Lessons learned from urgent computing in Europe: Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), an international not-for-profit association that brings together the five largest European supercomputing centers and involves 26 European countries, has allocated more than half a billion core hours to computer simulations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside experiments, these simulations are a pillar of research to assess the risks of different scenarios and investigate mitigation strategies. While the world deals with the subsequent waves of the pandemic, we present a reflection on the use of urgent supercomputing for global societal challenges and crisis management.

Controle mensal de funcionamento de bancos de leite humano e postos de coleta de leite humano: dados de produção / Control mensual del funcionamiento de los bancos de leche humana y centros de recolección de leche humana: datos de producción / Monthly operation control of banks human milk and human milk collection stations: production data

Esta Norma Técnica tem por objetivo estabelecer os critérios necessários para o cadastro e manutenção das informações mensais dos Bancos de Leite Humano e Postos de Coleta de Leite Humano no sistema de informação, segundo as diretrizes definidas pela Rede Brasileira de Bancos de Leite Humano, visando a garantia da qualidade nestes serviços e sua certificação

Esta Norma Técnica tiene como objetivo establecer los criterios necesarios para el registro y mantenimiento de las informaciones mensuales de los Bancos de Leche Humana y de los Centros de Recolección de Leche Humana en el sistema de información, de acuerdo con las directrices establecidas por la Red Brasileña de Bancos de Leche Humana, con el fin de garantizar la calidad de estos servicios y su certificación.

Encuesta Nacional de la SEFH-2019: características generales, recursos humanos, materiales y sistemas de información en los Servicios de Farmacia Hospitalaria en España / SEFH National Survey-2019: general characteristics, staffing, material resources and information systems in Spain's hospital pharmacy departments

OBJETIVO: Dar a conocer los resultados referentes a características generales, recursos humanos, materiales y sistemas de información de la encuesta nacional de la Sociedad Española de Farmacia Hospitalaria (SEFH) 2019 sobre la situación de los Servicios de Farmacia Hospitalaria españoles. MÉTODO: Se envió un cuestionario on line a los responsables de los 368 Servicios de Farmacia Hospitalaria españoles registrados en el directorio de socios de la SEFH. El cuestionario incluía 77 preguntas agrupadas en ocho dimensiones. La información se recogió entre marzo y septiembre de 2019. RESULTADOS: La tasa global de respuesta fue del 54,3%. El 69% de los hospitales eran de titularidad pública y el tamaño más representado de 101-250 camas. El 9% permanecía abierto durante las 24 horas y el 57,5% no disponía de ninguna modalidad de atención continuada. La dispensación a pacientes externos durante la tarde se realizaba en el 41,9% de los centros. El 52,7% de los Servicios de Farmacia estaban acreditados por una norma de calidad. La media de farmacéuticos especialistas por Servicio de Farmacia fue 5,34 (desviación estándar [DE]: 6,22). El 47% de los farmacéuticos trabajaban al menos media jornada en las unidades clínicas. En cuanto a los sistemas automatizados rotativos de almacenamiento y dispensación, de media los Servicios de Farmacia disponían de 0,3 (DE: 0,7) y 0,9 (DE: 1,4) según fueran de tipo horizontal o vertical, respectivamente. El 16,1% de las camas hospitalarias estaban asistidas por sistemas automatizados de dispensación, llegando al 33,5% en hospitales con > 1.000 camas. El 3% de los Servicios de Farmacia Hospitalaria disponía de un sistema robotizado para la preparación de quimioterapia y el 24,8% de un sistema de trazabilidad y seguridad. Las bombas de infusión inteligentes se utilizaban en el 21,4% de los centros. La prescripción electrónica estaba implantada en el 98,8% de los hospitales para pacientes ingresados y en el 62% para pacientes ambulantes. CONCLUSIONES: En los Servicios de Farmacia Hospitalaria españoles existe una infradotación de farmacéuticos especialistas, a pesar de haberse duplicado su incorporación a las unidades clínicas. Destaca un crecimiento en la automatización de las actividades logísticas de dispensación, pero existe un importante margen de mejora en sistemas robotizados y de trazabilidad de las preparaciones. Conocer estos resultados puede resultar de gran utilidad para establecer planes de actuación

