While you're soaking up the sun this summer, why not soak up some informatics too? We're thrilled to announce AMIA's first-ever Summer Listening Series — because the hottest topics in health informatics deserve a spot on your summer playlist!
Here's what's we’re giving you this summer:
- Three can’t-miss releases
- Open access to some of AMIA's hottest content, featuring recordings from the 2024 Annual Symposium
- More content coming throughout the summer. Stay tuned!
Digital Health Design - Modern Digital Personal Health Data
Association Between Digital Health Use and Hard of Hearing Status in a National VA Sample: Examining Secure Messaging and Video-based Modalities
Despite elevated hearing loss and tinnitus rates in the Veteran population, little is known about digital health use among hard of hearing Veterans. The current project examined Veterans Health Administration secure messaging and video visit use among hard of hearing patients. Hard of hearing patients showed higher secure messaging (p<.05) and video visit (p<.05) use. These findings support allocating resources to optimize digital health use and experiences among hard of hearing persons.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand variations in video telehealth use and asynchronous secure messaging use between hard of hearing an non-hard of hearing veterans.
Speakers
- Taona Haderlein, PhD, OCHIN, Inc
Reducing the Stigma of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Through Supportive and Protected Online Communities
In many cultures where discussions and care-seeking for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) are stigmatized, unmarried women often suffer silently, facing risks of sexually transmitted infections and gynecological complications. South Korea exemplifies this challenge, with SRH topics remaining stigmatized, potentially contributing to Korean women’s high incidence rates of cervical cancer. To address this problem, we designed and studied a protected online community for unmarried Korean women with 9 weeks of guided activities relating to SRH. We describe how these activities helped participants reflect on and discuss the typically taboo topics surrounding SRH. Results indicate that the online community effectively supported participants in initiating additional offline conversations about SRH with more people, and even encouraged some women to seek clinical care. This work sheds light on the potential of supportive and protective online communities to facilitate SRH, offering newfound options for supporting women in cultures where such care is stigmatized.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the importance of creating supportive, protected online spaces for fostering reflection on stigmatized health experiences and connections among people facing stigma.
Speakers
- Hyeyoung Ryu, MS, University of Washington
Designing for Better Pre-hospital Communication: Participatory Design of a Telemedicine Application for Emergency Departments
Pre-hospital communication, which usually refers to the communication process between pre-hospital and hospital providers, is crucial for the effective management of critically injured or ill patients. Despite its importance, persistent challenges such as miscommunication have been significant barriers. Telemedicine systems have been proposed to overcome these challenges, yet existing research primarily focuses on using off-the-shelf systems to evaluate their feasibility and effectiveness of implementation without investigating users' needs and perceptions. To bridge this research gap, our study employed a user-centered design approach to co-create an integrated telemedicine system with emergency care providers to ensure that the system meets the specific needs of care providers and aligns with existing clinical workflows. We present the system design process, the features desired by users to address challenges in pre-hospital communication, and the socio-technical considerations for implementing telemedicine in the dynamic emergency care setting. We conclude the paper by discussing the design implications.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the user needs and socio-technical considerations for developing a telemedicine system that improves the pre-hospital communication.
Speakers
- Enze Bai, Phd Candidate, Pace University
Supporting Personalized prEgnancy Care wIth Artificial intelligence (SPECIAL): An Acceptability Study of a Personalized Educational Platform
The SPECIAL project aims to support postpartum depression (PPD) prevention through personalized educational. This study assesses the acceptability of the platform among pregnant individuals. Utilizing the Unified Theory of Acceptance of Use of Technology framework, surveys were conducted with 41 participants. Results suggest potential associations between demographic factors and intention to use the platform. The study finding underscores the feasibility of personalized technology for PPD prevention, highlighting the need for further investigation into socio-demographic influences.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the important factors influencing the technology acceptance for postpartum depression prevention among patients.
