Novel K-anonimity algorithm safeguards access to data Nov 20, 2009
In the study titled "A Globally Optimal k-Anonymity Method for the De-Identification of Health Data" published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Dr. El Emam presents a novel method for de-identifying health information. "When patients are asked to provide consent, participation rates decline. This in turn impacts the process and outcome of the research itself" explained Dr. El Emam. (EurekAlert!)
Ga. Efforts Help Track Flu Pandemic Nov 10, 2009
David A. Snyder, the chief quality officer and chief medical informatics officer for MCG Health Inc., says this could help build a picture of the prevalence of H1N1 flu. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. (13WMAZ.com, GA)
MCG joins national flu-tracking network Nov 8, 2009
"That brings to bear a lot of available information to then construct a picture of what is going on in the country in terms of the prevalence of H1N1, where it is, whether it is waxing or waning," said David A. Snyder, the chief quality officer and chief medical informatics officer for MCG Health Inc., which runs the school's clinical system. The CDC and state health department use a system of sentinel providers in the community who report once a week. (The Augusta Chronicle)
Doing the rounds Nov 4, 2009
Dr Robert Murphy, chief medical informatics officer, believes smartphone technology has improved quality of care throughout its locations. "It is amazing how much this technology begins to change culture. When communications and information flow are limited, too often a culture of distrust develops. But with improved communications and information sharing, feelings of greater teamwork and collaboration soon follow.". (BBC News -- Technology)
What works -- and what doesn't -- in medical informatics: New journal to launch in December Oct 15, 2009
According to its editors, the creation of Applied Clinical Informatics, the official publication of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), reflects the booming demand for information about the pitfalls and promise of such proliferating tools as electronic patient records and online pharmacy orders ... Lehmann and Kim have published widely in the field of medical informatics and have conceived, developed and implemented several proven medical software applications used at Johns... (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Lack of computer skills foils many job seekers Oct 3, 2009
The challenges are multiple, according to research by the American Medical Informatics Association, the professional organization for specialists in the use of information in health care. Besides being less likely to have kept up to date on the latest software, older workers also face physical limitations, such as failing memory, trouble reading small typefaces used in common interfaces and difficulty using a mouse. (MSNBC -- Business)
New recommendations can help health providers prepare for electronic record push Sep 9, 2009
" For Americans to realize the full potential of electronic health records, which include reduced cost, less duplication and greater quality, Sittig and Singh believe all eight essentials, which are based on a systems engineering model for patient safety, should be followed. 1. Hardware and software - Before implementation starts, the clinician and healthcare organization must have the proper hardware and software. "Anything that slows or disrupts the clinician's work flow could negatively... (EurekAlert!)
Spio-Garbrah lauds Ghanaians in Diaspora Aug 20, 2009
The group was made up of individuals who are pursuing various academic degrees, mostly Masters and PhDs in a number of academic fields, notably Medicine, Engineering, Medical Informatics, Microbiology, Corporate Governance, and Law among others. The group was holding a surprise get-together in celebrating the particular success of and farewell to Dr Harry Abruquah, who already held BSc, MB ChB and MPhil degrees, and had just also completed a PhD in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Can Pen And Paper Help Make Electronic Medical Records Better? Jul 29, 2009
"Exploring the Persistence of Paper with the Electronic Health Record" appears in the September 2009 issue of the International Journal of Medical Informatics ... International Journal of Medical Informatics, 2009; 78 (9): 618 DOI. (Science Daily)
DaVita Clinical Research Appoints Mahesh Krishnan as Vice President Jul 14, 2009
Krishnan will be responsible for leadership for Medical Informatics, publications, DaVita(R) internal research initiatives, serving as primary clinical liaison for all Research partners, and acting as a member of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO). "Dr. Krishnan has proven himself as one of the best and brightest minds in nephrology and we are thrilled to welcome him to the DaVita Village," said Dr. Allen R. Nissenson, Chief Medical Officer for DaVita. (PR Newswire)
Mimos exporting local technologies Jul 6, 2009
He believes that Medical Informatics Platform a system for building and managing medical databases would see strong overseas demand. The semantic system would be used for medical systems, practitioners and research data, according to Abdul Wahab. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Tennessee Center helps tap into government money Jun 20, 2009
Panelists include: Dr. David Brailer, director of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT Don Detmer, CEO, American Medical Informatics Association David Goetz Jr., finance and admnistration commissioner, State of TennesseeFor more information, visit www. healthcarecouncil. (Nashville Business Journal, TN)
ENT Society releases novel clinical practice guideline manual Jun 1, 2009
The manual's authors are Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH from SUNY Downstate and the Long Island College Hospital and Richard N. Shiffman MD, MCIS from the Yale Center for Medical Informatics and Yale University School of Medicine. Reporters who wish to obtain a copy of the supplement should contact Jessica Mikulski at 1-703-535-3762, or at. (EurekAlert!)