OBJECTIVE: To publicize the results regarding the general characteristics, human resources, materials and information systems of Spanish hospital pharmacy departments arising from SEFH's 2019 Survey on the Situation of Spanish Hospital Pharmacy Departments. METHOD: An online questionnaire was sent to the heads of the 368 hospital pharmacy departments affiliated to SEFH. The questionnaire included 77 questions grouped into 8 dimensions. The information was collected between March and September 2019. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 54.3%. Sixty-nine percent of hospitals were public and the most commonly reported hospital size was 101-250 beds. Nine percent of responding hospitals remained open round the clock and 57.5% did not offer a continued care service. A total of 41.9% of hospitals dispensed medications to outpatients in the afternoon and 52.7% of hospital pharmacy departments were accredited to some quality standard. The mean number of specialist pharmacists per pharmacy Department was 5.34 (SD: 6.22); 47% of pharmacists spent at least half their working day in a clinical unit. Hospital pharmacy departments had a mean of 0.3 (SD: 0.7) or 0:9 (SD: 1.4) automated storage and dispensing carousels, depending on whether they were horizontal or vertical, respectively. A total of 16.1% of beds were assisted by automated dispensing systems, a figure that reached 33.5% in hospitals with more than 1,000 beds. Three percent of hospital pharmacy departments had a robotized system for compounding chemotherapy medications and 24.8% had a traceability and safety system. Smart infusion pumps were used by 21.4% of hospitals. Electronic prescriptions were implemented in 98.8% of hospitals for inpatients and in 62% for outpatients. CONCLUSIONS: Spanish hospital pharmacy departments face a shortage of specialist pharmacists, although incorporation of such professionals to clinical units has doubled in the last few years. There has been an increase in the level of automation of the logistic processes involved in medication dispensing, but there is still significant room for improvement in the area of robotized dispensing and compounding traceability systems. This data could play an invaluable role in the design of future action plans

Mapping a high-level overview of information flows in the Dutch declaration chain for medical specialist health care.

This study is based on Philippe van der Voorn's master's dissertation at the Utrecht University, Department of Science, Information and Computing Sciences. The problem identified was a lack of an integrated information chain and clear governance structure for information flow in the Netherlands' health care sector. The method of Design Science was followed to construct an overview model of the chain, and towards a business process model that is intuitive for both technical and business users. An initial declaration chain was identified in the literature and presented, to be confirmed and elaborated on via eight interviews at seven different organisations in the medical specialist health care sector. Based on these interviews, the draft overview was adjusted and a Business Process Model and Notation model created that indicates the shared understanding of the data elements and activities between the organisations. The contribution of the overview of the declaration chain, in particular, can help medical specialist staff obtain an understanding of the administrative side of their work, and with a clear information infrastructure lead to better working processes and information quality. F.J.

The inclusion of health data standards in the implementation of pharmacogenomics systems: a scoping review.

Background: Despite potential benefits, the practice of incorporating pharmacogenomics (PGx) results in clinical decisions has yet to diffuse widely. In this study, we conducted a review of recent discussions on data standards and interoperability with a focus on sharing PGx test results among health systems. Materials & methods: We conducted a literature search for PGx clinical decision support systems between 1 January 2012 and 31 January 2020. Thirty-two out of 727 articles were included for the final review. Results: Nine of the 32 articles mentioned data standards and only four of the 32 articles provided solutions for the lack of interoperability. Discussions: Although PGx interoperability is essential for widespread implementation, a lack of focus on standardized data creates a formidable challenge for health information exchange. Conclusion: Standardization of PGx data is essential to improve health information exchange and the sharing of PGx results between disparate systems. However, PGx data standards and interoperability are often not addressed in the system-level implementation.