Speakers
- Ziwen Zhang, MS, Weill Cornell Medicine
MentalGPT: Harnessing AI for Compassionate Mental Health Support
This paper introduces MentalGPT, fine-tuned large language models (LLMs) designed to function as a compassionate therapist in the realm of mental health support. Through the application of efficient model fine-tuning techniques, we have created LLMs capable of providing comprehensive and empathetic responses, simulating human-like interactions while delivering personalized mental health guidance. Five open-sourced LLMs with a size of 7B parameters were instruction fine-tuned using the Quantized Low-Rank Adaptations (QLoRA) method on a GPT-generated synthetic dataset, a dataset curated from interview transcripts, and a combination of both datasets. The performance of the LLMs was judged and scored by Google Gemini Pro on seven devised metrics targeting important aspects of mental health support. All fine-tuned models outperform their base models and existing models tailored for mental health support. The Mistral-V0.1 7B model finetuned on the interview data scored the highest in all seven metrics. Our work highlights the potential for LLMs to play a valuable role in mental health support by offering accessible and non-judgmental platforms for users to seek guidance and share their concerns. By bridging AI and mental health, this research offers a promising avenue to expand support services and reduce the stigma associated with seeking help.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the process and benefits of using Quantized Low-Rank Adaptations (QLoRA) for fine-tuning large language models (LLMs) to provide effective mental health support.
- Recognize the importance of combining synthetic and interview data in enhancing the performance of LLMs in therapeutic communication.
- Identify the comprehensive evaluation metrics used to assess the effectiveness of MentalGPT in delivering empathetic and ethical mental health support.
- Appreciate the role of MentalGPT in expanding access to mental health services and reducing the stigma associated with seeking help.
Speakers
- Jia Xu, M.S., University of Pennsylvania
MyPostDischargePal: Preliminary Pilot of an Interoperable App for Adverse Event Surveillance Post-Discharge
We used a user center designed approach to develop, iteratively refine, and pilot a real-time symptom and global health monitoring intervention to mitigate risk of adverse events (AEs) post-hospital discharge. Mixed method analyses of pilot data and participant interviews suggest acceptability among patients and clinicians with modest refinements. Next steps include conducting a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of this type of intervention on post-discharge AEs for patients with multiple chronic conditions.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the core functionalities most important to patients and clinicians of an interoperable app designed to help patients self-monitor symptoms and overall health.
Speakers
- Madeline Smith, MPH - Master of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Watch the presentation with slides and audio and claim educational credit.
Building a Cross-Specialty Standard Health Record: The Experience of CardX, the Cardiovascular Domain of the CodeX FHIR Accelera
The CodeX FHIR Accelerator and its CardX cardiovascular domain have made great strides towards standardizing clinical data to support better patient care and research. During this panel, members of the CardX community will discuss their efforts to build common cardiovascular lexicon called mCARD, modeled after the mCODE cancer lexicon and advance cardiovascular interoperability through the CardX community. They will share lessons they have learned from this experience, and discuss opportunities to apply those lessons to other clinical specialties. The panel will also discuss a forthcoming “playbook” for the development of clinical specialty data standards, and preview key themes and concepts from this playbook. Panelists will also discuss how the work done under CodeX and CardX helps enable a broader vision for a “standard health record”: a computable, clinically applicable, set of health information available in every electronic health record for every person.
Learning Outcomes
- Be aware of CodeX, the clinical FHIR Accelerator, and CardX, its cardiovascular domain.
- Understand the concept of the standard health record and the value of standard data elements across multiple clinical domains, including cardiovascular health.
- Participate in building the future for health data interoperability by supporting the creation and real-world use of HL7 FHIR and standard health records thought eh HL7 CodeX FHIR Accelerator.
Speakers
- Adam Kroetsch, MS, MITRE
- James Tcheng, MD, Duke University Health System
- John Windle, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center
- Sutin Chen, MD
Watch the presentation with slides and audio and claim educational credit.
Digital Health - Wired Well
The Moderating Effect of Health Literacy on the Impact of a Mobile Remote Monitoring Intervention with Tailored Messages for Breast Cancer Survivors: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial
Women with breast cancer starting adjuvant endocrine therapy were randomized to an app-based remote monitoring intervention with and without tailored educational messages versus enhanced usual care. Among participants with low health literacy randomized to the remote monitoring app with tailored messages, 80% had high AET adherence over 12 months compared with 42.1% in enhanced usual care (p=0.01); there were no significant differences by study arm for those with high health literacy.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the moderating effect of health literacy on the efficacy of a remote monitoring intervention on one-year adjuvant endocrine therapy adherence among women with early-stage breast cancer.
