scholarly journals Standardization of health informatics - results and challenges

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.O. Klein

Abstract:A number of standardization initiatives have been in progress for more than ten years in several parts of the world with the aim to facilitate different aspects of the exchange of health information. Important results have been achieved, and in some fields and parts of the world, standards are widely used today. Unfortunately, we are still facing the fact that most healthcare information systems cannot exchange information with all systems for which this would be desired. Either the existing standards are not sufficiently implemented, or the required standards and necessary national implementation guidelines do not yet exist. This causes unacceptable risks to patients, inefficient use of healthcare resources, and sub-optimal development of medical knowledge. This article will review some of the difficulties surrounding standards, as well as highlight the achievements and main global actors, while focusing on the challenges facing the international consensus process.

2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (04) ◽  
pp. 261-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. O. Klein

Summary Objectives: This review article aims to highlight the importance of standards for effective communication and provides an overview of international standardization activities. Methods: This article is based on the experience of the author of European standardization in CEN, which he leads, and the global work of ISO, where he is leading the security working group, and an overview of the work of DICOM, IEEE and HL7, partly using their web presentations. Results: Health communication is highly dependent of the general development of information technology with standards coming from ISO/IEC JTC1, ITU and several other organizations e.g. IETF, the World Wide Web consortium and Open group. A number of standardization initiatives have been in progress for more than ten years with the aim to facilitate different aspects of the exchange of health information. Electronic record architecture, Message structures, Concept representation, Device communication including imaging and Security are the main areas. Conclusions: Important results have been achieved, and in some fields and parts of the world, standards are widely used today. Unfortunately, we are still facing the fact that most healthcare information systems cannot exchange information with all systems for which this would be desired. Either the existing standards are not sufficiently implemented, or the required standards and necessary national implementation guidelines do not yet exist. This causes unacceptable risks to patients, inefficient use of healthcare resources, and sub-optimal development of medical knowledge. Fortunately, the different bodies are now largely co-operating to achieve global consensus.


Parasite ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique A. Vuitton ◽  
Donald P. McManus ◽  
Michael T. Rogan ◽  
Thomas Romig ◽  
Bruno Gottstein ◽  
...  

Echinococcoses require the involvement of specialists from nearly all disciplines; standardization of the terminology used in the field is thus crucial. To harmonize echinococcosis terminology on sound scientific and linguistic grounds, the World Association of Echinococcosis launched a Formal Consensus process. Under the coordination of a Steering and Writing Group (SWG), a Consultation and Rating Group (CRG) had the main missions of (1) providing input on the list of terms drafted by the SWG, taking into account the available literature and the participants’ experience; and (2) providing independent rating on all debated terms submitted to vote. The mission of the Reading and Review Group (RRG) was to give an opinion about the recommendation paper in terms of readability, acceptability and applicability. The main achievements of this process were: (1) an update of the current nomenclature of Echinococcus spp.; (2) an agreement on three names of diseases due to Echinococcus spp.: Cystic Echinococcosis (CE), Alveolar Echinococcosis (AE) and Neotropical Echinococcosis (NE), and the exclusion of all other names; (3) an agreement on the restricted use of the adjective “hydatid” to refer to the cyst and fluid due to E. granulosus sensu lato; and (4) an agreement on a standardized description of the surgical operations for CE, according to the “Approach, cyst Opening, Resection, and Completeness” (AORC) framework. In addition, 95 “approved” and 60 “rejected” terms were listed. The recommendations provided in this paper will be applicable to scientific publications in English and communication with professionals. They will be used for translation into other languages spoken in endemic countries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edoardo Picetti ◽  
Sandra Rossi ◽  
Fikri M. Abu-Zidan ◽  
Luca Ansaloni ◽  
Rocco Armonda ◽  
...  

AbstractThe acute phase management of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and polytrauma represents a major challenge. Guidelines for the care of these complex patients are lacking, and worldwide variability in clinical practice has been documented in recent studies. Consequently, the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) decided to organize an international consensus conference regarding the monitoring and management of severe adult TBI polytrauma patients during the first 24 hours after injury. A modified Delphi approach was adopted, with an agreement cut-off of 70%. Forty experts in this field (emergency surgeons, neurosurgeons, and intensivists) participated in the online consensus process. Sixteen recommendations were generated, with the aim of promoting rational care in this difficult setting.


Author(s):  
Nestor J. Zaluzec

The Information SuperHighway, Email, The Internet, FTP, BBS, Modems, : all buzz words which are becoming more and more routine in our daily life. Confusing terminology? Hopefully it won't be in a few minutes, all you need is to have a handle on a few basic concepts and terms and you will be on-line with the rest of the "telecommunication experts". These terms all refer to some type or aspect of tools associated with a range of computer-based communication software and hardware. They are in fact far less complex than the instruments we use on a day to day basis as microscopist's and microanalyst's. The key is for each of us to know what each is and how to make use of the wealth of information which they can make available to us for the asking. Basically all of these items relate to mechanisms and protocols by which we as scientists can easily exchange information rapidly and efficiently to colleagues in the office down the hall, or half-way around the world using computers and various communications media. The purpose of this tutorial/paper is to outline and demonstrate the basic ideas of some of the major information systems available to all of us today. For the sake of simplicity we will break this presentation down into two distinct (but as we shall see later connected) areas: telecommunications over conventional phone lines, and telecommunications by computer networks. Live tutorial/demonstrations of both procedures will be presented in the Computer Workshop/Software Exchange during the course of the meeting.