Availability, Affect, and Decisions to Seek Information about Cancer Risks.

How do people decide which risks they want to get informed about? The present study examines the role of the availability and affect heuristics on these decisions. Participants (N = 100, aged 19-72 years) selected for which of 23 cancers they would like to receive an information brochure, reported the number of occurrences of each type of cancer in their social circle (availability), and rated their dread reaction to each type of cancer (affect); they also made relative judgments about which of 2 cancers was more common in Germany (judged risk). Participants tended to choose information brochures for those cancers for which they indicated a higher availability within their social networks as well as for cancers they dreaded. Mediation analyses suggested that the influence of availability and affect on information choice was only partly mediated by judged risk. The results demonstrate the operation of 2 key judgment heuristics (availability and affect), previously studied in risk perception, also in decisions about information choice. We discuss how our findings can be used to identify which risks are likely to fall from people's radar.

Identifying Mobile Health Engagement Stages: Interviews and Observations for Developing Brief Message Content.

BACKGROUND: Interest in mobile health (mHealth) has increased recently, and research suggests that mHealth devices can enhance end-user engagement, especially when used in conjunction with brief message content. OBJECTIVE: This research aims to explore the stages of engagement framework for mHealth devices and develop a method to generate brief message content to promote sustained user engagement. This study uses the framework by O'Brien and Toms as a point of departure, where engagement is defined as the uptake or the use of an mHealth device. The framework is a linear repeatable process, including point of engagement, period of engagement, disengagement, and re-engagement. Each stage is characterized by attributes related to a person's technology experience. Although the literature has identified stages of engagement for health-related technology, few studies explore mHealth engagement. Furthermore, little research has determined a method for creating brief message content at each stage in this engagement journey. METHODS: Interviews and observations from 19 participants who used mHealth technologies (apps, devices, or wellness websites) in a solo capacity were recruited for sample group 1. In sample group 2, interviews, and observations from 25 participants using mHealth technologies in a group capacity through the Global Corporate Challenge were used. These samples were investigated at 3 time points in both research contexts. The results underwent deductive-inductive thematic analysis for the engagement stages' framework and attributes. RESULTS: In addition to the 4 stages identified by O'Brien and Toms, 2 additional stages, self-management and limited engagement, were identified. Self-management captures where users had disengaged from their technology but were still engaged with their health activity. Limited engagement captures where group mHealth users had minimal interaction with their mHealth technology but continued to engage in a group fitness activity. The results revealed that mHealth engagement stages were nonlinear and embedded in a wider engagement context and that each stage was characterized by a combination of 49 attributes that could be organized into 8 themes. Themes documented the total user experience and included technology usability, technology features, technology aesthetics, use motivations, health awareness, goal setting, social support, and interruptions. Different themes were found to have more relevance at different engagement stages. Knowing themes and attributes at all engagement stages allows technology developers and health care professionals to generate relevant brief message content informed by a person-centered approach. CONCLUSIONS: This research extends an existing engagement stages framework and identifies attributes and themes relevant to mHealth technology users' total user experience and incorporates concepts derived from health, business studies, and information systems literature. In addition, we offer a practical 5-step process based on a person-centered approach to develop mHealth technology brief message content for sustained engagement.

Discrimination Ability of Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System Pediatric Domains Compared With Scoliosis Research Society-22r and Legacy Patient Reported Outcome Measures in Juvenile and Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.

