search. Inclusion criteria were to address the quality of nursing records in the title or abstract, to be a research article, and to be published in full. Gray literature and studies that did not answer the research question were excluded. Data processing and analysis was carried out using Rayyan QCRI® and Microsoft Excel® software, where articles were organized with methodological and thematic information. Conclusion: Nursing records practices are incipient. It was clear the need for greater support from the management of health institutions in the implementation of the nursing registry concomitant to the nursing process and continuing education(AU)

Validation of Minimum Data of Archetyped Telehealth Clinical Report for Monitoring Prenatal Care.

Studies on the validation of minimum data sets from international information standards have drawn the attention of the academic community to the identification of necessary requirements for the development of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The primary motivation of such studies is the development of systems using archetypes. The aim of this study was to validate the minimum data set that should be used when constructing an archetyped EHR for prenatal care applications in telehealth. In order to achieve this, a data validation tool was built and used by nine expert obstetricians. The statistical analysis employed was the percentage of agreement and the content validity index. The study was conducted in three steps: 1) Literature review, 2)Instrument development, and 3) Validation of the minimum data set. Of the 179 evaluated pieces of data, 157 of them were validated to be included in the archetyped record of the first prenatal consultation, while 56 of them were allocated for the subsequent consultation record. The benefit of this research is the standardization (data validation for an archetyped system) of prenatal care, with the perspective of employing, both nationally and internationally, an archtyped telehealth system.

A Comparison between LMS tools to support e-health educational activities.

The objective of this study is to understand how a Learning Management System (LMS) plataform is used in a telehealth center to support two virtual learning enviroments focused on the education of the healthcare professionals and the students of a medical schoool. The study outcome is expected to provide indications towards choosing a better LSM for the telehelath center to support their educacional activities.

Análise do grau de dependência de cuidados de enfermagem em uma unidade de recuperação pós-anestésica / Análisis del grado de dependencia de los cuidados de enfermería en una unidad de recuperación post anestesia / Analysis of the degree of dependence of nursing care in a post-anesthetic recovery unit

Resumo O objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar o grau de dependência de pacientes em uma Unidade de Recuperação Pós-Anestésica, comparando as necessidades de cuidados de enfermagem. Trata-se de um estudo quantitativo, transversal e descritivo. Dois instrumentos validados foram utilizados para classificar os pacientes de acordo com o grau de dependência e o índice Kappa para avaliar a concordância entre os instrumentos. Verificou-se uma prevalência na população masculina de 45 (64,3%), a especialidade médica mais atendida foi a neurocirurgia com 48 (68,6%). 65 pacientes (92,9%) foram geralmente classificados como graves e 59 (84%) a 60 (86%) que necessitaram de cuidados intensivos de enfermagem de acordo com os instrumentos que avaliam o grau de dependência. Conclui-se que o aumento da necessidade de cuidados depende inteiramente da gravidade do paciente e pode-se verificar que a faixa etária e os procedimentos invasivos realizados são variáveis que envolvem diretamente os cuidados prestados, uma vez que esses fatores contribuem diretamente para o aumento da o grau de dependência e duração da permanência no serviço de saúde.

Abstract The objective of this research was to analyze the degree of dependence of patients in a Post Anesthesia Recovery Unit comparing nursing care needs. It is a quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study. Two validated instruments were used to classify patients according to the degree of dependence, and the Kappa index was used to assess the agreement between the instruments. It was found that there is a prevalence of the male population of 45 (64.3%), the most attended medical specialty was neurosurgery with 48 (68.6%). 65 patients (92.9%) were generally classified as serious and 59 (84%) to 60 (86%) who required intensive nursing care according to the instruments that assess the degree of dependence. It is concluded that the increase in the need for care depends entirely on the severity of the patient, and it can be verified that the age group and the invasive procedures performed are variables that directly involve the care provided since these factors contribute directly to the increase in the degree of dependence and duration of stay in the health service.

Resumen El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar el grado de dependencia de los pacientes en una Unidad de Recuperación Post anestesia comparando las necesidades de atención de enfermería. Es un estudio cuantitativo, transversal y descriptivo. Se utilizaron dos instrumentos validados para clasificar a los pacientes según el grado de dependencia, y se utilizó el índice Kappa para evaluar el acuerdo entre los instrumentos. Se encontró que hay una prevalencia de la población masculina de 45 (64.3%), la especialidad médica más atendida fue la neurocirugía con 48 (68.6%). 65 pacientes (92,9%) estaban en general clasificados como graves y 59 (84%) a 60 (86%) que requerían atención de enfermería intensiva según los instrumentos que evalúan el grado de dependencia. Se concluye que el aumento en la necesidad de atención depende totalmente de la gravedad del paciente, y se puede verificar que el grupo de edad y los procedimientos invasivos realizados son variables que implican directamente la atención brindada, ya que estos factores contribuyen directamente al aumento en el grado de dependencia y duración de la estancia en el servicio de salud.

Representing second opinion requests from primary care within the Brazilian tele-health program: international classification of primary care, second edition.

