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Communication of abnormal test results in the outpatient setting is prone to error. Using information technology can improve communication and improve patient safety. We standardized processes and procedures in a computerized test result notification system and examined their effectiveness to reduce errors in communication of abnormal imaging results.

Personal health records (PHRs) hold great promise for empowering patients and increasing the accuracy and completeness of health information. We reviewed two small USB-based PHR devices that allow a patient to easily store and transport their personal health information. Both devices offer password protection and encryption features. Analysis of the devices shows that they store their data in a Microsoft Access database. Due to a flaw in the encryption of [...]

The AMIA Board of Directors has decided to periodically publish AMIA's Code of Professional Ethical Conduct for its members in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The Code also will be available on the AMIA Web site at www.amia.org as it continues to evolve in response to feedback from the AMIA membership. The AMIA Board acknowledges the continuing work and dedication of the AMIA Ethics Committee. AMIA is [...]

The use of health information technology (HIT) for the support of communication processes and data and information access in acute care settings is a relatively new phenomenon. A means of evaluating the impact of HIT in hospital settings is needed. The purpose of this research was to design and psychometrically evaluate the Impact of Health Information Technology scale (I-HIT). I-HIT was designed to measure the perception of nurses regarding the [...]

To characterize global structural features of large-scale biomedical terminologies using currently emerging statistical approaches.

We implemented an automated vaccine adverse event surveillance and reporting system based in an ambulatory electronic medical record to improve underreporting and incomplete reporting that prevails in spontaneous systems. This automated system flags potential vaccine adverse events for the clinician when a diagnosis is entered, prompts clinicians to consider the vaccine as a cause of the condition, and facilitates reporting of suspected adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting [...]

Background Up to 38% of inpatient medication errors occur at the administration stage. Although they reduce prescribing errors, computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems do not prevent administration errors or timing discrepancies. This study determined the degree to which CPOE medication orders matched actual dose administration times. METHODS At a 658-bed academic hospital with CPOE but lacking electronic medication administration charting, authors randomly selected adult patients with eligible medication orders [...]

Large databases of published medical research can support clinical decision making by providing physicians with the best available evidence. The time required to obtain optimal results from these databases using traditional systems often makes accessing the databases impractical for clinicians. This article explores whether a hybrid approach of augmenting traditional information retrieval with knowledge-based methods facilitates finding practical clinical advice in the research literature.

The purpose of this review is to organize various published conceptions of health numeracy and to discuss how health numeracy contributes to the productive use of quantitative information for health. We define health numeracy as the individual-level skills needed to understand and use quantitative health information, including basic computation skills, ability to use information in documents and non-text formats such as graphs, and ability to communicate orally. We also identify [...]