STUDY DESIGN: Comparative cohort study. OBJECTIVE: To compare patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in children and adolescents with varying extent of spinal deformity. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Several PROMs have been proposed to help assess health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) in pediatric spinal deformity surgery and research, but it is unclear which are sensitive to deformity severity. METHODS: Pediatric patients diagnosed with spinal asymmetry or juvenile/adolescent idiopathic scoliosis completed the patient-reported outcomes management information system (PROMIS) pediatric computer adaptive test bank (Domains: Mobility, Pain Interference, Physical Activity, Physical Stress Experiences, Psychological Stress Experiences), Scoliosis Research Society-22r (SRS-22r), Hospital for Special Surgery Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale (HSS Pedi-FABS) activity scale, and Trunk Appearance Perception Scale. Patients were grouped as spinal asymmetry, mild deformity, and substantial deformity by major Cobb angle measuring less than 10°, between 10° and 40°, and greater than 40° respectively. One-way analysis of variance with a Tukey post-hoc correction was used to determine score differences between groups. RESULTS: Final analyses included 206 patients, of which 135 (66%) were female. The mean age was 13.0 ±â€Š2.2 years, and the mean major Cobb angle was 20.1 ±â€Š14.1° (range: 0-74.2°). Compared with both spinal asymmetry and mild deformity patients, patients with substantial deformity reported worse outcomes, including lower function, more pain, and decreased psychological health by legacy PROMs and PROMIS. PROMIS Physical Activity and Psychological Stress Experiences did not capture any significant differences between all groups. There were no significant differences in outcomes between the spinal asymmetry and mild deformity groups for all PROMs measured. CONCLUSION: Patients with substantial spinal deformity reported lower activity and function, more pain, and greater physical and psychological stress compared with patients without clinical spinal deformity by legacy PROMs and several PROMIS domains. As PROMIS Physical Activity and Psychological Stress Experiences did not capture these differences, these PROMs may measure different constructs than the legacy PROMs as they relate to spinal curvature and may be less relevant to measure HRQoL in this population.Level of Evidence 3.

Cultural Impact on the Intention to Use Nursing Information Systems of Nurses in Taiwan and China: Survey and Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nursing workforce shortage has emerged as a global problem. Foreign nurse importation is a popular strategy to address the shortage. The interactions between nursing staff on either side of the Taiwan Strait continue to increase. Since both nurses in Taiwan and nurses in China have adopted nursing information systems to improve health care processes and quality, it is necessary to investigate factors influencing nursing information system usage in nursing practice. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of cultural and other related factors on nurses' intentions to use nursing information systems. The findings were expected to serve as an empirical base for further benchmarking and management of cross-strait nurses. METHODS: This survey was conducted in two case hospitals (one in Taiwan and one in China). A total of 880 questionnaires were distributed (n=440 in each hospital). RESULTS: The results showed effort expectancy had a significant effect on the intention to use nursing information systems of nurses in China (P=.003) but not nurses in Taiwan (P=.16). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest nursing managers should adopt different strategies to motivate cross-strait nurses to use nursing information systems. Promoting effort expectancy is more likely to motivate nurses in China than in Taiwan. This discrepancy is probably due to the less hierarchical and more feminine society in Taiwan.

Summary Final

November 2016, Kingston, Jamaica. Official launch of the Information Systems for Health (IS4H) initiative in the Caribbean Region.

Completeness of tuberculosis records held on the Notifiable Health Conditions Information System (SINAN) in Santa Catarina, Brazil, 2007-2016. / Completude dos registros de tuberculose no Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (Sinan) em Santa Catarina, Brasil, 2007-2016.

Objective to describe the completeness of tuberculosis (TB) case records in Santa Catarina, Brazil, from 2007 to 2016. Methods this was a descriptive study using Notifiable Health Conditions Information System data; completeness, consistency of notification form records and timely notification were analyzed in order to assess data quality. Results completeness of notification form mandatory fields was considered good; essential fields were less complete, in particular the 'Schooling' field; low completeness of follow-up sputum smear microscopy and failure to update culture tests and HIV serology tests demonstrate weaknesses in follow-up records. Conclusion the tuberculosis surveillance system data were considered adequate for guiding tuberculosis prevention and control actions; record monitoring and periodical evaluation, as well as adoption of strategies to improve follow-up report completeness are recommended.

