How Well Are We Respecting Patient Privacy in Medical Imaging? Lessons Learnt from a Departmental Audit

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-344
Author(s):  
Marc Dilauro ◽  
Rebecca Thornhill ◽  
Najla Fasih

Rationale and Objectives Preservation of patient privacy and dignity are basic requirements for all patients visiting a hospital. The purpose of this study was to perform an audit of patients' satisfaction with privacy whilst in the Department of Medical Imaging (MI) at the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital. Materials and Methods Outpatients who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), ultrasonography (US), and plain film (XR) examinations were provided with a survey on patient privacy. The survey asked participants to rank (on a 6-point scale ranging from 6 = excellent to 1 = no privacy) whether their privacy was respected in 5 key locations within the Department of MI. The survey was conducted over a consecutive 5-day period. Results A total of 502 surveys were completed. The survey response rate for each imaging modality was: 55% MRI, 42% CT, 45% US, and 47% XR. For each imaging modality, the total percentage of privacy scores greater than or equal to 5 were: 98% MRI, 96% CT, 94% US, and 92% XR. Privacy ratings for the MRI reception and waiting room areas were significantly higher in comparison to the other imaging modalities ( P = .0025 and P = .0227, respectively). Conclusion Overall, patient privacy was well respected within the Department of MI.

Author(s):  
Terri Rebmann ◽  
Rachel L. Charney ◽  
Rebecca L. Eschmann ◽  
M. Colleen Fitzpatrick

Abstract Objective: To assess non-pediatric nurses’ willingness to provide care to pediatric patients during a mass casualty event (MCE). Methods: Nurses from 4 non-pediatric hospitals in a major metropolitan Midwestern region were surveyed in the fall of 2018. Participants were asked about their willingness to provide MCE pediatric care. Hierarchical logistical regression was used to describe factors associated with nurses’ willingness to provide MCE pediatric care. Results: In total, 313 nurses were approached and 289 completed a survey (response rate = 92%). A quarter (25.3%, n = 73) would be willing to provide MCE care to a child of any age; 12% (n = 35) would provide care only to newborns in the labor and delivery area, and 16.6% (n = 48) would only provide care to adults. Predictors of willingness to provide care to a patient of any age during an MCE included providing care to the youngest-age children during routine duties, reporting confidence in calculating doses and administering pediatric medications, working in the emergency department, being currently or previously certified in PALS, and having access to pediatric-sized equipment in the unit or hospital. Conclusion: Pediatric surge capacity is lacking among nurses. Increasing nurses’ pediatric care self-efficacy could improve pediatric surge capacity and minimize morbidity and mortality during MCEs.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 592
Author(s):  
Shamoukh Alshahrani ◽  
Abrar Alshuaibi ◽  
Malak Alkhaldi ◽  
Pradeep Koppolu

Aim: The present study aims to evaluate the perception and awareness of interdental aids in different regions of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted, in order to evaluate the perception and knowledge of patients towards oral hygiene products among the population of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In total, 812 out of 1124 participants responded and completed the survey (response rate 72.2%). The data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire in English and Arabic. All statistical analyses were carried out using the SPSS 20 software. p < 0.05 was used to indicate statistical significance. Results: A total of 812 participants responded, of which 486 participants (60%) declared using a toothpaste and toothbrush for cleaning their teeth. The cohort consisted of 274 (34%) females who brushed twice daily, while 96 (33%) males brushed their teeth once a day and 18% of the participants did not even brush once a day. The results indicated that 332 (64%) female participants and 174 (60%) male participants had perception and knowledge of the use of dental floss or any other device to clean between their teeth, while 174 (48.50%) male participants and 174 (49.10%) female participants cleaned their tongue with the same brush, rather than using a tongue scrubber or any other aids. Conclusion: The total awareness of interdental aids in Saudi Arabia is unsatisfactory, as demonstrated by the participants not being conscious or informed about the maintenance of their oral health. A majority of participants did not report adopting basic techniques, such as tongue brushing. This study reveals that no interdental aids were used by 16% of the participants. Thus, it is crucial to develop an effective educational program which emphasizes oral healthcare in this population.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii93-ii93
Author(s):  
Kate Connor ◽  
Emer Conroy ◽  
Kieron White ◽  
Liam Shiels ◽  
William Gallagher ◽  
...  