Speakers
- Ilana Graetz, Emory University
Key considerations regarding usability and effective mobile app integration into two electronic health record systems
Substitutable Medical Applications and Reusable Technology (SMART)® Applications (app) that are compatible with the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR)® are the standard for integrating mobile apps and electronic health records (EHR). Our team developed a SMART on FHIR mobile application, Info Viz for Health®, to support clinical HIV-related communication with diverse persons with HIV. Unfortunately, relatively little is known regarding clinician perspectives and preferences of mobile app integration with EHRs, which if not obtained, could render apps integrated into EHRs useless. Our study objectives were to explore the perceptions of clinical EHR users from both a developed (United States (US)) and a developing (Dominican Republic (DR)) setting regarding the usability of our app and identify key factors that researchers and designers should consider when creating apps to integrate with EHRs. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with n=26 clinicians (n=13 per site) who provide HIV-related health education. Interviews were led with rigorously developed guides that contained questions based on Davis’s technology acceptance model and questions to explore characteristics of effective app integration. Interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings indicated high perceived usability of the Info Viz for Health app and several important considerations for effective integration of apps with EHRs were identified. Namely, apps integrated with EHRs must be easy and intuitive to access/use, and must leverage commonly used features of EHRs. These findings will provide valuable information for researchers, organizations, and/or other professionals designing health-related apps for EHR integration.
Learning Outcomes
- Identify and describe several important considerations while designing mobile applications for future integrations with EHR.
Speakers
- Samantha Stonbraker, PhD, MPH, RNz, University of Colorado College of Nursing
Examining Barriers to the Adoption of a Digital Mental Health Intervention: A Mixed-Methods Study using Thematic Analysis and Machine Learning
In our mixed-methods study, we examine barriers to the adoption of Digital Mental Health intervention (DMH) among young adults. We identified digital literacy, access, in-person interaction, and a need for personalization as barriers to DMH adoption. Machine learning insights highlight significant factors influencing engagement, including illegal drug use, and suicide ideation. We recommend integrating AI and real-time support into DMH services, tailored to young adults’ socio-cultural context, to enhance engagement and effectiveness.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the underlying reason for college students' early dropout on digital mental health intervention (DMHI).
Speakers
- Ha Na Cho, Ph.D, University of California, Irvine
Computationally-guided Qualitative Analysis of User-Generated Data for Different Models of Mobile-Personal Health Records Apps
Mobile Personal Health Records (mPHR) are smartphone apps granting patients portable and continuous access to their medical records on the go, thereby increasing their potential to play an active role in managing their healthcare. An extensive body of literature has focused on understanding user(s) experiences with web-based tethered PHRs (i.e., Patient Portals) offered by healthcare organizations. However, patients' opinions of smartphone-based PHRs have received less attention. Our study aims to understand this gap. We used a computationally-guided qualitative analysis approach to identify latent topics indicating dimensions of user experiences present in app reviews left on popular m-PHR apps available on Google Play and Apple app stores. After following a detailed app selection process, 10 m-PHR, including tethered (n=6) and interconnected (n=4) apps, were selected for analysis. Our findings show similarities in user experiences for HCO-tethered PHRs and HCO-independent interconnected PHRs, and we discuss the design implications concerning the differences.
Learning Outcomes
- Identify the three levels of PHR integration.
Speakers
- Zainab Balogun, University of Maryland Baltimore County
Getting people access to services is also getting them access to a phone: Clarifying digital divide dynamics and their consequences in Community Mental Health Care
Access to mental healthcare is increasingly technologically-mediated. People with low socioeconomic status (SES) and serious mental illness (SMI) face lower rates of tech ownership and may lack technological skills, called digital divides. Yet, little is known about how digital divides may impact mental healthcare access. Therefore, a qualitative study (ethnographic observations and interviews) was conducted with staff working with low-SES SMI patients using community mental health care (CMH) (N=14). Findings showed that consumers struggled to maintain consistent internet—and thus mental healthcare—access despite owning smartphones. Consumers frequently faced care disruptions due to broken, lost, or uncharged phones. Staff and patients created effortful but ad-hoc workarounds to restore access during technological access disruptions. These solutions frequently occurred after healthcare appointments were missed. Digital divide concepts should accommodate the work necessary to maintain technology access even after ownership and its impact on care access—especially among low-SES SMI patients.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand how technology access and technology skills impact care access for low SES individuals with SMI.
- Identify ways consumers and care workers can accommodate technological disruptions to enable care access.