INCREASE OF INCIDENCE OF CONGENITAL SYPHILIS IN SANTA CATARINA STATE BETWEEN 2007-2017: TEMPORAL TREND ANALYSIS.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of congenital syphilis and temporal trends of the reported cases of the disease in the state of Santa Catarina between 2007 and 2017. METHODS: Observational study with retrospective cohort design, with secondary data from the Injury of Notification Information System (SINAN). Linear trend test and geoprocessing were performed to verify the behavior of the cases in the period. RESULTS: There were 2,898 reported cases of congenital syphilis in the period, with an average of 2.9 per 1,000 live births in the period. There was an exponential increase of 0.9 percentage points per year, considered statistically significant (p<0.001). There was no difference between the incidences of cases in the different regions of the State. The fatality rate was 8.5%, considering deaths from syphilis, miscarriages and stillbirths. The profile was predominant of white mothers, with low schooling and 11.8% did not perform prenatal care. For this reason, 26.9% of them had a diagnosis of syphilis at the time of delivery. Most of the pregnant women (51.9%) had inadequate pharmacological treatment and 65.1% of the partners were not treated. CONCLUSIONS: There was an exponential increase tendency in cases of congenital syphilis in the State of Santa Catarina in the period studied in all regions of the State, which reveals the failure of prenatal care, late diagnosis and inadequate treatment of the pregnant woman and her partner.

Completeness of yellow fever notification forms in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, 2017. / Completude das fichas de notificação de febre amarela no estado do Espírito Santo, 2017.

Objective to describe the completeness of data on yellow fever notification forms in the municipalities of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, in 2017. Methods this is a descriptive ecological study with data from the Notifiable Health Conditions Information System (SINAN); form completeness was categorized as poor (<70.0%), regular (70-89.9%) or excellent (≥90.0%); thematic maps were prepared. Results 53.1% of the municipalities had poor or regular classification for many notification form variables, especially case Final Classification (57.1%), Confirmation/Dismissal Criterion (63.2%) and Closure Date (26.5%), which are required fields. Conclusion completeness was poor or regular for several variables, pointing to the need for a systematic assessment of information on yellow fever held on SINAN.

Sistema informático perinatal módulo COVID-19

El formulario SIP COVID-19 se basa en los 40 años de experiencia del Sistema Informáticos Perinatal (SIP) y su historia clínica perinatal, instrumentos creados de acuerdo con las necesidades y experiencias de nuestra región, al tiempo de que siguen los lineamientos de la OMS y se alinean con sistemas de registro de otras regiones y/o agencias Internacionales.

Analysis of the application of a deterministic routine for identifying multiple pregnancies on SINASC, Brazil. / Análise da aplicação de uma rotina determinística para a identificação de gestações múltiplas no Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the application of a deterministic routine for identifying multiple pregnancies on the Brazilian Live Birth Information System (SINASC). METHODS: SINASC data deduplication and linkage with the mortality database (fetal deaths) for Rio de Janeiro state for the period 2007-2008; we used a deterministic routine, using a key based on SINASC maternal and birth information, complemented by manual review. RESULTS: of the 433,874 SINASC records, 9,036 (2.1%) were classified as multiple pregnancy newborns; after implementing the routine, we reclassified 385 records as twins, and 286 as singletons; accuracy of multiple pregnancy information on the SINASC database was high (sensitivity=95.8%; specificity=99.9%); applying the routine without the manual review process increased sensitivity by 4.2%, with no significant change of specificity. CONCLUSION: despite the accuracy of information regarding multiple pregnancy held on SINASC, we suggest the use of this routine as an option for improving classification of twins.

Trust in the smart home: Findings from a nationally representative survey in the UK.