Abstract Despite magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) being the gold-standard imaging modality in the glioblastoma (GBM) setting, the availability of rodent MRI scanners is relatively limited. CT is a clinically relevant alternative which is more widely available in the pre-clinic. To study the utility of contrast-enhanced (CE)-CT in GBM xenograft modelling, we optimized CT protocols on two instruments (IVIS-SPECTRUM-CT;TRIUMPH-PET/CT) with/without delivery of contrast. As radiomics analysis may facilitate earlier detection of tumors by CT alone, allowing for deeper analyses of tumor characteristics, we established a radiomic pipeline for extraction and selection of tumor specific CT-derived radiomic features (inc. first order statistics/texture features). U87R-Luc2 GBM cells were implanted orthotopically into NOD/SCID mice (n=25) and tumor growth monitored via weekly BLI. Concurrently mice underwent four rounds of CE-CT (IV iomeprol/iopamidol; 50kV-scan). N=45 CE-CT images were semi-automatically delineated and radiomic features were extracted (Pyradiomics 2.2.0) at each imaging timepoint. Differences between normal and tumor tissue were analyzed using recursive selection. Using either CT instrument/contrast, tumors &gt; 0.4cm3 were not detectable until week-9 post-implantation. Radiomic analysis identified three features (waveletHHH_firstorder_Median, original_glcm_Correlation and waveletLHL_firstorder_Median) at week-3 and -6 which may be early indicators of tumor presence. These features are now being assessed in CE-CT scans collected pre- and post-temozolomide treatment in a syngeneic model of mesenchymal GBM. Nevertheless, BLI is significantly more sensitive than CE-CT (either visually or using radiomic-enhanced CT feature extraction) with luciferase-positive tumors detectable at week-1. In conclusion, U87R-Luc2 tumors &gt; 0.4cm3 are only detectable by Week-8 using CE-CT and either CT instrument studied. Nevertheless, radiomic analysis has defined features which may allow for earlier tumor detection at Week-3, thus expanding the utility of CT in the preclinical setting. Overall, this work supports the discovery of putative prognostic pre-clinical CT-derived radiomic signatures which may ultimately be assessed as early disease markers in patient datasets.


2011 ◽  
Vol 102 (5) ◽  
pp. 355-357
Author(s):  
Karen L. Pielak ◽  
Jane Buxton ◽  
Cheryl McIntyre ◽  
Andrew Tu ◽  
Michael Botnick

TECHNOLOGY ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 06 (02) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
Iman Dayarian ◽  
Timothy C.Y. Chan ◽  
David Jaffray ◽  
Teo Stanescu

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful diagnostic tool that has become the imaging modality of choice for soft-tissue visualization in radiation therapy. Emerging technologies aim to integrate MRI with a medical linear accelerator to form novel cancer therapy systems (MR-linac), but the design of these systems to date relies on heuristic procedures. This paper develops an exact, optimization-based approach for magnet design that 1) incorporates the most accurate physics calculations to date, 2) determines precisely the relative spatial location, size, and current magnitude of the magnetic coils, 3) guarantees field homogeneity inside the imaging volume, 4) produces configurations that satisfy, for the first time, small-footprint feasibility constraints required for MR-linacs. Our approach leverages modern mixed-integer programming (MIP), enabling significant flexibility in magnet design generation, e.g., controlling the number of coils and enforcing symmetry between magnet poles. Our numerical results demonstrate the superiority of our method versus current mainstream methods.


