ICT and Brexit Change Survey – Extended deadline

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 2023 09:16:49 +0000

From:    e.lomas AT UCL.AC.UK

Subject: ICT and Brexit change survey – extended deadline

Apologies for cross posting

We have been asked to extend this survey (https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=80453) for a further month in line with the time previous surveys ran. It will therefore close on Tuesday 11th April straight after Easter. This is because a lot of people are part way through and in addition a number of people had not seen the save button which appears at the bottom of each survey page. We would further note that the survey is intended to be neither remain or leave in its questioning – both sides have queried this. We are keen to understand perspectives of the ICT/information sectors following Brexit. We appreciate everyone’s time and perspectives on this. Below is the original text when posted with an update on timeframes…

Brexit has been a significant change for the UK and EU, including in the contexts of  the ICT sector and those who manage information, whether in the public or private sectors. At the three-year departure point we are seeking the views of information professionals on the shifting opportunities and threats for the ICT/information sector in the light of Brexit. Whilst Brexit was a UK decision, it has had potentially global ramifications and therefore we are looking to draw in perspectives from across the globe. We understand that there will be differing views both negative and positive – we want to hear all these perspectives.

We would be so grateful if you would respond to this survey at  - it will take 10-20 minutes to complete depending on if you just check the multiple-choice boxes or if you wish to share further written comments. All questions are optional. The survey is anonymous and no IP addresses are being collected. We know that you are busy and appreciate your time. The survey will close on 11th April 2023.

Please do forward on this email so that we can reach as many people as possible and tweet:

Please complete survey on information/ICT professionals’ views on Brexit and  change https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=80453 #Brexit #ICT

The results of this survey will be published in an open access form. Please note this survey follows four earlier surveys charting change through the Brexit process, the first immediately after the Referendum (written up at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0186452), one at a mid-point which was accompanied by workshops (written up at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227089) and the others from the transition points onwards. Whether or not you have completed any earlier surveys, we would appreciate your input now. This is likely to be the last survey we publish tracing the changes.

The research is a partnership between the iSchools at UCL (Dr Elizabeth Lomas) and Northumbria University (Emerita Professor Julie McLeod). The survey is being facilitated by Dr Elizabeth Lomas (mailto:e.lomas AT ucl.ac.uk).

Thank you for your help.

Elizabeth and Julie

Dr Elizabeth Lomas

University College London

Email: e.lomas AT ucl.ac.uk

Emerita Professor Julie McLeod

Northumbria University

Email: julie.mcleod AT northumbria.ac.uk

My source:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/FREEDOM-OF-INFORMATION
a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk

UKSS 2018 – Can systemic thinking help shape health services?

Looking forward to a 20 minute presentation I have just sorted accommodation for this conference in June. I am still wondering about train or car, preferring the former if possible for the c.240 mile trip to Portsmouth. With an interest in ecology I welcome the opportunity to be involved in an event connected with Schumacher College. I have long wondered about Dartington. Now that would be an excellent way to study and learn about Hodges' model and 'holistic bandwidth'...

News of this conference I posted on 2 January 2018 but as I add the news to the sidebar - here are some details once again and the necessary links...

UKSS Conference 25th June 2018

http://www.systemsforum.org

Can systemic thinking help shape health services?

A UK Systems Society conference in association with SPMC and the Schumacher institute; supported by the World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics and the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sui Sistemi

Speaker: Alex Whitfield, CEO Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Provision of health service is facing major challenges in every country. Life expectancy has increased, people are active for longer, and citizens expect first class healthcare and for “repairs” to be done quickly to restore them to their full capacity. Some expectations are fantasy but others are justifiable, yet every day we hear or read about outcomes that give cause for concern. In the UK we recognise that the NHS cannot continue in its present form. But the NHS is close to the heart of our citizens making major reforms difficult because of the intense passion that any discussion generates. But the NHS as a ‘system’ is more than 3/4 of a century old. The way that illness and old age are viewed now is different to that when the health service was created. This conference will provide a platform for ideas that might contribute to a way forward.

We would be delighted to see and hear from you at this conference.

More details...

Integrated Health and Social Care Data: GIS torch

Last month the HSJ announced plans to integrated health and social care data (July 5th, pp. 6-7). The purpose is specific to support care commissioning, but ...

The related topic of integrated care is a round-robin element of policy debate. It may go quiet for a time, but it is there, needing to be fed in successive governmental and policy turns.