Standardization of second opinion question-answer pairs with a classification system can be used to facilitate data sharing and reuse. The Brazilian telehealth program faces the problem of representing biomedical knowledge from the primary care second opinion demands generated by rural health care teams. The objective is to determine if one of the medical classification systems has a superior ability to standardize Portuguese-language second opinion question-answer pairs. Data from 2,638 second opinions from 2010 were randomly reduced to a 264 question-answer pair data set. The semantic meaning of the question-answer pairs was manually assigned to an International Classification of Primary Care, Second edition (ICPC2) code. Eight question-answer pairs did not contain sufficient medical semantic meaning to allow for mapping to an ICPC2 code; 53 question-answer pairs did contain sufficient medical semantic meaning for mapping, however an appropriate ICPC2 code did not exist; and 203 question-answer pairs did contain sufficient medical semantic meaning for mapping to an ICPC2 code. A review of the literature indicates that there is no baseline to compare the 77% success rate against.

A human centered GeoVisualization framework to facilitate visual exploration of telehealth data: a case study.

PURPOSE: Public health data is typically organized by geospatial units. Routine geographic monitoring of health data enables an understanding of the spatial patterns of events in terms of causes and controls. GeoVisualization (GeoVis) allows users to see information hidden both visually and explicitly on a map. Despite the applicability of GeoVis in public health, it is still underused for visualizing public health data. The objective of this study is to examine the perception of telehealth users' to utilize GeoVis as a proof of concept to facilitate visual exploration of telehealth data in Brazil using principles of human centered approach and cognitive fit theory. METHODS: A mixed methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative assessments was utilized in this cross sectional study conducted at the Telehealth Center of the Federal University of Pernambuco (NUTE-UFPE), Recife, Brazil. A convenient sample of 20 participants currently involved in NUTES was drawn during a period of Sep-Oct 2011. Data was gathered using previously tested questionnaire surveys and in-person interviews. Socio-demographic Information such as age, gender, prior education, familiarity with the use of computer and GeoVis was gathered. Other information gathered included participants' prior spatial analysis skills, level of motivation and use of GeoVis in telehealth. Audio recording was done for all interviews conducted in both English and Portuguese, and transcription of the audio content to English was done by a certified translator. Univariate analysis was performed and means and standard deviations were reported for the continuous variables and frequency distributions for the categorical variables. For the open-ended questions, we utilized a grounded theory to identify themes and their relationship as they emerge from the data. Analysis of the quantitative data was performed using SAS V9.1 and qualitative data was performed using NVivo9. RESULTS: The average age of participants was 28 years (SD=7), a majority of them were females and 100% were professionals with graduate degrees. The users had diverse backgrounds including nursing, computer science, biomedical informatics, statistics, dentistry, administration and engineering. The users had varied roles and responsibilities, used computers frequently but only 5% of them were familiar with GeoVis. Google maps were the most common GeoVis application that the users were familiar with. Despite having minimal spatial skills, there was a strong motivation and relevance among the telehealth users to use GeoVis to facilitate visual exploration of telehealth data for better informed decision making. Results also showed that of the 60% participants with no GeoVis familiarity; 33% had moderate to large data exploratory role, 83% had no spatial skills but 58% preferred analyzing both spatial and temporal dimensions of the data. Majority of the participants agreed to have maps as the first choice to represent the data as it will be able to display the events both in place and time. DISCUSSION: The results demonstrate a potentially growing need for the use of GeoVis applications to evaluate telehealth data. Understanding of user needs is essential to ensure that the technology is appropriately functional and will be useful to complete the tasks.

Designing human centered GeoVisualization application--the SanaViz--for telehealth users: a case study.

BACKGROUND: Public health data is typically organized by geospatial unit. GeoVisualization (GeoVis) allows users to see information visually on a map. OBJECTIVES: Examine telehealth users' perceptions towards existing public health GeoVis applications and obtains users' feedback about features important for the design and development of Human Centered GeoVis application "the SanaViz". METHODS: We employed a cross sectional study design using mixed methods approach for this pilot study. Twenty users involved with the NUTES telehealth center at Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Brazil were enrolled. Open and closed ended questionnaires were used to gather data. We performed audio recording for the interviews. Information gathered included socio-demographics, prior spatial skills and perception towards use of GeoVis to evaluate telehealth services. Card sorting and sketching methods were employed. Univariate analysis was performed for the continuous and categorical variables. Qualitative analysis was performed for open ended questions. RESULTS: Existing Public Health GeoVis applications were difficult to use. Results found interaction features zooming, linking and brushing and representation features Google maps, tables and bar chart as most preferred GeoVis features. CONCLUSIONS: Early involvement of users is essential to identify features necessary to be part of the human centered GeoVis application "the SanaViz".

Experiences on the use of a second opinion software for the primary care.

This article describes the experience on the implantation and use of a Internet telehealth system for the primary care public service in the state of Pernambuco in Brazil. This system was designed to face several problems on the delivery of healthcare to people living in remote and/or poor areas.