45. Education at distance: Broadcasting ECG rounds to Southeastern Ontario (BESO Project). An innovative approach for teaching electrocardiography

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Baranchuk ◽  
G. Dagnone ◽  
P. Fowler ◽  
M. N. Harrison ◽  
L. Lisnevskaia ◽  
...  

Electrocardiography (ECG) interpretation is an essential skill for physicians as well as for many other health care professionals. Continuing education is necessary to maintain these skills. The process of teaching and learning ECG interpretation is complex and involves both deductive mechanisms and recognition of patterns for different clinical situations (“pattern recognition”). The successful methodologies of interactive sessions and real time problem based learning have never been evaluated with a long distance education model. To evaluate the efficacy of broadcasting ECG rounds to different hospitals in the Southeastern Ontario region; to perform qualitative research to determine the impact of this methodology in developing and maintaining skills in ECG interpretation. ECG rounds are held weekly at Kingston General Hospital and will be transmitted live to Napanee, Belleville, Oshawa, Peterborough and Brockville. The teaching methodology is based on real ECG cases. The audience is invited to analyze the ECG case and the coordinator will introduce comments to guide the case through the proper algorithm. Final interpretation will be achieved emphasizing the deductive process and the relevance of each case. An evaluation will be filled out by each participant at the end of each session. Videoconferencing works through a vast array of internet LANs, WANs, ISDN phone lines, routers, switches, firewalls and Codecs (Coder/Decoder) and bridges. A videoconference Codec takes the analog audio and video signal codes and compresses it into a digital signal and transmits that digital signal to another Codec where the signal is decompressed and retranslated back into analog video and audio. This compression and decompression allows large amounts of data to be transferred across a network at close to real time (384 kbps with 30 frames of video per second). Videoconferencing communication works on voice activation so whichever site is speaking has the floor and is seen by all the participating sites. A continuous presence mode allows each site to have the same visual and audio involvement as the host site. A bridged multipoint can connect between 8 and 12 sites simultaneously. This innovative methodology for teaching ECG will facilitate access to developing and maintaining skills in ECG interpretation for a large number of health care providers. Bertsch TF, Callas PW, Rubin A. Effectiveness of lectures attended via interactive video conferencing versus in-person in preparing third-year internal medicine clerkship students for clinical practice examinations. Teach Learn Med 2007; 19(1):4-8. Yellowlees PM, Hogarth M, Hilty DM. The importance of distributed broadband networks to academic biomedical research and education programs. Acad Psychaitry 2006;30:451-455

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 994-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Angela Castelli Dransart

The objective of this study is to identify patterns (components and processes) of reconstruction of suicide survivors. In-depth interviews were conducted with 50 survivors of suicide in Switzerland. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti and according to the Grounded Theory principles. Survivors of suicide face four major challenges: dealing with the impact of suicide, searching for meaning, clarifying responsibility, and finding a personal style of reaction and coping. The various ways in which survivors fare through the specific processes of the challenges result in various patterns of reconstruction: the vulnerability, transformation, commitment, and hard blow. The unique characteristics and dynamics of each of them are highlighted. Health care providers would benefit from an approach based on the dynamics of the various patterns of reconstruction in providing appropriate support to survivors of suicide.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Mauldon

This paper reports on the attitudes of a sample of health care providers towards the use of telehealth to support rural patients and integrate rural primary health and urban hospital care. Telehealth and other information technologies hold the promise of improving the quality of care for people in rural and remote areas and for supporting rural primary health care providers. While seemingly beneficial for rural patients, study participants believed that telehealth remains underused and poorly integrated into their practice. In general, participants thought that telehealth is potentially beneficial but places constraints on their activities, and few actually used it. Published literature usually reports either on the success of telehealth pilot projects or initiatives that are well resourced and do not reflect the constraints of routine practice, or has an international focus limiting its relevance to the Australian context. Because of the paucity of systematic and generalisable research into the effects of the routine use of telehealth to support rural patients, it is unclear why health care professionals choose to provide such services or the costs and benefits they incur in doing so. Research and policy initiatives continue to be needed to identify the impact of telehealth within the context of Australian primary health care and to develop strategies to support its use.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (02) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Burkle ◽  
Adam L. Kushner ◽  
Christos Giannou ◽  
Mary A. Paterson ◽  
Sherry M. Wren ◽  
...  