You might reasonably expect that integrated health and social care data, would be a by-product of integrated care. So the fact that data integration remains a 'to-do' demonstrates the patchwork nature of care integration and the many levels by which it can be defined: commissioning, practice (within domain) across care domains, budget, teams - disciplines, service organisations, care and education, public involvement and data.

I hope the integration of health and social care data at the commissioning level might also put data into the hands of clinicians and social care teams - integrated of course!

The local insights that could flow would represent a real, tangible benefit. The news item stresses the potential value for commissioners. There are as ever several caveats:

• To what extent can health and social care staff influence the shape of the dataset?
• Is it crystallized (centralised) already?
• Can the new role for councils in public health finally ignite the GIS torch to illuminate what is really happening in the local community?

It happens that:

data 'integration' 

also = data 'orientating'

So - come on policy people, commissioners and managers, don't leave the workforce out of the loop. Staff on the ground are disoriented enough by the relentless pace of change. They need a sat-nav for care. Give them the torch they need.

What is that you say? They don't have the time to critique their (integrated) practice, to formulate their questions. And anyway - they don't have the access or the skills to use the informatics resources, let alone the nous to interpret the data! Well, if that is the case then shame on you.

Top 5 worst EMR myths: c/o Healthcare IT News

I came across this post by Molly Merrill, Associate Editor and thought I could add some comments.

I'm usually wary of posts of the list of ... and top 5, top 10 variety. You see much of social media is cordial - not the concentrate form - but the dilute as observed in many of the comments. Anyway ....

You can read the original full text for each of the five on Healthcare IT News, here are some additional thoughts:

1. EMRs are bad for “bedside manner".

They can be BAD it all depends on usability, engagement, attitude, requirement, the overall environment and the extent to which the EMR is considered in all its socio-technical glory. Whatever the research does show item #2 admits the qualitative differences that exist in the marketplace - some EMRs are easier-to-use. If we expand the engagement beyond the professionals then the bedside equation demands the patient is factored in.

With the right care philosophy and conceptual framework (#h2cm?) e-health records of all varieties (EHR, PHR, EMR, Summary ....) can also support a positive, person centered bedside manner - transforming it to one that chomps at the bit ;-) to become a community based manner.

2. You can't teach old doctors new tricks.

Continuing professional development (or its equivalent) dictates that older doctors and other senior members of the multidisciplinary health and social care team can (should and must!) learn new tricks right up to retirement. Lifelong learning applies to all.

3. Only hospitals use EMRs.

I've little experience here working in the community (and in mental health), but judging from the applications and the infrastructure that an older EMR may demand, I suspect that they are indeed hospital (organisational) centered. That clearly is changing as mobile, mhealth applications mature to meet the rigorous demands of this market.

4. Having my data stored in an EMR is a security risk.

The security of electronic records cannot be assured. Data on devices that is not encrypted - is an open door, especially when those devices are portable. (If the use of encryption leads to complacency then I am uneasy.) Disciplinary measures may follow, but they are not a remedy. The human link in the chain aside - electronic records can be security assured to international standards. Far better than paper records and the photographs (anybody?) of paper hospital files sitting at the side of a corridor and other horror stories.


(Former link: The New York Times, 21 August 2011, New Data Spill Shows Risk of Online Health Records)


5. EMRs are expensive.

There are beholders, stakeholders, budget holders and tax payers. Despite the need for research findings I like the reflection of reality in item 5 that presages new players using new architectures and approaches. I've always felt that standards are essential and yet how do they relate to the scope for innovations? What is the relationship and how does that impact the market and in turn costs?

I've come across an item in .Net magazine that relates to EMRs - indeed all health informatics - I'll post on this while in London and attending Drupalcon.

Image source:
http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/cwdn/2010/08/carry-on-doctor-your-electronic-patient-records-are-secure.html

BIG ICT - BIG Society: The big society and HI professionalism

I have a question for you - is there any irony in the matter of a BIG ICT project that was in embryonic form a decade ago - and the emergence now of the UK government's BIG Society?

Well before the 2010 election NHS IcT policy makers recognised once again the importance and value of locally based IcT management and solutions. Over the past decade the NHS has achieved a national infrastructure at great cost. I always wondered about the extent to which a 'national solution' supports innovation and creativity. Having a market, local scope and flexibility, innovation and creativity depends on standards which we can now benefit from.

