Internet Information Sources for the Identification of Emerging Health Technologies: A Starting Point

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 644-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelinda Trindade ◽  
Leigh-Ann Topfer ◽  
Mara De Giusti
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Timely Access ◽  
Internet Information ◽  
One Year

AbstractThe basis of an early warning system for new and emerging health technologies is information, and in particular, information that has been selectively extracted from the huge quantity of data in the fields of medicine, science, and biobusiness. The information will be useful only if presented in a format suitable to the needs of health care decision makers and produced at the time most likely to influence the introduction or diffusion of new technologies. In 1997 the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) began a one-year pilot project to identify and provide information on developments in medical technologies that may have a significant impact on health care in Canada. We began by examining the information available to us through the Internet, based on the assumption that electronic sources can offer more timely access to a greater range of information, often with little or no cost involved. It was important to identify the sites that offered the most relevant information in the least amount of time.

OP457 A Collaborative Horizon Scanning Alert For Disinvestment And Early Awareness

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (S1) ◽  
pp. 10-10
Author(s):  
Vigdis Lauvrak ◽  
Kelly Farrah ◽  
Rosmin Esmail ◽  
Anna Lien Espeland ◽  
Elisabet Hafstad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Horizon Scanning ◽  
Google Alerts ◽  
One Year ◽  
The One ◽  
New Research ◽  
Google Search

IntroductionIn 2019, the Norwegian Institute for Public Health and Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) received support from HTAi to produce a quarterly current awareness alert for the HTAi Disinvestment and Early Awareness Interest Group in collaboration with the HTAi Information Retrieval Interest Group. The alert focuses on methods and topical issues, and broader forecasts of potentially disruptive technologies that may be of interest to those involved in horizon scanning and disinvestment initiatives in health technology assessment (HTA).MethodsInformation specialists at both agencies developed search strategies for disinvestment and for horizon scanning in PubMed and Google. The template for the alert was based on an e-newsletter developed by the Information Retrieval Interest Group. Information specialists and researchers reviewed the monthly (PubMed) and weekly (Google) search results and selected potentially relevant publications. Additional sources were also identified through regular HTA and horizon scanning work.ResultsAlerts are posted quarterly on the HTAi Interest Group website; members receive an email notice when new alerts are available. While the revised PubMed searches are identifying relevant information, Google alerts have been disappointing, and this search may need to be revised further or dropped. When the one-year pilot project ends, in Fall 2020, interest group members will be surveyed to see if the alerts were useful, and whether they have suggestions for improving them.ConclusionsCollaborating on this alert service reduces duplication of effort between agencies, and makes new research in horizon scanning and disinvestment more accessible to colleagues in other agencies working in these areas.

scholarly journals A Primer on Usability Assessment Approaches for Health-Related Applications of Virtual Reality (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Zhang ◽  
Richard Booth ◽  
Royce Jean-Louis ◽  
Ryan Chan ◽  
Anthony Yeung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Usability Testing ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Medical Professional ◽  
Patient Treatment ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Health Related

UNSTRUCTURED Health-related virtual reality (VR) applications for patient treatment, rehabilitation, and medical professional training are on the rise. However, there is little guidance on how to select and perform usability evaluations for VR health interventions compared to the supports that exist for other digital health technologies. The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to present an introductory summary of various usability testing approaches or methods that can be used for VR applications. Along with an overview of each, a list of resources is provided for readers to obtain additionally relevant information. Six categories of VR usability evaluations are described using a previously developed classification taxonomy specific to VR environments: (1) cognitive or task walkthrough, (2) graphical evaluation, (3) post hoc questionnaires or interviews, (4) physical performance evaluation, (5) user interface evaluation, and (6) heuristic evaluation. Given the growth of VR in health care, rigorous evaluation and usability testing is crucial in the development and implementation of novel VR interventions. The approaches outlined in this paper provide a starting point for conducting usability assessments for health-related VR applications; however, there is a need to also move beyond these to adopt those from the gaming industry, where assessments for both usability and user experience are routinely conducted.

SCANNING THE HORIZON IN A DECENTRALIZED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM: THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andra Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Awareness Service ◽  
Care System

Canada has a highly decentralized health care system with 13 provinces and territories delivering health care within their own respective jurisdictions. Decisions regarding which innovative health technologies to adopt are often driven by the unique health care priorities of each jurisdiction's population. To understand these needs, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health's (CADTH's) Early Awareness Service has expanded its activities. In addition to proactively scanning the horizon for new and emerging health technologies, the Early Awareness Service also scans the horizon for national and jurisdictional health policy issues. This paper looks at CADTH's process for identifying and monitoring policy issues at a national and jurisdictional level.CADTH's Early Awareness Service delivers timely information on emerging health care concerns and technologies that may affect health care finances, facilities, operations, and patient care. The identification of important policy issues can help determine which new and emerging technologies will have the most significant impact on the health care system. The information that CADTH scans can also be used to help decision-makers prepare for potential developments and events that may have an impact on health care systems.By improving its capability to identify and share policy issues across and within jurisdictions, CADTH is better situated to provide information that can be used by policy-makers to help them plan and anticipate for the introduction of new technologies and future developments affecting the unique health care needs of their jurisdictions.

