Consistency of Physician Data Across Health Insurer Directories.

This study assesses the consistency of information across publicly available physician directories from 5 large national health insurers.

Impact of the COVID-19 facemask disposal on environment and perception of people of the Sultanate of Oman

Background:Environmental concerns are increasing in and around us due to improper discharge of personal protective gear or equipment (PPEs) during the current pandemic with SARS-CoV-2.The residents of Salalah, under the Dhofar governorate of Oman,were hastening to take every possible measure to safeguard their health against the COVID-19 pandemic. In this scenario, improper discard of facemasks in the environment entails a significant problem forpublic health and aquatic environments. Objective:This study aimsto assess how the SARS-CoV-2 virus disrupted the household waste management chainin the Sultanate of Oman. In addition, descriptivesurvey has also identified people's perception about the existing household waste management system. Methods:Total 200 respondents were personally selected under the purposive sampling category. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26. The mean, standard deviation, and distribution shapewere calculated based on the retrieved data. The variables and frequencies were tabulated for categorical variables. Results show negative impacts on the environment, wildlife, and public health. It was also observed that there was a significant difference when grouped according to residence location since the obtainedalso observed a significant difference when grouped according to residence location since thep-value of 0.007 was less than 0.05 alpha level. This means that the responses differ significantly. It shows from the test conducted that participantsfrom the village experienced and observed a negative impact on the discarded face masks comparedto those in the city.Conclusion and recommendation: This study illustrates the real impact of the COVID-19 facemasks on the environment, wildlife, and public health. In addition, the new management of the user's facemasks for eliminating or reducing the risks to human health and the environmenthas been suggested. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2022; 36(2):000-000

Lista de anomalias congênitas prioritárias para vigilância no âmbito do Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos do Brasil / Lista de anomalías congénitas prioritarias para la vigilancia bajo el Sistema de Información sobre Nacidos Vivos en Brasil / List of priority congenital anomalies for surveillance under the Brazilian Live Birth Information System

Objetivo: Definir a lista de anomalias congênitas prioritárias para o aprimoramento do registro no Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos (Sinasc). Métodos: A partir da Décima Revisão da Classificação Estatística Internacional de Doenças e Problemas Relacionados à Saúde (CID-10), protocolos internacionais e reuniões com especialistas, a lista de anomalias prioritárias foi construída considerando-se dois critérios principais: ser diagnosticável ao nascimento; e possuir intervenção disponível em diferentes níveis. A lista foi submetida a apreciação da Sociedade Brasileira de Genética Médica e Genômica. Resultados: Compuseram a lista oito grupos de anomalias congênitas distribuídos de acordo com o tipo de anomalia relacionada, bem como a parte do corpo afetada e sua correspondência ao código do capítulo XVII da CID-10. Conclusão: A lista de anomalias congênitas prioritárias para notificação fornece subsídios para o aprimoramento do registro no Sinasc.

Objetivo: Definir la lista de anomalías congénitas prioritarias para perfeccionar el registro en el Sistema de Información de Nacidos Vivos (Sinasc). Métodos: Con base en la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades, Décima Revisión (CIE-10), protocolos internacionales y reuniones con especialistas, la lista de anomalías prioritarias se construyó considerando dos criterios principales: ser diagnosticables al nacer y tener intervención disponible en diferentes niveles. La lista fue sometida a la consideración de la Sociedad Brasileña de Genética y Genómica Médica. Resultados: La lista comprendía ocho grupos de anomalías congénitas distribuidos según el tipo de anomalía relacionada, así como la parte del cuerpo afectada, todos ellos relacionados con algún código del capítulo XVII de la CIE-10. Conclusión: La lista de anomalías congénitas prioritarias para notificación proporciona subsidios para mejorar el registro en Sinasc.