There is a very timely and interesting article in the BCS's Health Informatics - HI Now newsletter:

The big society and HI professionalism

Professor Stephen Kay and Dr Glyn Hayes discuss how the government’s Big Society programme might affect the state of UK health informatics and look at how BCS and UKCHIP promote professionalism in complementary ways.

Like the dichotomous axes of the health care domains model you wonder whether:

BIG - small : GLOBAL and local

- can co-exist?

Of course they do. In the socio-economic-political realm we now have 'Glocal' stressing the global times we live in - the constancy that is the bigger picture; and as noted above the NHS has re-discovered the mantra of 'Bsmall'.

My role like that of many colleagues is a mixed-bag. Nursing Home Liaison plus training staff in HoNOS and shortly STORM. I have numerous informatics related conversations with students and managers, but for the time being I've let my UK Chip registration lapse.

Having a professional body in occupations with ethical dimensions, safety, accountability and other essential qualities is vital. Amongst many definitions professionalism means important things are anchored; lifting that anchor and subsequent movement needs to be debated, justified and agreed.

Idealism will count for little though if health informatics professionals are tied to the back-office. A chorus that rang out in Trust Boards, project groups in the early-mid '00s was clinical engagement. We can learn a lot now from the background echoes of all that noise. If the reach - risk management of the more adventurous informatics individuals only sees them reach the middle-office; then change in the hyper-contextual-multidisciplinary-person-centered clinical front-office will be difficult and hard to visualize (whatever technology you throw at the problem).

It seems clinically in a great many areas that health informatics has done diddly-squat in terms of non-informatics personnel understanding data, information and knowledge and the relationships between. Little difference in reflecting the questions that clinician's would ask of their case load, wards and department. Yes, with mention of 'dashboards' staff may realise they are all in the same vehicle; but they may not know whether they are in a 2, 4, 8 or 16 wheeler. [A strange and scary phenomena this - when the staff DO know that one or more wheels are in the process of falling off.]

Furthermore, the destination may not be shared, or even identified. Yes, there are centers of excellence and award winners; but there are information deserts out there in the community, public mental health, the nursing homes. You have to ask where exactly are we bound?

EHR Software Market Share Analysis & UK residential care / nursing home sector musings

Last month (20th May 2010) Chris Thorman, who blogs about EMR systems at Software Advice, e-mailed me (copied below). Could I mention his recent EHR post on my blog?

Well thanks Chris! It is very encouraging to learn that W2tQ is seen by others as an infocare centre and valuable media avenue. It is very difficult for me to comment on this USA based analysis ...

- but here are some thoughts. ... This is a great piece of work-in-progress which acknowledges the problem of being 100% comprehensive and coherent given the task, plus the market's spread and dynamics.

My perspective is UK and my full-time work as a nurse gives me a limited outlook on health IT markets as a whole. Nonetheless I value efforts to capture such data in order to better understand the health informatics industry and grasp the bigger picture. As Chris notes this project is challenging, the post is also an appeal for help. While a great proportion of surveys are commercial in motivation, the e-community and e-media can now add value by pointing out the gaps and other data sources. The comments that conclude Chris's post ably demonstrate this.

I would very much like to read something similar for the UK, including the use of information systems in the residential and nursing home sector (any suggestions welcome). It still amazes me how many care homes - including those that are part of large business groups - do not use a 'resident' information system.

Perhaps the new - post-election - health ICT market in England will see new opportunities?
(See post re. 1 July 2010 NW England BCS - British Computer Society meeting).

In ICT terms the care / nursing home sector to me seems passive; it is content to be waited-upon by primary care and the hospital based systems. If they are not engaged on this level can they (and others, e.g. commissioners) argue that they are integrated? I think not.

Care homes need to realize that a dedicated information system could pay dividends in terms of assessment; continuity of care (transfer of care); quality of care; client, family and staff engagement, reporting to inform commissioning, inspection and marketing. When we talk of a patient's viability, there is also the question of the future viability of this market sector amid competition, economics, standards and costs ... ?

[Previously ..] Buyer sought for Loyd’s Nursing Homes Group’s 64 care homes
Catherine Boyle, Times Online, 21 May 2010.