AbstractSince 1945, the reason for humanitarian crises and the way in which the world responds to them has dramatically changed every 10 to 15 years or less. Planning, response, and recovery for these tragic events have often been ad hoc, inconsistent, and insufficient, largely because of the complexity of global humanitarian demands and their corresponding response system capabilities. This historical perspective chronicles the transformation of war and armed conflicts from the Cold War to today, emphasizing the impact these events have had on humanitarian professionals and their struggle to adapt to increasing humanitarian, operational, and political challenges. An unprecedented independent United Nations–World Health Organization decision in the Battle for Mosul in Iraq to deploy to combat zones emergency medical teams unprepared in the skills of decades-tested war and armed conflict preparation and response afforded to health care providers and dictated by International Humanitarian Law and Geneva Convention protections has abruptly challenged future decision-making and deployments. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:109–115)


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (01) ◽  
pp. 156-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harshana Liyanage ◽  
Siaw-Teng Liaw ◽  
Emmanouela Konstantara ◽  
Freda Mold ◽  
Richard Schreiber ◽  
...  

Background: Patients' access to their computerised medical records (CMRs) is a legal right in many countries. However, little is reported about the benefit-risk associated with patients' online access to their CMRs. Objective: To conduct a consensus exercise to assess the impact of patients' online access to their CMRs on the quality of care as defined in six domains by the Institute of Medicine (IoM), now the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Method: A five-round Delphi study was conducted. Round One explored experts' (n = 37) viewpoints on providing patients with access to their CMRs. Round Two rated the appropriateness of statements arising from Round One (n = 16). The third round was an online panel discussion of findings (n = 13) with the members of both the International Medical Informatics Association and the European Federation of Medical Informatics Primary Health Care Informatics Working Groups. Two additional rounds, a survey of the revised consensus statements and an online workshop, were carried out to further refine consensus statements. Results: Thirty-seven responses from Round One were used as a basis to initially develop 15 statements which were categorised using IoM's domains of care quality. The experts agreed that providing patients online access to their CMRs for bookings, results, and prescriptions increased efficiency and improved the quality of medical records. Experts also anticipated that patients would proactively use their online access to share data with different health care providers, including emergencies. However, experts differed on whether access to limited or summary data was more useful to patients than accessing their complete records. They thought online access would change recording practice, but they were unclear about the benefit-risk of high and onerous levels of security. The 5-round process, finally, produced 16 consensus statements. Conclusion: Patients' online access to their CMRs should be part of all CMR systems. It improves the process of health care, but further evidence is required about outcomes. Online access improves efficiency of bookings and other services. However, there is scope to improve many of the processes of care it purports to support, particularly the provision of a more effective interface and the protection of the vulnerable.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 590-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Anne Furst ◽  
Jose A Salinas-Perez ◽  
Luis Salvador-Carulla

Objectives: Concerns raised about the appropriateness of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Australia for people with mental illness have not been given full weight due to a perceived lack of available evidence. In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), one of the pilot sites of the Scheme, mental health care providers across all relevant sectors who were interviewed for a local Atlas of Mental Health Care described the impact of the scheme on their service provision. Methods: All mental health care providers from every sector in the ACT were contacted. The participation rate was 92%. We used the Description and Evaluation of Services and Directories for Long Term Care to assess all service provision at the local level. Results: Around one-third of services interviewed lacked funding stability for longer than 12 months. Nine of the 12 services who commented on the impact of the NDIS expressed deep concern over problems in planning and other issues. Conclusions: The transition to NDIS has had a major impact on ACT service providers. The ACT was a best-case scenario as it was one of the NDIS pilot sites.


CJEM ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (05) ◽  
pp. 455-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Ducharme ◽  
Robert J. Alder ◽  
Cindy Pelletier ◽  
Don Murray ◽  
Joshua Tepper

ABSTRACT Objective: We sought to assess the impact of the integration of the new roles of primary health care nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) on patient flow, wait times and proportions of patients who left without being seen in 6 Ontario emergency departments (EDs). Methods: We performed a retrospective review of health records data on patient arrival time, time of initial assessment by a physician, time of discharge from the ED and discharge status. Results: Whether a PA or NP was directly involved in the care of patients or indirectly involved by being on duty, the wait times, lengths of stay and proportion of patients who left without being seen were significantly reduced. When a PA or NP were directly involved in patients' care, patients were 1.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3–2.1, p < 0.05) and 2.1 (95% CI 1.6–2.8, p < 0.05) times more likely to be seen within the wait time benchmarks, respectively. Lengths of stay were 30.3% (95% CI 21.6%–39.0%, p < 0.01) and 48.8% (95% CI 35.0%–62.7%, p < 0.01) lower when PAs and NPs, respectively, were involved. When PAs and NPs were not on duty, the proportion of patients who left without being seen were 44% (95% CI 31%–63%, p < 0.01) and 71% (95% CI 53%–96%, p < 0.05), respectively. Conclusion: The addition of PAs or NPs to the ED team can improve patient flow in medium-sized community hospital EDs. Given the ongoing shortage of physicians, use of alternative health care providers should be considered. These results require validation, as their generalizability to other locations or types of EDs is not known.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 2174-2174
Author(s):  
Michelle Neier ◽  
Michele P. Lambert ◽  
Rachael F. Grace ◽  
Kerry Hege ◽  
Stephanie Chiu ◽  
...  