Oregon Department of Human Services Selects APS Healthcare to Manage Expanded Statewide Medicaid Program May 29, 2009
APS will partner with key Oregon stakeholders, including the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), which will work with the state and APS to assess the program's impact. APS also will form a Clinical Advisory Committee of state medical organizations to establish and maintain a consistently high level of communication with the provider community. (PR Newswire)
Pediatrician creates easier way to identify kids' high BP May 26, 2009
D., M.P.H., MetroHealth System pediatrician, internist, and chief medical informatics officer and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher and faculty member. Nearly 75% of cases of hypertension and 90% of cases of prehypertension in children and adolescents go undiagnosed. (EurekAlert!)
Regenstrief Institute is 'pace car' for coordination of medical care at Indy 500 May 19, 2009
Regenstrief Institute research scientists form a highly respected cadre of health services researchers linked to one of the largest and most comprehensive medical informatics laboratories in the world. . (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Unique electronic strategy alerts physicians to latest clinical information on H1N1 flu May 6, 2009
D. Dr. Overhage is the director of medical informatics at the Regenstrief Institute and Regenstrief Professor of Medical Informatics at the IU School of Medicine. He also is president and chief executive officer of IHIE.. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Administrative Advantage Selects ZyDoc e-Transcription Platform for Clients May 5, 2009
In 2004, ZyDoc was ranked 3rd nationally in medical transcription by the Medical Records Institute and has also won awards from the medical informatics, speech recognition, and software industries. The technology platform is augmented by 24-hour U.S.-based support through the ZyDoc Operations Center featuring unsurpassed accuracy. (Yahoo News -- Press Releases)
Study suggests doctors could add to Wikipedia Apr 30, 2009
Medical professionals should recognize that Wikipedia has become a major online source of health information for consumers, researchers wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The study was prepared by two medical students, Michael R. Laurent at the Belgium-based Catholic University of Leuven and Tim J. Vickers at Washington University in St. Louis. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Electronic health records raise doubt Apr 13, 2009
"The problem is this kind of information should never be used clinically, especially if you don't have starting or ending dates" attached to each problem, said deBronkart's primary care doctor, Daniel Z. Sands, who is also the director of medical informatics at Cisco Systems. Personal health records, such as those offered by Google Health, are a promising tool for patients' empowerment - but inaccuracies could be "a huge problem," said Dr. Paul Tang, the chief medical information officer for the... (Boston Globe)
AAAS/Science to launch new journal, Science Translational Medicine Apr 6, 2009
The scope of content in Science Translational Medicine will encompass advances related to cancer; cardiovascular disease; metabolism, diabetes and obesity; neuroscience, neurology, and psychiatry; immunology and vaccines; infectious diseases; policy; behavior; bioengineering; physics; chemical genomics and drug discovery; imaging; applied physical sciences; medical nanotechnology; drug delivery; biomarkers; gene therapy and regenerative medicine; toxicology and pharmacokinetics; data mining;... (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Breast Cancer: To Screen Or Not To Screen? Apr 5, 2009
As this research article is highly controversial, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making has provided two commentaries from experts in the field ... BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, (in press). (Science Daily)
IBM, Mayo Form Open-source Health IT Consortium Apr 3, 2009
Biomedical informatics researchers at IBM and the Mayo Clinic have launched a new open-source consortium focused on natural language processing (NLP), in an effort to help doctors share diagnosis and treatment information ... "Large-scale information extraction from the clinical narrative is a vital component in advancing translational research and patient care," Guergana Savova, a medical informatics specialist and Mayo's lead on the project, said in a statement. (Yahoo News -- Technology)
Study: Mammogram Benefits May Be Overstated Apr 3, 2009
Writing in the BioMed Central journal BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, they said a woman aged 55 has a 6 percent risk of developing breast cancer over the next 15 years. "Repeated screening starting at age 50 saves about 1.8 lives over 15 years for every 1,000 women screened," they wrote. (Newsmax)