Chris' focus is the EHR market, very much concentrated upon physician, medical and medical billing coding applications. This is reflected in the search facility on the Software Advice website. The search is constrained and directed, driven of course by the underlying database of companies, their applications and reviews. Markets are, however, defined by their boundaries and the way they change over time. Anticipation of that change is a gift indeed.

The personal health record (PHR) lies outside the scope of this Software Advice post, since as per WikiPedia:

It is important to note that PHRs are not the same as EHRs (electronic health records). The latter are software systems designed for use by health care providers. Like the data recorded in paper-based medical records, the data in EHRs are legally mandated notes on the care provided by clinicians to patients. There is no legal mandate that compels a consumer or patient to store her personal health information in a PHR.

This work by Chris and respondents helps to establish and define the boundaries. The EHRs in question are not purely institutional (e.g. hospital-based), the vendors cater for varying numbers of users, in different care settings as you can see on the site's 3-stage search. So while I cannot add anything as such, I wonder if there could (should) be scope for residential care in there?

Or perhaps the EHR market is not viable when it comes to older adult* residential care?

Heaven forbid that the transatlantic (and global) EHR market is ageist!

Thanks again Chris.

*Residential care is also needed for younger adults too.

From: Chris Thorman
To: " Peter,"
Sent: Thu, 20 May, 2010 18:57:41
Subject: Blog post idea for your blog

Hello Peter,

I hope you've had a good week. I just finished a blog post about market share in the EMR industry and I wanted to give you a heads up about it. Here is the link:
...

In the article, I broke down:

• The size of the outpatient EMR market;
• What EMR vendors have the most physicians using their system; and,
• What EMR vendors have the most practices using their system.

As I'm sure you can imagine, it was a tough project to get accurate numbers on. I was hoping you could mention my article on your blog to get more eyes on it so we can clear up any discrepancies. Sort of a "crowd sourcing" project if you will. I'd also be interested to read your thoughts on our findings.

Would you mind mentioning my post?

------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Thorman
Senior Marketing Manager
Software Advice
www.softwareadvice.com

Lovelace, women's IT and QUADratic equations

When you stop and think about it - really stop and think, the foresight of Charles Babbage was astonishing, even though he did not quite achieve his objectives. What is even more amazing then is the role that Ada Lovelace played in the development of computing and scientific computing.

This post is to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day. As per this post 12 months ago, I am and always will be celebrating Enid Mumford and her work on the need and importance of socio-technical insights when we attempt to apply IT in the work place*. Her work also exemplifies what women can and do contribute to IT.

In terms of the 3R's I am 'literate', but real maths evades me at least the level of ability I wish I had. Namely, the expertise to exercise some of puzzles in the social sciences.

BBC radio 4's Woman's Hour has regularly featured maths education for women and girls, bemoaning the maths abilities of the female population. Some maths has come to me through programming in BASIC, sorting, recursion, functions and using SPSS (DOS version!).

They should teach more programming in schools. Computing and maths are often equated (sorry!) and fittingly the BBC have also featured the genius of Ada Lovelace.

So all these things are connected: the pioneering insights of Ada Lovelace, the state of mathematics education for girls and how girl's are engaged in IcT today globally.

Additional links:

Gender IT: https://www.genderit.org/
Association for Progressive Communications: http://www.apc.org/
Alice innovative 3D programming environment

Image source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2010_07_mon.shtml

* Jones, P. (2009) Socio-Technical Structures, the Scope of Informatics and Hodges’ model, IN, Staudinger, R., Ostermann, H., Bettina Staudinger, B. (Eds.), Handbook of Research in Nursing Informatics and Socio-Technical Structures, Idea Group Publishing, Inc.

Ticks in boxes and triplicate thinking

Having things in triplicate may be reassuring from an admin perspective. ...

That said, 1st year learners on wards can relax to focus on learning, not having to worry (too much) about the administration - the running of the ward 24/7.

Very soon though years 2... 3 come knocking and they must consider due process, they have to question and get to grips with the established routine that sets and keeps several plates spinning.

Of course IT has by and large (?!) removed the need for paper carbon copies (although those three copies should have three distinct purposes).

Despite that an obsession with ticks in just three boxes may not be enough when it comes to high quality multidisciplinary, holistic and integrated care - it's ticks in the mind and attitude that count.