Background: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an immune mediated bleeding disorder characterized by isolated thrombocytopenia. ITP can have a variety of presentations from asymptomatic to life threatening bleeding. Although childhood ITP is most often a self-resolving illness which can be closely observed without intervention, it can be associated with significant impact on quality of life (QoL). Prospective studies of QoL in ITP patients show that there is not always a correlation with treatment or disease severity. The pathway from initial presentation to final diagnosis varies and may include encounters with emergency room, primary care or specialty providers. There have been no published studies to date showing the impact of factors prior to the diagnosis of ITP on treatment decision making and QoL. Objective: To identify the role of physician-patient and physician-caregiver interactions on the QoL and emotional well-being of patients and their families. Ascertaining the impact of pre-diagnosis factors may provide an opportunity to improve access and quality of care provided. Methods: The ITP Consortium of North America (ICON) "Pathways" study was a multicenter observational prospective cohort study focused on the pathways to diagnosis of ITP. The study was supported by a Foundation for Morristown Medical Center Research Fund Grant. Subjects were included if they had presumed primary ITP and were age >12 months to <18 years. Subjects were excluded if they had secondary ITP, including Evans syndrome. Treatment was determined by the physician. Subjects were consented and presented with questionnaires to be completed at the conclusion of the initial hematology visit. The hematologist also completed survey data at that time. Survey data forms included demographic form, physician form, Peds QL Family Impact Questionnaire, Kids ITP tools (KIT) Parent Impact Report and parent proxy report, and child (patient) KIT self-report. There was a parent questionnaire which included a question about worry with a scale from 0 to 10. Study data were collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools hosted at Atlantic Health System. Correlation between variables were calculated using Pearson coefficient or Spearman's rho depending on the distribution of the data variables. Results: Sixty subjects and caregivers were enrolled at 6 ICON centers; 52 were eligible for inclusion. The majority (40%) had Grade 1 bleeding. Most patients (82%) were seen in outpatient hematology clinic by the hematologist and had been referred by the emergency room (73%). The median time to consultation with a hematologist from onset of symptoms was 7 days (1-199) and the median time to diagnosis by hematologist from initial contact with a health care provider was 5 days (0-154). Most subjects had seen 2 health care providers prior to the hematologist. KIT proxy report cumulative scores were a mean of 76.03 (SD 14.72). There was no significant difference between the time to diagnosis or the time from initial encounter with health care provider to hematologist and initial level of worry (p=0.70 and 0.90, respectively). There was also no significant difference between the time to diagnosis or the time from initial encounter with health care provider to hematologist and KIT proxy scores (p=0.96 and 0.50, respectively). However, there was a significant decline in level of worry (scale 0-10) prior to the hematologist visit (median 8, range 1-10) to after the visit (median 4, range 1-10). The association between number of medical providers encountered prior to diagnosis and KIT proxy scores was not significant (p=0.45) (Table). Conclusions: In this study at 6 teaching institutions, we were unable to detect a significant difference in proxy-reported KIT scores relative to the number of health care providers seen or time from diagnosis until the first encounter with the hematologist. We were, however, able to detect a significant change in the level of caregiver worry pre- and post- visit with the pediatric hematologist, supporting a benefit of specialist care to the caregivers of children with ITP. This study was limited by its small sample size and retrospective design. ITP is considered a benign disease but is associated with a significant amount of worry and impact on QoL for patients and caregivers which warrants further investigation. Disclosures Lambert: CSL Behring: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Other; Bayer: Other: Ad boards; Novartis: Other: Ad boards, Research Funding; Shionogi: Consultancy; Kedrion: Consultancy; Sysmex: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Research Funding; PDSA: Research Funding. Grace:Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding.


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