Share your thoughts Mar 21, 2009
As my colleague David Zitner, Director of Medical Informatics at Dalhousie University in Halifax and Health Policy Fellow at my Institute, likes to say, no health care institution in Canada can tell you how many people got better, how many people got worse, and how many people s condition was left unchanged by their contact with their institution. None of them can give you an answer. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Health)
Assessing IT in healthcare Mar 10, 2009
Called the Alliance for Clinical Excellence (Ace), the first movers of this global, non-profit initiative include the Hong Kong Society of Medical Informatics, Singapores Ministry Of Health Holdings Pte Ltd and the National University of Singapores School of Computing. The first IT healthcare solutions providers involved in Ace are Orion Health (from the United States), iSoft and Chik Services Pte Ltd (both from Australia) and US enterprise solutions giant Oracle Corp. The Ace secretariat is... (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Giving doctors the complete picture Mar 7, 2009
The study, entitled "Using Computerized Provider Order Entry and Clinical Decision Support to Improve Referring Physicians' Implementation of Consultants' Medical Recommendations," earned Dr. Were the American Medical Informatics Association's 2008 prize for Best Student Paper and is published in the March/April 2009 issue of Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Dr. Were developed the physician support tool during his fellowship in medical informatics at the Regenstrief... (EurekAlert!)
Immune System 'Atlas' Will Speed Detection Of Kidney Transplant Mar 1, 2009
"An individual's antibody profile is a new aspect of human physiology that can now be surveyed in an unbiased way, the same way genes can," said co-senior author Atul Butte, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medical informatics and of pediatrics. "That's very exciting." Butte is also a member of the Stanford Cancer Center. (Science Daily)
Regenstrief Institute receives World Health Organization designation Feb 21, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS The World Health Organization has designated the Regenstrief Institute's medical informatics group as the world's first WHO Collaborating Center for Medical Informatics. The four-year designation, given for the "design, application, and research of medical information systems," is recognition of the international leadership and depth of expertise of the Institute's medical informatics group in the innovative use of information technology within medicine ... "We are honored by the... (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Sharing electronic health data Feb 17, 2009
To protect privacy, doctors and nurses can access only the files of patients they re treating, said Dr. Peter Sanderson, director of medical informatics operations for Ministry Health Care. All access can be traced to determine who viewed a patient s information, what information they reviewed, and when and where they accessed that data. (Milwaukee Business Journal, WI)
Tech for America Feb 11, 2009
But wait a second here's Don Detmer, president of the American Medical Informatics Association. In an to Obama shortly before the inauguration, Detmer called on the new administration to spend $10 billion a year for five years to create electronic medical records, a huge project that would require the training and hiring of tens of thousands of new health care and technology workers. (Slate)
Routine scans for low-back pain do not improve outcomes Feb 7, 2009
"Our study shows that performing routine X-rays or MRIs for patients with low-back pain does not lead to improved pain, function or anxiety level, and there were even some trends toward worse outcomes," said Roger Chou, M.D., lead author; scientific director of the Oregon Evidence-Based Practice Center at OHSU; and associate professor of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology, and medicine (general internal medicine and geriatrics) in the OHSU School of Medicine. "Clinicians may think... (EurekAlert!)
New guideline for prescribing opioid pain drugs published Feb 7, 2009
"This guideline was a true multidisciplinary effort that sought to address in a balanced manner the many challenging issues that clinicians face with regard to when and how to prescribe opioids for chronic noncancer pain," said Roger Chou, M.D., principal investigator; director of the American Pain Society Clinical Practice Guidelines Program; scientific director of the Oregon Evidence-Based Practice Center at OHSU; and associate professor of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology, and... (EurekAlert!)