Author(s):  
Derar H Abdel-Qader ◽  
Esraa E Al Jomaa ◽  
Jennifer Silverthorne ◽  
Walid Shnaigat ◽  
Salim Hamadi ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives Evaluating Jordanian pharmacists’ roles in psychiatry from psychiatrists perspective. Methods An electronic survey was sent to 100 psychiatrists registered in the Jordanian Psychiatrists Association. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression. Key findings A total of 80 psychiatrists completed the survey (response rate 80%). Most psychiatrists thought that pharmacists are unable to give individuals with mental illness enough time to discuss their medications (62/80, 77.6%) and to monitor psychotropic medications (PM) efficacy (50/80, 62.6%). Around half of respondents thought that, in the future, pharmacists would not be able to suggest PM for patients (42/80, 52.6%), nor changes in PM dosages (37/80, 46.3%). Most psychiatrists emphasized the importance of psychiatric courses to improve pharmacists’ role. Conclusion Although psychiatrists were generally not satisfied with the current role of pharmacists, they had positive expectations about pharmacists’ competency to do certain activities and to assist them in designing drug therapy plans.


1973 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank J. Landy ◽  
Frederick Bates

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Jeannine Everhart ◽  
Emily Van Wasshenova ◽  
Rachel Mahas ◽  
Diane Kerr ◽  
Debra Boardley ◽  
...  

The purpose of this national population study is to assess health education faculty’s perceptions of advocacy related activities and determine their current teaching practices. The study surveyed 1150 health education faculty members regarding their personal involvement in health advocacy, their current teaching practices regarding advocacy and public policy, and their confidence in teaching advocacy and public policy topics. The survey response rate was 50 %. Based on the findings of this study, professional development for faculty members and institutional support for increased training and personal involvement in the areas of advocacy and public policy are highly recommended.      


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gandikota Girish ◽  
Karen Finlay ◽  
Yoav Morag ◽  
Catherine Brandon ◽  
Jon Jacobson ◽  
...  

The osseous pelvis is a well-recognized site of origin of numerous primary and secondary musculoskeletal tumors. The radiologic evaluation of a pelvic lesion often begins with the plain film and proceeds to computed tomography (CT), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and possibly biopsy. Each of these modalities, with inherent advantages and disadvantages, has a role in the workup of pelvic osseous masses. Clinical history and imaging characteristics can significantly narrow the broad differential diagnosis for osseous pelvic lesions. The purpose of this review is to familiarize the radiologist with the presentation and appearance of some of the common benign neoplasms of the osseous pelvis and share our experience and approach in diagnosing these lesions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Abdullah Al Farooq ◽  
MA Mushfiqur Rahman ◽  
Tania Tajreen ◽  
Eqramur Rahman ◽  
Md Minhajuddin Sajid ◽  
...  

Background: Carcinoma pancreas is being diagnosed increasingly with the help of conventional imaging like ultrasonography (USG), computerized tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Imaging also gives the opportunity to assess resectability. In our country MRI and CT scan are not widely available and most of the pancreatic carcinoma is too advanced for curative surgical resection when diagnosed. These are unresectable carcinoma pancreas (UCP). Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of imaging in diagnosing carcinoma pancreas and to assess resectability after comparing them with peroperative findings. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out in the department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery in Bangladesh Institute for Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetic Endocrine and Metabolic disorders (BIRDEM) hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh from July 2004 to June 2006 (2 years). After laparotomy findings and histopathological confirmation 50 patients were labeled as UCP. Among 50 patients male were 28 & female patients were 22. Imaging modalities used before surgery was assessed and compared with per operative findings. USG were done in all patients and CTscan in 45 patients. MRI was done in 08 patients suspected clinically as pancreatic carcinoma where USG /CT scan had failed to reach a conclusion. Findings of the various imaging studies regarding diagnosis and unresectability were compared with per operative findings. Results: USG was able to diagnose 42 (84%) pancreatic carcinoma patients with unresectibility in 29 (69%). Forty five patients (90%) were diagnosed by CT scan and could label 38 (84.44%) as unresectable. MRI was 100% accurate to diagnose and label the entire 08 patient as unresectable carcinoma pancreas. Cumulative multimodal preoperative imaging was 91.33% accurate in diagnosing carcinoma pancreas and could tell the features of unresectibility in 73.59% patients. Conclusion: CT scan should be the primary imaging modality for diagnosing pancreatic carcinoma and its resectability. MRI is very promising for diagnosing and assessing UCP. Multimodal imaging is better than single imaging. Chattagram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College Journal Volume 12, Issue 3, September 2013: 23-26


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