research
Shah AD et al, BMC medical informatics and decision making, 12(1)
BACKGROUND:
Electronic health records are invaluable for medical research, but much information is stored as free text rather than in a coded form. For example, in the UK General Practice Research Database (GPRD), causes of death and test results are sometimes recorded only in free text. Free text can be difficult to use for research if it requires time-consuming manual review. Our aim was to develop an automated method for extracting coded information from free text in electronic patient records.
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Published:
7 August 2012 |
Keyword(s): Algorithms, Electronic Health Records, Free text, Research, UK
Jensen PB et al, Nature reviews. Genetics, 13(6)
Clinical data describing the phenotypes and treatment of patients represents an underused data source that has much greater research potential than is currently realized. Mining of electronic health records (EHRs) has the potential for establishing new patient-stratification principles and for revealing unknown disease correlations.
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Published:
2 May 2012 |
Keyword(s): Data Mining, Electronic Health Records, Genetic Data, Research
Luchenski S et al, BMC medical informatics and decision making, 12(1)
BACKGROUND:
Immediate access to patients’ complete health records via electronic databases could improve healthcare and facilitate health research. However, the possible benefits of a national electronic health records (EHR) system must be balanced against public concerns about data security and personal privacy. Successful development of EHR requires better understanding of the views of the public and those most affected by EHR: users of the National Health Service. This study aims to explore the correlation between personal healthcare experience (including number of healthcare contacts and number and type of longer term conditions) and views relating to development of EHR for healthcare, health services planning and policy and health research.
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Published:
23 May 2012 |
Keyword(s): Access, Electronic Health Records, Perception, Privacy, Quality Improvement, Research, Security, UK
D’Amore JD et al, American journal of public health, 102(5)
Electronic health records in the United States currently isolate digital information in proprietary, institutional databases. Experts have identified inadequate data exchange as a leading challenge to advancements in care quality and efficiency. Recent federal health information technology incentives adopt an extensible standard, called the Continuity of Care Document (CCD), as a new basis for digital interoperability. Although this instrument was designed for individual provider communications, the CCD can be effectively reused for population-based research and public health.
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Published:
15 March 2012 |
Keyword(s): CCD, Electronic Health Records, Interoperability, Public Health, Research, Standards, United States
Bennett CC et al, Health Policy and Technology, 2012
Objectives
Electronic health records (EHRs) are only a first step in capturing and utilizing health-related data—the challenge is turning that data into useful information. Furthermore, EHRs are increasingly likely to include data relating to patient outcomes, functionality such as clinical decision support, and genetic information as well, and, as such, can be seen as repositories of increasingly valuable information about patients’ health conditions and responses to treatment over time.
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Published:
17 April 2012 |
Keyword(s): Artificial Intelligence, Clinical decision support, Electronic Health Records, Research, United States
Jones RB et al, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 12(1)
BACKGROUND:
Better use of e-health services by patients could improve outcomes and reduce costs but there are concerns about inequalities of access. Previous research in outpatients suggested that anonymous personal email support may help patients with long term conditions to use e-health, but recruiting earlier in their ‘journey’ may benefit patients more. This pilot study explored the feasibility and cost of recruiting patients for an e-health intervention in one primary care trust.
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Published:
29 March 2012 |
Keyword(s): e-Health, Outpatients, Primary Care, Recruitment, Research, UK
Delaney BC et al, The Annals of Family Medicine, 10(1)
PURPOSE
The learning health care system refers to the cycle of turning health care data into knowledge, translating that knowledge into practice, and creating new data by means of advanced information technology. The electronic Primary Care Research Network (ePCRN) was a project, funded by the US National Institutes of Health, with the aim to facilitate clinical research using primary care electronic health records (EHRs).
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Published:
January 2012 |
Keyword(s): Education, Electronic Health Records, Primary Care, Research, United States
Kim J et al, Healthcare Informatics Research, 17(1)
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to review history and trends of personal health record research in PubMed and to provide accurate understanding and categorical analysis of expert opinions.