Additional links:
Records Management Society

The Productive Ward

Image source:
Triplicate Girl - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Triplicate_Girl_LSH3.jpg

Comment on Paul Roemer's "EHR market is ripe for the taking by Google, Microsoft, Oracle"

I read with great interest Paul Roemer's post last month -

EHR market is ripe for the taking by Google, Microsoft, Oracle

I've a lot of respect for the people working at that other sharp end of health. There are times when they are where I would like to be: not the bleeding edge, but the business edge:

Paul is a healthcare strategist and the managing partner of Healthcare IT Strategy, which helps health care providers solve business problems using EHR, workflow improvement, and change management.

Mr Roemer is out there among the corporations, the deals, the media frenzy and the stock market's take on health care AND health IT. He is addressing specific audiences and over here in the UK we can hear the debate raging. My problem is that working for the NHS all my career I have been and am cocooned. Even though I try to venture out and get involved, this is the very powerful criticism of long-term public sector employees. While far from totally sheltered from economical and political climate change, we are protected from the worst of the business elements. Despite this, seeing the title of Paul's post and his two rules:

Rule No. 1: Content is king. In cable, it is channels such as HBO and Discovery. In healthcare it is data--patient data, effectiveness data, disease data.
Rule No. 2: The cable/telco model values the businesses based on the number of assets (subscribers--you and me). Each body adds somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 to the valuation model of a Comcast or a Verizon. Downstream, some valuation will be placed on each PHR subscriber.

- two additional rules sprang instantly to mind. ...

Rule 3: Beware low hanging fruit

I posted in April 2009 Data sharing, privacy, health, citizenry.... "Database State" expressing concern that the sanctity of personal data is being eroded bit-by-bit in the mind of the general public by the media and the sheer ubiquity of information and technology. Peaches, plums, pears are delicious when ripe, but as such they need to be handled very carefully. So too does the Personalised health record amid a variety of threats - the worst of which are often internal. In health care the patient data that Paul identifies in his Rule 1 is central, and a key issue is the demarcation of individual and anonymised aggregated data. Hence, Paul quite rightly points to a regulated market. Personal data can be far more valuable in terms of direct marketing and so the temptations for misuse are profound.

In the UK an NHS consultation has addressed the additional uses of patient data. This concerned the research capability programme and provision of a health research support service; with events to present proposals and debate the various issues that include information governance....

Information governance is not fixed, nor should it ever be.

In Paul's rule 1 content is king and content=data - in this case:

• patient data;
• effectiveness data;
• disease data.

This list of data would surely qualify as being 'broad spectrum' in nature. If its circulation is not very tightly controlled it can damage the (care) environment. If not managed effectively across multifold 'borders' - national, regional/state, corporate, systems, organisations, users, testing, interfaces, legislative, public bodies - this data can mutate markedly despite the insistence upon standards. You see although Google, Microsoft and Oracle may take that ripe fruit, as they pick it they come across -

Rule 4: Whenever and wherever picked,
fruit can be tainted

This might include the odd bug, or one or two tainted fruit items perhaps? It could be problems in the form of parts of the EHR that are difficult to incorporate, with questions of shared access and ownership? If the fruit is indeed pristine, no blemish, no chemicals, no truly-devoted-insect-kisses: what are the overheads with this particular harvest?

If Google, Microsoft and Oracle believe they can do an Indiana Jones and just shoot to solve the problem because, as Paul suggests, they have the 'numerics' in the cable/telco model, then they need to take care (even if only improvising).

Microsoft, CSC and many other corporations already know of the complexity that reigns (pours in fact!) from their experience in health IT. Paul highlights Google as a new kid in town. Maybe acquisition does obviate the need to learn quickly (let others learn the lessons). But whatever the point of entry: health care (IT) remains a cussed business. And the future mix demands (begs!) the integrated addition of social care, but how and to what level?

It is not enough to counter "let's attack this complexity with simplicity." Health and social care are metronomic. They alternate between complex - simple descriptions (one of which is re-organisation). Plus, that metronome may as well be in a closed box:

Its owner is one Mr Schrodinger.
Care to gamble?

Paul's post is also fascinating since predictions about subscription numbers do count and speak volumes (sorry - but they really do). They will not only reach shareholder's ears, but when the model takes off - the general public's too. This could help erode the cherished sanctity of my personal data. So am I saying that some of the giants of corporative intelligence turn and run screaming, arms raised like surprised Martians in alien territory? No.

Maybe, as I have found -

the real low hanging fruit is the m+del.