2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc J. Tassé

Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) is in the process of developing the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD–11). Part of this process includes replacing mental retardation with a more acceptable term to identify the condition. The current international consensus appears to be replacing mental retardation with intellectual disability. This article briefly presents some of the issues involved in changing terminology and the constraints and conventions that are specific to the ICD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mainak Bardhan ◽  
Debolina Pramanik ◽  
Rizana Riyaz ◽  
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan ◽  
Mohammad Yasir Essar

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in the world from last year, and any further insults like Zika virus will surely bring the apocalypse unto us. In July 2021, Zika began spreading in India, mainly in the state of Kerala. Zika infection resembles closely COVID-19 and other arboviral infections, which might lead to delayed and misdiagnosis, further leading to underreporting of cases. Some of the feared complications of Zika include Guillain–Barré syndrome and congenital Zika syndrome leading to microcephaly. Thus, Zika virus disease (ZVD) has significant public health and social impacts. Since the trifecta of infectious diseases (host, agent and environment) are all conducive to the spread of Zika in India, there is a huge risk that ZVD might become endemic in India, which is especially dangerous in the backdrop of this pandemic. This has to be stopped at all costs: the main aspects of which are public health measures, vector control and early diagnosis, especially in case of pregnant women. The diversion of healthcare resources for this pandemic has albeit made this difficult, but we must do our bit if we have to overcome this situation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-111
Author(s):  
Faheem Jehangir Khan

Poverty is one of the most depressing global problems in the world today. Therefore, there is a growing consensus among development organisations that poverty alleviation should be the primary goal of cooperation between the rich and the poor countries. This consensus is due to the awareness that a widening international income gap threatens the well-being of people in the rich countries. In this volume, the author, Philip Kircher, offers a comprehensive study on the evolution, the content, the different national accentuations, and the problem of the international consensus on poverty alleviation, and provides a systematic analysis of today’s donor strategies for development cooperation for poverty reduction. The study focuses specifically on the strategic positions of the World Bank, the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany, and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), as well as the positions presented by the governments of these countries in regard to development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikhlas El karim ◽  
Henry F Duncan ◽  
Siobhan Cushley ◽  
Venkatesh Nagendrababu ◽  
Lise-Lotte Kirkevang ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundThe outcome of endodontic treatment is generally assessed using a range of patient and clinician-centred, non-standardised clinical and radiographic outcome measures. This makes it difficult to synthesise evidence for systematic analysis of the literature and the development of clinical guidelines. Core outcome sets (COS) represent a standardised list of outcomes that should be measured and reported in all clinical studies in a particular field. Recently, clinical researchers and guideline developers have focussed on the need for integration of a patient-reported COS with clinician-centred measures. This study aims to develop a COS that includes both patient reported outcomes and clinician centred measures for various endodontic treatment modalities to be used in clinical research and practice.MethodsTo identify reported outcomes (including when and how they are measured), systematic reviews and their included clinical studies, which focus on the outcome of endodontic treatment and were published between 1990 and 2020 will be screened. The COSs will be defined by a consensus process involving key stakeholders using semi-structured interviews and an online Delphi methodology followed by an interactive virtual consensus meeting. A heterogeneous group of key ‘stakeholders’ including patients, general dental practitioners, endodontists, endodontic teachers, clinical researchers, students and policy-makers will be invited to participate. Patients will establish, via interactive interviews, which outcomes they value and feel should be included in a COS. In the Delphi process, other stakeholders will be asked to prioritise outcomes identified from the literature and patients interviews, and will have the opportunity at the end of the first round to add outcomes that are not included, but which they consider relevant. Feedback will be provided in the second round, when participants will be asked to prioritise the list again. If consensus is reached, the remaining outcomes will be discussed at an online meeting and agreement established via defined consensus rules of outcome inclusion. If consensus is not reached after the second round, a third round will be conducted with feedback, followed by the online meeting. Following identification of a COS, we will proceed to identify how and when these outcomes are measured.DiscussionUsing a rigorous methodology, the proposed consensus process aims to develop a COS for endodontic treatment that will be relevant to stakeholders. The results of the study will be shared with participants and COS users. To increase COS uptake, it will also be actively shared with clinical guideline developers, research funders and the editors of general dental and endodontology journals.Study registrationThe study is registered in COMET (https://comet-initiative.org/Studies/Details/1879)


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