Objective: To define the list of priority congenital anomalies for improving their recording on the Brazilian Live Birth Information System (Sinasc). Methods: Based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), international protocols and meetings with specialists, the list of priority anomalies was built considering two main criteria: being diagnosable at birth and having intervention available at different levels. The list was submitted for consideration by the Brazilian Medical Genetics and Genomics Society. Results: The list comprised eight groups of congenital anomalies distributed according to the type of related anomaly, as well as the affected part of the body and its corresponding code in ICD-10 Chapter XVII. Conclusion: The list of priority congenital anomalies for notification provides a basis for improving case recording on Sinasc.

Automated data extraction from historical city directories: The rise and fall of mid-century gas stations in Providence, RI.

The location of defunct environmentally hazardous businesses like gas stations has many implications for modern American cities. To track down these locations, we present the directoreadr code (github.com/brown-ccv/directoreadr). Using scans of Polk city directories from Providence, RI, directoreadr extracts and parses business location data with a high degree of accuracy. The image processing pipeline ran without any human input for 94.4% of the pages we examined. For the remaining 5.6%, we processed them with some human input. Through hand-checking a sample of three years, we estimate that ~94.6% of historical gas stations are correctly identified and located, with historical street changes and non-standard address formats being the main drivers of errors. As an example use, we look at gas stations, finding that gas stations were most common early in the study period in 1936, beginning a sharp and steady decline around 1950. We are making the dataset produced by directoreadr publicly available. We hope it will be used to explore a range of important questions about socioeconomic patterns in Providence and cities like it during the transformations of the mid-1900s.

Survey of drug information centers in the United States-2018.

PURPOSE: To provide a current directory of drug information centers (DICs) in the United States and present information about their characteristics, activities and services, and networking activities. METHODS: In February 2018, an electronic 23-question survey was delivered to 118 contacts on a distribution list compiled from previous directories of DICs, responses to listserv messages, and an Internet search. DICs, defined as formal centers dedicated to providing drug information services, including but not limited to responding to drug information requests, were asked questions about their characteristics, activities and services, drug information requests, and networking activities. RESULTS: The response rate was 79% (93 of 118 DICs). Of the 93 respondents, 82 (88%) met the definition of a DIC and were included in the directory. Of the 82 included DICs, 37 (45%) belonged to a university or college, while 36 (44%) belonged to a medical center or hospital. Seventy percent of the DICs (n = 57) had been in existence for more than 20 years. Of the 81 respondents reporting activities performed at the DICs, precepting pharmacy students (n = 79, 98%) and training pharmacy residents and/or fellows (n = 68, 84%) were most commonly reported. Nearly 90% reported that answering drug information questions was central to the DIC operations. Most DICs (n = 52, 65%) indicated receiving an average of 50 requests or less on a monthly basis. DICs reported a variety of electronic means of communicating with the DIC community, although 16 (21%) of the 77 respondents reported no need to do so. CONCLUSION: The survey identified 82 DICs that collectively provide a variety of services to their clienteles. The DIC directory published herein should facilitate networking among DICs.

Development of the Pan African burn services directory.

BACKGROUND: International burn societies in many parts of the world have created electronic registries of burn centers in their region. No such directory exists for the continent of Africa. OBJECTIVE: To create the first electronic directory of burn care providers in Africa. METHODOLOGY: Emails were sent out to attendees of the Pan African Burn Congress and members of the Pan African Burn Society (PABS) asking if they would like to participate in the directory. Basic information about each burn site were obtained from respondents and compiled into the directory. An online interactive map was created and made available to the public. RESULTS: 40 burn sites were identified across 14 different countries. The majority of burn sites are located in only 5 countries. The most common language spoken is English, followed by French, Amharic, and Afrikaans. CONCLUSION: This is the first known online directory of burn sites in Africa. Significant challenges exist identifying burn care providers in large portions of the continent.

Improving provider directory accuracy: can machine-readable directories help?