Is it as ripe and appropriate in this market as it seems?

Or is it past its sell by date?

Time as ever will tell.

Additional link: NHS data breaches: the 'cogeography' of who and where?

Image source:LowHangFruit.com

=============== Paul's Post Follows ==============

December 17th, 2009
by Paul Roemer
The national EHR market is ripe for the taking by a big three like Microsoft, Google and Oracle. Heck, I'll even go so far as to suggest that when the dust settles in about five or seven years, the National Health Information Network will be a regulated combination of a handful of those firms.
As for the other firms offering or planning to offer PHRs, permit me to suggest the following scenario: Let's say I am in charge of Google's somewhat non-existent healthcare line of business. One of my goals would be to have more users of my PHR than any other firm.
Why does this model make sense? Two ways, both of which come from the cable/telco business model.
Rule No. 1: Content is king. In cable, it is channels such as HBO and Discovery. In healthcare it is data--patient data, effectiveness data, disease data.
Rule No. 2: The cable/telco model values the businesses based on the number of assets (subscribers--you and me). Each body adds somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 to the valuation model of a Comcast or a Verizon. Downstream, some valuation will be placed on each PHR subscriber.
So, back to the example of me running Google's healthcare offering. (If you don't like Google as an example, insert your favorite firm.) If I'm Google, am I troubled by the fact that other firms are building their own solutions? No, because the difficult part of the business model is adding users, adding subscribers. Why not let a bunch of firms do the business development work for me, do the dirty work to get the users, and then just devour those firms? Once I own them, I convert them to my platform. Do I then get some 'ownership' or right to use the data? That would certainly be the business goal.
One million users valued at $5,000 adds $5 billion in valuation. Ten million adds $50 billion. Ten billion is about 2.5 percent of the U.S. market. Do I stop at the border? Of course not.
By the way, while all this is going on, Google, Microsoft, or some other company will also be creating standards and building or buying up EHR firms.

Nurses as modellers and informaticians: surely not!

Nursing is still trying to escape and evade the sexual 'Carry On' stereotypes that have plagued the profession in the popular imagination. For the majority of people talk of nursing and models more readily conjures up visions of catwalks than an academic pursuit.

You can still see and hear the response of bright-eyed girls and boys (aged 9-10...) to the age-old question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The answer: "I want to be a nurse and help people get better!" Even though youngsters are more sophisticated these days (the reference to girls and boys is not just me being politically correct), they are still most likely primarily motivated by humanistic leanings as opposed to wanting to pursue the necessary studies in the sciences.

Despite efforts worldwide practicing nurses do not all see themselves as data modellers enthralled by IcT. IT isn't usually why they came to nursing, although many mature students may have started their career in the IT sector. Chapter 1 of Programming the Semantic Web highlights how a basic table is a model (p.6-7). So of course gifted with natural language we are all data modellers. Hodges model then is the ubiquitous high-level data model - a two-by-two table and a whole lot more.

An invitation to mine data, gather information and deliver nuggets of knowledge.

Ref:
Programming the Semantic Web: Build Flexible Applications with Graph Data
By Toby Segaran, Colin Evans, Jamie Taylor
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Released: July 2009

CfP E-Health: Accessing Knowledge for Global Health

Special Issue on:

“E-Health: Accessing Knowledge for Global Health”

Guest Editor: Patricia Abbott, PhD, RN: Johns Hopkins, USA

This special issue of the KM&EL international journal is dedicated to coverage of knowledge management and information dissemination for health in under served areas. Numerous studies have demonstrated the high cost, in both financial and humanistic terms, of a lack of access to current healthcare knowledge. Many international settings are using textbooks that are seriously outdated, and practicing in ways that have been proven to be ineffective and/or dangerous. At the same time, we are seeing an explosion of information and communication technologies (ICT) that are reaching even the most remote corners of the globe. As these two trends collide, we are seeing tremendous innovation and application of KM techniques and ICT utilization to “reach and teach” in remote communities around the world. Indeed, Deaton (2004) states that:

“The health and life expectancy of the vast majority of mankind, whether they live in rich or poor countries, depends on ideas, techniques, and therapies developed elsewhere, so that it is the spread of knowledge that is the fundamental determinant of population health.”