METHODS
For the search strategy, PubMed was queried for ‘personal health record, personal record, and PHR’ in the title and abstract fields. Those containing different definitions of the word were removed by one-by-one analysis from the results, 695 articles. In the end, total of 229 articles were analyzed in this research.
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Published:
31 March 2011 |
Keyword(s): Electronic Health Records, Personal Health Records, Research
Terry AL et al, Family Practice, 27(1)
In Canada, use of electronic medical records (EMRs) among primary health care (PHC) providers is relatively low. However, it appears that EMRs will eventually become more ubiquitous in PHC. This represents an important development in the use of health care information technology as well as a potential new source of PHC data for research. However, care in the use of EMR data is required. Four years ago, researchers at the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine, The University of Western Ontario created an EMR-based research project, called Deliver Primary Health Care Information. Implementing this project led us to two conclusions about using PHC EMR data for research: first, additional time is required for providers to undertake EMR training and to standardize the way data are entered into the EMR and second, EMRs are designed for clinical care, not research.
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Published:
February 2010 |
Keyword(s): Canada, Electronic Health Records, Primary Care, Research
Curtis J et al, Healthcare Management Forum, 24(3)
Sunnybrook’s MyChart Personal Health Record (PHR) represents a direct extension of the hospital’s electronic health record and an innovative form of healthcare record that promises to change the way patients and providers access and manage the information required to participate in their care.
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Published:
2011 |
Keyword(s): Adoption, Canada, Electronic Health Records, Personal Health Records, Research, Usability
Hudson KL. N Engl J Med, 365(11)
A new generation of genomic technologies permits the increased collection of data on large study populations. New methods in informatics facilitate the integration of diverse types of information with genomic data in disease research. As a result, researchers are learning more about the genetic bases of disease and response to drugs.
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Published:
15 September 2011 |
Keyword(s): Confidentiality, Consent, Electronic Health Records, Genomics, Research, United States
El Emam K et al, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making,11(1)
BACKGROUND:
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) collects hospital discharge abstract data from Canadian provinces and territories to create a national discharge abstract database (DAD). There are many demands for the disclosure of this data for research and analysis to inform policy making. To expedite the disclosure of this data, the construction of a DAD public use microdata file (PUMF) was considered. A PUMF may serve multiple purposes, including: confirming published results, providing broader feedback to CIHI to improve data quality, training students and fellows, providing an easily accessible data set for researchers to prepare for analyses on the full DAD data set, and serve as a large health data set for computer scientists and statisticians to evaluate analysis and data mining techniques. The objective of this study was to measure the probability of re-identification for records in a PUMF, and to de-identify a national DAD PUMF consisting of 10% of records.
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Published:
23 August 2011 |
Keyword(s): Canada, Data Sharing, De-identification, Research
Brandom BW. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 86(9)
In the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Tweet et al describe a novel solution to a perpetual problem that clinical researchers must address: How can researchers effectively and ethically identify and recruit adequate numbers of research participants, particularly if the research protocol involves participants having a rare condition? Absent such recruitment, a study will fail.
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Published:
September 2011 |
Keyword(s): Orphan Disease, Research, Social Networks, United States
Kahn JM et al, Chest, 140(1)
ICU telemedicine uses audiovisual conferencing technology to provide critical care from a remote location. Research is needed to best define the optimal use of ICU telemedicine, but efforts are hindered by methodological challenges and the lack of an organized delivery approach. We convened an interdisciplinary working group to develop a research agenda in ICU telemedicine, addressing both methodological and knowledge gaps in the field. To best inform clinical decision-making and health policy, future research should be organized around a conceptual framework that enables consistent descriptions of both the study setting and the telemedicine intervention. The framework should include standardized methods for assessing the preimplementation ICU environment and describing the telemedicine program.