Speakers
- Alicia Williamson, School of Information, University of Michigan
Barriers and Facilitators of Digital Health Use for Self-Management of Hypertensive Disorders by Black Pregnant Women
Digital health is popular for managing health conditions; however, these applications are often developed with few considerations of the differences across user populations. Tailoring such applications to include cultural considerations could lead to better adoption and adherence in such programs, but a reproducible framework is needed. This study aims to capture Black women’s barriers and facilitators in self-managing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) using digital health products. One-on-one interviews were conducted with 17 Black pregnant women with HDP using a semi-structured interview guide. Qualitative data obtained was analyzed using grounded theory and 38 codes were mapped within the four levels of the socioecological model of health. Themes were created that identified barriers and facilitators of the women’s pregnancy experiences and used to influence the feature development of a digital health intervention. Future work will instantiate and validate a framework that provides theoretical constructs for developing culturally tailored digital health interventions.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the importance of considering cultural differences in their digital health and informatics took development.
Speakers
- Morgan Foreman, PhD Candidate, UTHealth Houston McWilliams SBMI & IBM Research
Watch the presentation with slides and audio and claim educational credit.
Adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Dental Education, Research, and Practice
The rapid integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) into daily living has sent shockwaves throughout the world. Healthcare has seen an upsurge in the development of AI-enabled algorithms that have led to improvements in medical education, research, and practice. For example, remote exam proctors, patient-facing chatbots, EHR search engines, and practice management tools have been adopted by major health systems and academic institutions across the United States. These innovations are compelling us to adapt, adopt, and regulate swiftly. Although the potential and promise of integrating GenAI in healthcare are immense, there are some inherent risks and challenges, which require awareness and regulations. This panel will discuss the various applications of Gen AI in dentistry, especially as it relates to dental education, research, and practice. Dr. Sepideh Banava will discuss the applications of GenAI in dental education and clinical practice. Dr. Jay Patel will discuss its applications in dental research, specifically, developing, testing, and validating prediction models for dental diseases using large electronic dental record datasets. Dr. Enihomo Obadan-Udoh will discuss its potential applications in dental public health. This engaging and informative panel will sketch a realistic picture of GenAI use in academia and its potential to improve population health while suggesting intelligent strategies to make informed decisions.
Learning Outcomes
- List GenAI uses in dental education and practice.
- Outline the risks and challenges with the adoption of GenAI in dental education and practice.
- Discuss ethical issues in using GenAI in dental education and practice.
- Describe the uses of AI in various aspects of dental public health. 5. Discuss the ethical considerations for using AI in dental public health.
Speakers
- Enihomo Obadan-Udoh, DDS, MPH, Dr. Med. Sc., University of California San Francisco
- Sepideh Banava, DDS, MSc, MBA, DABDPH, Nationwide Children's Hospital
Watch the presentation with slides and audio and claim educational credit.
Climate Change and Global Health Informatics: What Are the Opportunities and Challenges
Climate change is a growing threat to global health, driving more frequent and intense heat waves, wildfires, disease shifts, and extreme weather. An estimated 3.6 billion people live in high-risk areas, with climate-related deaths projected to rise by 250,000 annually by 2030–2050, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This panel will explore how global health informatics can support data-driven decision-making, improve preparedness, and address data challenges to mitigate climate-related health impacts.
Speakers
- Felix Holl, PhD, MPH, M.Sc., FAMIA, Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences
- James Tcheng, MD, Duke University Health System
- Elizabeth Campbell, MS, MSPH, PhD, Columbia University Department of Biomedical Informatics
- Farah Magrabi, PhD, Macquarie University, Australian Institute of Health Innovation
Watch the presentation with slides and audio and claim educational credit.
Wearable Sensor Data - Data on the Go
This panel features six distinct discussions exploring how innovative technologies and data-driven approaches are advancing patient care and health system efficiency. Topics include blockchain-based self-sovereign identity and NFTs for secure, patient-controlled data sharing; improved classification of wearable sensor data using novel image representations and augmentation techniques; and a voice-activated self-monitoring app designed to aid individuals managing both diabetes and hypertension. Additional presentations examine integrating remote patient monitoring data with EHRs to predict emergency department visits, the use of wearable sensors to detect short-form video addiction through multi-modal domain adaptation, and barriers to adoption of a clinical decision support tool for emergency department discharge decisions in acute heart failure cases. Together, these sessions highlight emerging tools and frameworks aimed at enhancing health outcomes, patient autonomy, and system-level decision-making.
Speakers
- Mohammad Arif Ul Alam, PhD, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Matthew Christensen, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Ashika Farzana, MS, Geisinger
- Mahmudur Rahman, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Li Yang, MSM, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- Yan Zhuang, PhD, Indiana University
Watch the presentation with slides and audio and claim educational credit.