This issue is designed to elicit both theoretical and applied papers that describe efforts to reduce international asymmetries of health information by increasing access to health knowledge bases via ICT. We are interested in theoretical papers that posit the promise and possibilities global e-health, and applied research papers that provide results of knowledge access, knowledge management, and knowledge dissemination for international health. We are particularly interested in papers in this space that focus upon application in low resource areas and/or with the medically under served. Our goal is to stimulate interest in the issues across academia, practice, industry, research and policy. We welcome focused papers from all sectors.

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Knowledge management in ICT-enabled, yet low resourced areas
• Practical usage/application of ICT for evidence based practice in global e-health
• E-health via ICT – Lessons Learned
• M-health via cellular telephony and other mechanisms – New innovations for distributing health knowledge and best practices via mobile technologies
• Managing and developing knowledge from under served areas; what can communities teach us?
• Producing culturally sensitive, feasible, and distributable best practices for ICT-enabled delivery
• Socio-cultural aspects of ICT enabled e-health
• Infrastructure challenges in global e-health in the e-health/m-health domain
• New developments, trends and approaches.

Important Dates
Submission due: 15th January, 2010
Notification of acceptance: 15th March, 2010
Publication schedule: Jun 2010 (Vol.2, No.2)

Submission Instructions
Papers must not have been published, accepted for publication, or presently be under consideration for publication elsewhere. A standard double-blind review process will be used for selecting papers to be published in this special issue. Authors should follow the instructions outlined in the KM&EL Website (see URL http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions)

Guest Editor:
Patricia A. Abbott, PhD, RN
Director, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Knowledge Management;
Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Nursing
Baltimore, MD USA

Electronic submission by email to Guest Editor is required.

pabbott2@son.jhmi.edu

For more information about the KM&EL, please visit the web site:
http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication

Reference:
Deaton, A. (2004). Health in an Age of Globalization. Available online at: https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/brookings_trade_forum/v2004/2004.1deaton.pdf

Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal (KM&EL) ISSN 2073-7904

Maintained and Developed by:
Laboratory of Knowledge Management & E-Learning
Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong

http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/announcement/view/4

My source: GANM list

Medinfo 2010 South Africa 12-15th September

Cape Town, South Africa will host the 13th International Congress on Medical Informatics from the 12 - 15 of September 2010.

This will be the first time MEDINFO is held in Africa. It promises to boost exposure to grassroots healthcare delivery and the underpinning health information systems. This will open the door to new academic partnerships into the future and help to nurture a new breed of health informaticians.*

Conference Theme

Partnerships for effective e-Health solutions

Innovative collaborations promote solutions to health challenges

The theme for the International Medical Informatics Association’s 13th World Congress on Medical Informatics, Medinfo 2010 is Partnerships for effective e-Health solutions with a particular focus on how innovative collaborations can promote sustainable solutions to health challenges. It is well recognised that information and communication technologies have enormous potential for improving the health and lives of individuals. Innovative and effective change using such technologies is reliant upon people working together in partnerships to create innovative and effective solutions to problems with particular regard to contextual and environmental factors.

As Medinfo 2010 brings together the health informatics community from across the globe we are seeking to focus on how we can work together and share our experiences and knowledge to promote sustainable solutions to the challenges presenting to us all. This will be an historical event as Medinfo 2010 is hosted in Africa for the first time.

My sources:

Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Knowledge Gateway GANM
& The Conference Company and the Medinfo2010 website.

Africa! While I have linked to many, I have never attended an International informatics event. This one sounds really special being in Africa.
*I would love to pass over the baton that is Hodges' model and also discover what other conceptual frameworks may be out there...?

Primary Health Care Specialist Group (PHCSG) Summer Conference 2009: Patient Safety – who cares?!

Patient Safety – who cares?!

Primary Health Care Specialist Group (PHCSG) Summer Conference 2009

29th June – 1st July at Chesford Grange Warwickshire

The event attracts a wide group of people including GP’s, other practice staff, nurses and allied health professionals, ICT staff, PCT staff, system suppliers and researchers.