OBJECTIVES: To examine inaccuracies in health plan provider directories and consider whether the machine-readable (MR) formats required of provider directories in the health insurance exchanges are more accurate than conventional directories and have the potential to improve directory accuracy in the future. STUDY DESIGN: The descriptive study design included qualitative data collection through stakeholder interviews and quantitative data analysis and verification of provider data source accuracy from multiple sources. METHODS: Four separate sources of provider data from 5 counties were captured and aggregated into an analytic database. Provider data were analyzed through text matching techniques and provider practice phone interviews. Additionally, we interviewed 21 stakeholders. RESULTS: In quantitative analysis, we found widespread inaccuracy in provider information across directory types. Provider directory phone numbers were more likely to align with Google data than with the directory for the same company's health plans in other markets. It is vastly less expensive to aggregate data from MR files than from conventional directories, which suggests that MR files have potential to be cost-effectively leveraged for data quality improvements. In qualitative analysis, we found that interviewees perceived provider directories as inaccurate, but they differed in their perceptions of the severity of the problem. Interviewees who were familiar with MR directories understood their advantages over conventional directories. CONCLUSIONS: The MR provider directories are not more accurate than the conventional provider directories. However, there is strong reason to believe that MR technology can be leveraged to increase accuracy. Promising state- and vendor-led initiatives also have the potential to correct widespread provider directory inaccuracy.

Facilitating accurate health provider directories using natural language processing.

BACKGROUND: Accurate information in provider directories are vital in health care including health information exchange, health benefits exchange, quality reporting, and in the reimbursement and delivery of care. Maintaining provider directory data and keeping it up to date is challenging. The objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of using natural language processing (NLP) techniques to combine disparate resources and acquire accurate information on health providers. METHODS: Publically available state licensure lists in Connecticut were obtained along with National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) public use files. Connecticut licensure lists textual information of each health professional who is licensed to practice within the state. A NLP-based system was developed based on healthcare provider taxonomy code, location, name and address information to identify textual data within the state and federal records. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation were performed, and the recall and precision were calculated. RESULTS: We identified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, and dentists in the State of Connecticut. The recall and precision were 0.95 and 0.93 respectively. Using the system, we were able to accurately acquire 6849 of the 7177 records of health provider directory information. CONCLUSIONS: The authors demonstrated that the NLP- based approach was effective at acquiring health provider information. Furthermore, the NLP-based system can always be applied to update information further reducing processing burdens as data changes.

International Board Members of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the "modern" American Journal of Ophthalmology (AJO). International influence has been present since the beginnings of the journal, and the AJO had boasted a number of foreign editorial board members and collaborators over the years. Within the article we present sketches of the deceased international board members of the AJO, particularly of Sir Stewart Duke-Elder, Pierre Amalric, Joaquin Barraquer, and Yasuo Tano. Although the AJO is American by name and with respect to the majority of contributions and readers, the international board members and collaborators have helped to maintain its international character and worldwide level of recognition. As the United States is a competitive society that values progress and success partially owing to foreign influence and immigrants, similarly the international contributions help to support and provoke the dynamic development of the AJO.

A directory for neonatal intensive care: potential for facilitating network-based research in neonatology.

Directories of contact information have evolved over time from thick paperback times such as the "Yellow Pages" to electronic forms that are searchable and have other functionalities. In our clinical specialty, the development of a professional directory helped to promote collaboration in clinical care, education, and quality improvement. However, there are opportunities for increasing the utility of the directory by taking advantage of modern web-based tools, and expanding the use of the directory to fill a gap in the area of collaborative research.

Creation of a national emergency medicine enhanced competency directory for residency training.

Canadian emergency medicine Royal College residency training allows for pursuing extra training in enhanced competency areas. A wealth of enhanced competency training opportunities exist nationally. However, the search for the right fit is a challenging one because there is no centralized resource that catalogues all of these opportunities. A working group of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Resident Section was assembled in 2016 to create a freely accessible and comprehensive directory of Canadian enhanced competency areas. The working group used stakeholder surveys (of residents, recent graduates, and faculty members), social media engagement, and program website searches. Information was collated into the first edition of a national enhanced competency directory, which is available at no cost at http://caep.ca/sites/caep.ca/files/enhancedcompdoc.pdf. Limitations include the scope defined by the working group and survey responses. A biannual update is also incorporated into the CAEP Resident Section portfolio to ensure it remains up-to-date.