Businesses in the smart home sector are actively promoting the benefits of smart home technologies for consumers, such as convenience, economy and home security. To better understand meanings of and trust in the smart home, we carried out a nationally representative survey of UK consumers designed to measure adoption and acceptability, focusing on awareness, ownership, experience, trust, satisfaction and intention to use. We analysed the results using theories of meanings and acceptability of technologies including semiotics, social construction of technology (SCOT) and sociotechnical affordance. Our findings suggest that the meaning and value proposition of the smart home have not yet achieved closure for consumers, but is already foregrounding risks to privacy and security amongst the other meaning-making possibilities it could afford. Anxiety about the likelihood of a security incident emerges as a prominent factor influencing adoption of smart home technology. This factor negatively impacts adoption. These findings underline how businesses and policymakers will need to work together to act on the sociotechnical affordances of smart home technology in order to increase consumers' trust. This intervention is necessary if barriers to adoption and acceptability of the smart home are to be addressed now and in the future.

Assessing Community Health Information Systems: Evidence from Child Health Records in Food Insecure Areas of the Ethiopian Highlands.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the completeness of child health records maintained and collected within community health information system in Ethiopia. METHODS: A household listing was carried out in 221 enumeration areas in food insecure areas of Ethiopia to determine the presence of a child less than 24-months. This list of children was then compared against the information stored at the local health posts. A household survey was administered to a sample of 2155 households that had a child less than 24-months of age to assess determinants and consequences of exclusion from the health post registers. RESULTS: Out of the 10,318 children identified during the listing, 36% were found from the health post records. Further analysis based on the household survey data indicated that health posts that had adopted nationally recommended recordkeeping practices had more complete records (p < 0.01) and that children residing farther from health posts were less likely to be found from the registers (p < 0.05). Mothers whose child was found from the registers were more likely to know a health extension worker (p < 0.01), had a contact with one (p < 0.01), and their child was more likely to have received growth monitoring (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: The incompleteness of the data collected at the health posts poses a challenge for effective implementation of the national health extension program and various complementary programs in Ethiopia.

Efficient and Secure Attribute Based Access Control Architecture for Smart Healthcare.

The smart health medical system is expected to enhance the quality of health care services significantly. These system keeps patients related record and provides the services over the insecure public channel which may cause data security and privacy concerns in a smart health system. On the other hand, ciphertext attribute-based encryption(CP-ABE) provides possible encrypted data security. There are some security flaws in CP-ABE, where the existing access policies are in the cleartext form for accessing encrypted sensitive data. On the other hand, it supports the small attribute universe, which restricts the practical deployments of CP-ABE. Moreover, outsider adversary observed the communication, which also creates a serious threat to CP-ABE model. To overcome security and privacy risk, efficient access control have been designed and devolved for medical services. Although we also demonstrate the security analysis of Zhang et al.'s scheme, which is vulnerable to inefficient security proof and man in the middle attack. In the proposed scheme, we proposed an efficient and security preserve scheme to overcome the weaknesses of Zhang's et al.'s system. The protocol satisfies the attribute values of the medical user with hidden access policies. It has been proved under the standard model, which ensure the security of the protocol. Moreover, performance analysis comparison shows that the proposed scheme is more efficient than the existing one.

Transforming Healthcare Cybersecurity from Reactive to Proactive: Current Status and Future Recommendations.

The recent rise in cybersecurity breaches in healthcare organizations has put patients' privacy at a higher risk of being exposed. Despite this threat and the additional danger posed by such incidents to patients' safety, as well as operational and financial threats to healthcare organizations, very few studies have systematically examined the cybersecurity threats in healthcare. To lay a firm foundation for healthcare organizations and policymakers in better understanding the complexity of the issue of cybersecurity, this study explores the major type of cybersecurity threats for healthcare organizations and explains the roles of the four major players (cyber attackers, cyber defenders, developers, and end-users) in cybersecurity. Finally, the paper discusses a set of recommendations for the policymakers and healthcare organizations to strengthen cybersecurity in their organization.