Scanning the Horizon for Emerging Health Technologies: Conclusions from a European Workshop

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Carlsson ◽  
Torben Jorgensen
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Early Evaluation ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Limited Experience

AbstractTo share the existing, albeit limited, experience among nations and to explore the feasibility of international collaboration on the identification and early evaluation of health care technologies, an workshop was arranged in September 1997. Twenty-seven policy makers and researchers from twelve countries attended the meeting and concluded that: the policy environment in most European countries is characterized by insufficient data on safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of health care innovations; that an early warning system is perceived as an essential mechanism for facilitating communication among policy makers, technology experts, and health professionals; and that collaboration on early warning activities might be even more useful than traditional collaboration in health technology assessment.

scholarly journals A Primer on Usability Assessment Approaches for Health-Related Applications of Virtual Reality

10.2196/18153 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. e18153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Zhang ◽  
Richard Booth ◽  
Royce Jean-Louis ◽  
Ryan Chan ◽  
Anthony Yeung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Usability Testing ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Medical Professional ◽  
Patient Treatment ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Health Related

Health-related virtual reality (VR) applications for patient treatment, rehabilitation, and medical professional training are on the rise. However, there is little guidance on how to select and perform usability evaluations for VR health interventions compared to the supports that exist for other digital health technologies. The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to present an introductory summary of various usability testing approaches or methods that can be used for VR applications. Along with an overview of each, a list of resources is provided for readers to obtain additionally relevant information. Six categories of VR usability evaluations are described using a previously developed classification taxonomy specific to VR environments: (1) cognitive or task walkthrough, (2) graphical evaluation, (3) post hoc questionnaires or interviews, (4) physical performance evaluation, (5) user interface evaluation, and (6) heuristic evaluation. Given the growth of VR in health care, rigorous evaluation and usability testing is crucial in the development and implementation of novel VR interventions. The approaches outlined in this paper provide a starting point for conducting usability assessments for health-related VR applications; however, there is a need to also move beyond these to adopt those from the gaming industry, where assessments for both usability and user experience are routinely conducted.

scholarly journals Procurement of innovation terminology usage in health care: A scoping review protocol

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret R. Andrews ◽  
Romualdo Ramos ◽  
Martina Ahlberg ◽  
Jan A. Hazelzet ◽  
Erik M. van Raaij ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Health Care Settings ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Policy Tool

AbstractBackgroundAlthough procurement of innovation is an established policy tool used to stimulate collaboration between supply- and demand-side entities during the development of new technologies, there is little scientific literature describing the process as applied in health care settings. Furthermore, what literature exists contains inconsistencies of terms, definitions, and/or concepts related to procurement of innovation. This protocol details our process for a systematic scoping review to describe the current scope of literature and to provide terminology clarification.MethodsA search strategy will be used to search PubMed, EMBASE [OVID], CINAHL [EBSCO], PsycINFO [ProQUEST], ABI/INFORM, ISI Web of Knowledge, EBSCO, JSTOR, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar; grey literature, non-scientific reports, policy documents and expert recommendations will also be considered as additional sources for texts. Two researchers will screen titles and abstracts for inclusion/exclusion criteria, followed by full texts. We will extract the following data, if applicable: title, authors, date, author affiliations, country, journal/publication characteristics, setting, aims/purpose, methodology, sample characteristics, assessment/evaluation tools, outcome parameters, key findings, relevance, and terminology usage/definitions. Results will be presented narratively and visually.DiscussionThis paper describes the steps of our proposed systematic scoping review to identify and analyse scientific and non-scientific literature related to procurement of innovation and/or innovation of procurement in health care settings, with a particular focus on digital health technologies. Results are intended to demonstrate the current scope of literature, to provide clarity in language and therefore to serve as a first step for further research in this growing field.

scholarly journals EXCHANGING VIEWS ON HTA

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-85
Author(s):  
Marjukka Mäkelä
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Lively Discussion ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Methodological Challenges ◽  
Starting Point

This issue of the International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care (IJTAHC) brings to the readers a lively discussion on the possibility of benchmarking health technology assessment (HTA) organizations. Michael Drummond and colleagues present a paper discussing “the conceptual and methodological challenges associated with benchmarking” (1). They propose a set of criteria for comparing the quality of organizations that produce assessments on health technologies. Aiming at explicit and transparent comparisons, Drummond et al. also highlight the possible problems in their approach, and present their paper as a starting point for discussion.

scholarly journals Policy and Regulation in Digital Health

2019 ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Fazilah Shaik Allaudin
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Clinical Evidence ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Delivery Of Care ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Multiple Strategies

The dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the advances in telecommunicatio n are presenting multiple strategies and challenges ahead which includes policy and regulat ion, clinical evidence, safety and quality, medical ethics and clinical practice. However, these disruptions are also creating new opportunities to solve some of the biggest health-rela ted challenges facing the world today. The democratization of care and the great potential to health care offered by the digital revolution is the new paradigm embracing the delivery of care. The deployment of these new technologies and advances is progressing faster than regulator y framework can react. At the same time new technologies can deepen healthcare inequalities and unaffordability. Since 2018, efforts are underway by MOH to review and develop regulator y strategies and policies to foster digital health technologies, advocate translational research, spur innovations and boost the digital economy while at the same time, building an enabling ecosystem in Malaysia. New service models, technologies and innovations must be based on the principles of value-based, safety, quality, confidentiality, accountability and traceabilit y. The safe practice of digital health should keep the consumers of health care at the heart of the adoption.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue: 2019 Page: 23

Development and Implementation of an Early Warning System for High Risk Patients for Suicide Attempt Using Deep Learning and Electronic Health Records (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Zheng ◽  
Oliver Wang ◽  
Modi Liu ◽  
Chengyin Ye ◽  
Minjie Xia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Health Records ◽  
Prospective Cohorts ◽  
One Year

BACKGROUND Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. Over the past 15 years, the total suicide rate has increased 24% from 10.5 to 13.0 per 100,000 people. In Massachusetts the rate of death by suicide is three times the rate of homicide deaths. Approximately 60% of suicides die on the first attempt. Of the remaining 40% who survive the index attempt and receive emergency or hospital level of care, rates of subsequent completed suicide are exceptionally high, ranging from 2.3% to 4%. A recent study determined that risk factors for repeat suicide attempt and suicide differed, with alcohol use, younger age and cluster B personality disorders among the attempters and older age and alcohol use among the suicide completers. This data is from a small sample in Catalonia, Spain and whether it is generalizable to populations in the USA is yet to be determined. An early warning system (EWS) for suicide attempt could prove valuable for identifying those at risk of suicide attempts, and the contribution of repeated attempts to the risk of eventual death by suicide. OBJECTIVE In this study we sought to develop an early warning system (EWS) for high risk suicide attempt patients through the development of a population-based risk stratification surveillance system. Importantly, this EWS was designed to support case managers, primary care and mental health care practitioners participating in accountable care programs. The continuous use of the system in this program will help assess the ongoing EWS effectiveness. METHODS Data from individual patient electronic health records (EHRs) from the Berkshire Health System located in Pittsfield, MA. Advanced machine-learning algorithms and Deep Neural Networks were utilized in the process of feature selection and model building. A final risk score was calculated for each individual and calibrated to indicate the probability of a suicide attempt in the following one-year time period. Risk scores were subjected to individual level analysis in order to aid in the interpretation of the results for health care providers managing the at-risk cohorts. RESULTS The one-year suicide attempt risk model attained an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.792 and 0.769 in the retrospective and prospective cohorts, respectively. The suicide attempt rate in the “very high risk” category was 60 times greater than the population baseline when tested in the prospective cohorts, 10 times greater in the “high risk” group, and 5 times greater in the “medium risk” bin. Mental health disorders including depression, bipolar disorders and anxiety, along with substance abuse, impulse control disorders, clinical utilization indicators, and socio-economic determinants were recognized as significant features associated with incident suicide attempt. CONCLUSIONS Utilizing a single EHR dataset, an EWS for the determination of risk for suicide attempt was successfully developed and prospectively validated using deep learning modeling techniques.

Overview of Current Approaches to Aural Rehabilitation for Adults With Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1175-1187
Author(s):  
Rachel Glade ◽  
Erin Taylor ◽  
Deborah S. Culbertson ◽  
Christin Ray
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Practice Patterns ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Aural Rehabilitation ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Clinical Models ◽  
Hearing Health

Purpose This clinical focus article provides an overview of clinical models currently being used for the provision of comprehensive aural rehabilitation (AR) for adults with cochlear implants (CIs) in the Unites States. Method Clinical AR models utilized by hearing health care providers from nine clinics across the United States were discussed with regard to interprofessional AR practice patterns in the adult CI population. The clinical models were presented in the context of existing knowledge and gaps in the literature. Future directions were proposed for optimizing the provision of AR for the adult CI patient population. Findings/Conclusions There is a general agreement that AR is an integral part of hearing health care for adults with CIs. While the provision of AR is feasible in different clinical practice settings, service delivery models are variable across hearing health care professionals and settings. AR may include interprofessional collaboration among surgeons, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists with varying roles based on the characteristics of a particular setting. Despite various existing barriers, the clinical practice patterns identified here provide a starting point toward a more standard approach to comprehensive AR for adults with CIs.

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