Anuario estadístico de salud 2017

Presenta el Anuario Estadístico de Salud, en su 46 edición, con información actualizada hasta el año 2017. En este recurso de información podrá encontrar 167 cuadros numerados, rotulados según orden de aparición, agrupados por capítulos y contenidos, para su identificación y uso referencial; estos contienen indicadores según las variables edad, sexo y provincia de residencia, causas de enfermedad y muerte, tipología de recursos, de servicios y categorías establecidas en la actividad de la formación de recursos humanos en el sector, fundamentalmente...

Exploring Marijuana Advertising on Weedmaps, a Popular Online Directory.

With an increase in the legalization of recreational marijuana across the USA, advertising for marijuana products is more widespread, especially on the Internet where such practices pose a regulatory challenge. In this study, we examined the content of marijuana advertising on Weedmaps, a popular website that markets marijuana retailers online. A total of 146 recreational marijuana retailers in Colorado and Washington were examined on Weedmaps. We studied the age verification practices made in retailers' own websites, the presence of health claims they made about marijuana on Weedmaps, and the characteristics of followers of Weedmaps on social media sites. Many retailers had no security measure to determine age (41 % in Colorado, 35 % in Washington). Approximately 61 % of retailers in Colorado and 44 % in Washington made health claims about the benefits of marijuana, including anxiety reduction, treatment of depression, insomnia, and pain/inflammation. Inferred demographic characteristics of followers of Weedmaps on Twitter and Instagram revealed that over 60 % were male and nearly 70 % or more were age 20-29 years old, yet some (15-18 %) were under the age of 20. Our findings indicate that marijuana retailers have a visible presence on the Internet. Potential customers might be enticed by retailers who tout health claims about marijuana use. It may also be appealing for a younger demographic to overlook age restrictions and engage with marijuana retailers via social media. As a whole, our findings can help to guide future policy making on the issue of marijuana-related advertising.

Anuario estadístico de Cuba 2016 / Statistical Yearbook of Health 2016

La presente publicación Anuario Estadístico de Cuba 2016 de la Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (ONEI), constituye una importante información estadística que refleja los aspectos más significativos de la situación demográfica, económica y social de los cubanos, consta de 23 capítulos. Cada uno comienza con una breve introducción donde se explica el contenido, la fuente de información de los datos, así como la definición metodológica de los principales indicadores. Este anuario constituye un instrumento de educación económica para todo nuestro pueblo, a la vez que permte divulgar, de manera oficial, los resultados más importantes del país.

Orcid: identificador digital como registro único permanente en la revista MEDISAN / Orcid: digital identifier as permanent unique register in MEDISAN

En la actualidad el auge de la información en miles de revistas dificulta la correcta identificación y recuperación de la producción científica de los investigadores. Durante los últimos años se han realizado intentos por parte de distintas organizaciones para crear un registro único permanente para los autores, que permita identificar sus artículos dondequiera que estos se ubiquen y con independencia de las especificidades de la escritura del nombre de los autores, las prácticas editoriales y el procesamiento en las bases de datos, así como de los diversos estilos de descripción bibliográfica. Entre estos identificadores ORCID (Open Researcher and Contribution ID), ha tenido las mayores posibilidades de universalizarse para lograr la visibilidad y el posicionamiento de las universidades de Latinoamérica en el contexto internacional actual, es por ello que la revista MEDISAN comenzará a mostrar el registro ORCID de sus autores a partir de enero del 2017(AU)

At present, the warehouse of information sources in thousands of journals makes very difficult the correct identification and recovery of the scientific production of researchers. During the last years, attempts of different organizations have been made to create a permanent unique register for authors, which permits to identify their articles wherever they are published and without taking into account the specificity in the author's name, publishing and processing practices in data bases, and different bibliographic description styles as well. Among these identifiers ORCID (Open Researcher and Contribution ID) has had the greatest possibilities of becoming universal to achieve visibility and positioning of Latin-American universities in the present international context, that´s why MEDISAN will start showing the ORCID register of its authors from January 2017 on(AU)