UKCHIP Accredited towards Continued Professional Development (CPD)

Programme and online booking available at http://www.phcsg.org/

Programme Topics include:

• Clinical Risk Management
• Clinical Safety Testing of the Care Record, and Information Governance
• The Future of NHS IT: life after NPfIT in primary care
• Patient Confidentiality – the current legal position
• Practice Accreditation
• Data Extraction from Primary Care Systems (GPES)
• Updates on GP2GP and EPS
• NHS Resources Centre – free training for staff
• Care Pathways- peril or profit?
• Use of Clinical Indications
• Medication Safety Alerts
• RCGP Guide – Making IT work for you

Exhibition - As well as the formal programme the conference provides an excellent opportunity for networking and is supported by an exhibition, which features many of the established IT suppliers to primary care alongside suppliers with exciting new products and services. Come and chat to exhibitors and hear how they are developing and promoting their products or services to enable “Patient Safety”.

Interested in Exhibiting or Sponsorship Opportunities, or need further information?
Contact Jill Riley email jill at phcsg.org

HC2009 April 2009, W-Tech 2009, IHE-Europe Vienna Workshop 2009

The following items may be of interest to Health Informatics Professionals. Please contact the organisers direct for more information or to book. Feel free to pass on to colleagues.

HC2009 - Shaping the Future 28-30 April 2009

Closing date for submissions is 1^st December. Don’t miss your opportunity…. submit now and see the HC:Showcase.



W-Tech: Co-hosted and organised by BCS Women’s Forum.

A FREE motivational showcase supporting women interested in IT – Tues 3rd Feb, London.

Meet with some of the smartest IT professionals, the biggest recruiters in IT, attend career development workshops, revamp and submit your CV, prepare yourself for that next interview or promotion.




IHE-Europe Vienna Workshop
22-23 April 2009

Sharing clinical documents and integrating workflow

The event will provide an in depth review and discussion of IHE solutions in parallel sessions for users and suppliers. Also an opportunity to visit the 2009 Connectathon.

The Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise organisation (IHE) in Europe has asked IHE-Austria to organise this two day workshop. It will provide an in depth review and discussion of IHE solutions in parallel sessions for users and suppliers. The main focus will be on the nature and means of applying the IHE document and image sharing facilities to improve the real world of clinical practice.

There will also be the opportunity to visit the IHE-Europe connectathon, which will be held in Vienna at the same time. During the week around 80 different suppliers will show that their software can interoperate with that of three other suppliers to perform clinical tasks correctly as described in the relevant IHE specifications. Connectathon visitors gain a real understanding of the way IHE enables suppliers to work together to obtain interoperability of systems in a very enjoyable atmosphere. Experts from all healthcare specialties will be present including medical imaging.

For detailed information and registration visit the IHE-Austria homepage.

My source: BCS

Health Informatics Review Report published

Published yesterday here in the UK by the Department of Health:

The Health Informatics Review Report builds on the Next Stage Review by describing how informatics is supporting the delivery of better, safer care of patients, improving the NHS through better research, planning and management, and empowering patients to make more informed choices about health and care.

A Health Informatics Review Implementation Report will be published in the autumn 2008.

Document purpose: Policy
Gateway Reference: 10104
Title: Health Informatics Review Report
Author: DH
Publication date: 10 July 2008

Being @work2work and out-of-reach innovation

Apparently a web year (not to be confused with Internet time) is compressed in comparison to a calendar year. The rate of change on the web and technology in general is rapid; with health and social care constantly cited as key beneficiaries of technical and informatics developments.

In order to be beneficiaries though
what does this mean in terms of time?

It can be argued that to take full advantage of the 'latest and greatest' informatics (ICT) developments in health and social care means being in the early or late majority of adopters - the mainstream. Whichever way you define benefits (and measure them!) one of the factors and qualities must be time? But given the rate of change of technology just how much benefit can be accrued if you are late to the party?

There are articles and websites that extol the initiatives of Web 2.0 within health and e-Health, to the extent that this trend anticipation is labelled Health 2.0 - for example. You can see how the new Health 2.0 applications and personal health records will be the preserve of the new and nimble.

Back on the 'Trust' shop floor - if you try to access anything connected with social networking any e-mails end up in the corporate spam folder and social networking sites and blogs are blocked.

Well what do you expect?
We are @work2work
and that is not in dispute!

There are various studies that show what people get up to when at work with (free) web access. Maybe the filters are also not up to snuff?

Without some special provision - a secure sandpit for experimentation - there's a major worry that innovation and creativity could be marginalised.

This (vital) digital lockdown could mean that
while health and social care services deliver
outreach services, ...
innovative e-Health / ICT developments remain
out-of-reach.

Definition of e-Health: "Having your cake and eating IcT"

To follow: The four other labels for Hodges' model.