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Published:
July 2011 |
Keyword(s): Critical Care, Research, Tele-ICU, Telemedicine, United States
Gardner E. Health Data Management Magazine, 19(6)
With meaningful use taking up all the top slots on the national EHR to-do list, record retention and preservation don’t even make the first page: Data storage is so cheap, so the popular thinking seems to be, we’ll just keep everything and worry about it later. But Milton Corn, M.D., deputy director for research and education at the National Library of Medicine, thinks we should worry about it now.
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Published:
1 June 2011 |
Keyword(s): Data Storage, Electronic Health Records, Genetic Data, Privacy, Research, Secondary Data Use, Standards, United States
Emont S. California HealthCare Foundation, 2011
Patient portals can offer important benefits to patients and provider organizations. These technologies — particularly when integrated with an electronic health record (EHR) — have the potential to improve both quality and access to care through features that enable patients to: communicate electronically and securely with their provider; access their medical records; schedule appointments; pay bills; and refill prescriptions.
This paper examines research documenting the implementation of patient portals and their impact on health care delivery. It is intended to inform the work of health care providers — particularly safety-net organizations — as they plan and implement patient portals and develop measurement strategies for assessing their impact.
Many research initiatives document patient-level measures such as use of patient portals features, user demographics, and overall satisfaction with the portal. A limited number of studies bridge the gap between patient-level measures and long-term outcome measures, including health care quality indicators and operational efficiency.
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Published:
May 2011 |
Keyword(s): Adoption, Electronic Health Records, Incentives, Literature Review, patient portals, Patient-clinician communication, Research, United States
Steen RG. Journal of Medical Ethics, 2011
Background
Clinical papers so flawed that they are eventually retracted may put patients at risk. Patient risk could arise in a retracted primary study or in any secondary study that draws ideas or inspiration from a primary study.
Methods
To determine how many patients were put at risk, we evaluated 788 retracted English-language papers published from 2000 to 2010, describing new research with humans or freshly derived human material. These primary papers-together with all secondary studies citing them-were evaluated using ISI Web of Knowledge. Excluded from study were 468 basic science papers not studying fresh human material; 88 reviews presenting older data; 22 case reports; 7 papers retracted for journal error and 23 papers unavailable on Web of Knowledge. Overall, 180 retracted primary papers (22.8%) met the inclusion criteria. Subjects enrolled and patients treated in 180 primary studies and 851 secondary studies were combined.
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Published:
17 May 2011 |
Keyword(s): Literature Review, Research, Risks
Maojo V et al, Methods of Information in Medicine, 50(3)
Objectives:
Biomedical ontologies have been very successful in structuring knowledge for many different applications, receiving widespread praise for their utility and potential. Yet, the role of computational ontologies in scientific research, as opposed to knowledge management applications, has not been extensively discussed. We aim to stimulate further discussion on the advantages and challenges presented by biomedical ontologies from a scientific perspective.
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Published:
2011 |
Keyword(s): Biomedicine, Knowledge Management, Ontologies, Research
El Emam K. Genome Medicine, 3(4)
Electronic health records are increasingly being linked to DNA repositories and used as a source of clinical information for genomic research. Privacy legislation in many jurisdictions, and most research ethics boards, require that either personal health information is de-identified or that patient consent or authorization is sought before the data are disclosed for secondary purposes. Here, I discuss how de-identification has been applied in current genomic research projects.
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Published:
27 April 2011 |
Keyword(s): De-identification, DNA, Electronic Health Records, Genomics, Repositories, Research
Wicks P et al, Nature Biotechnology, 2011
Patients with serious diseases may experiment with drugs that have not received regulatory approval. Online patient communities structured around quantitative outcome data have the potential to provide an observational environment to monitor such drug usage and its consequences. Here we describe an analysis of data reported on the website PatientsLikeMe by patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who experimented with lithium carbonate treatment. To reduce potential bias owing to lack of randomization, we developed an algorithm to match 149 treated patients to multiple controls (447 total) based on the progression of their disease course.
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Published:
24 April 2011 |
Keyword(s): ALS, Drugs, Online Communities, Orphan Disease, Research, United States
