Designing Effective Crowdsourcing Systems for the Healthcare Industry

This article describes how healthcare faces many challenges. Among them is the inability of patients to seek and receive treatment based on their preferences. Patients characteristically pursue solutions to their medical problems that suit their individual needs. However, care providers and other stakeholders including healthcare insurance providers seem to ‘limit' patients' ability to access affordable and quality healthcare. Discourse in prior research has indicated that the use of crowdsourcing may provide patients access to treatments that can solve their medical problems. This article is an extension of extant research that describes the main challenges facing healthcare. It advances current research by presenting ideas through which these challenges can be mitigated. The core ideas proposed encompass the elements of crowdsourcing systems that will include participation of individuals in the crowd without any bias, enable knowledge sharing among all members of the crowd, and provide opportunities for testing the solutions proposed by the crowd.

An Islamic Faith Perspective on Using Social Media / Mainstream Media to Prompt Organ Donation/ Transplantation Awareness

This article describes how with exception to individuals with severe learning difficulties and neurological illnesses, which of course are devastating in their own right, there has never existed a human being who has not been aware not only of his body but also of his individuality, both physically and spiritually. Human beings are consciously aware of their own lives and, it's through understanding that awareness of a consciously constructed self is identified. The use of social media (SM) today provides unparalleled opportunities for research data collection, wider access for communication and engagement. SM/ mainstream media (MM) such as television, newspapers, magazines, and radio stations are also being used to prompt research funding for specific Long-Term Conditions (LTCs), however these forms of ‘advertising' have not been explored from an Islamic stance to prompt organ donation/ transplantation awareness on using SM/ MM. This article examines Islamic teachings to examine the action of organ transplantation.

The Impact of Healthcare Information Technology on Patient Outcomes

The purpose of this article is to review the existing literature on health information technology (HIT), specifically electronic health records (EHR) and life-long patient records, in order to provide a broad assessment of the current state of this technology in the United States. Relevant literature was reviewed to determine whether key hypotheses were validated. Areas for additional research and development were identified, and a potential path forward was proposed. HIT adoption is a worthwhile effort in the United States, and it is possible for us to enact an interoperable central records system within our current fee-for-service healthcare system. Wide scale adoption will require subsidies and regulatory involvement at the state level, but professional networks may be exploited to speed the rate of adoption. A four-tier architecture with autonomic security systems, properly validated, can provide the infrastructure necessary.

A Primer for Beginners in Pharmaceutical Care

This article describes how pharmacists are highly accessible healthcare professionals, and their clinical services are among the most accessible healthcare assistance systems worldwide considering the availability, geographic distribution and location of compounding pharmacies, clinical laboratories and drugstores. Pharmacists need to move from the focus in administrative management to patient-oriented practice, such that the access and the quality of clinical services can be improved. Pharmaceutical Care can influence pharmaceutical services to become more accessible and with a broader coverage of patients. Here is presented an approach on the implementation of effective strategies to improve the quality of Pharmacists' performance as specialized healthcare providers.

Mapping Women's World

Feminist geography and geographic information system(GIS) have been the most dynamic research areas over the last decade. Unfortunately, high breast cancer mortality rates have been reported in the northern part of the United states, with recent attention focused on the northern part of the United States. In this article, the authors investigate whether such a high rate of breast cancer is evenly spread in northern parts. The purpose of this article is to provide a more detailed analysis of the breast cancer distribution in the United States by comparing the spatial distribution of breast cancer cases against physical environmental factors using Geographic Information System (GIS). Further, it gives background information to the GIS and its applications in health-related research.

Operations Model for Trauma Centers

A relevant issue over the past few decades is the care of poly-trauma patients. The literature related to the care of patients suffering from poly-trauma, under the assistance point of view, is sufficiently consolidated concerning to the adoption of best practices. These are usually conducted and disseminated by accrediting organizations (for example, ACS). However, recent research and theoretical shortcomings brought some heterogeneous thoughts concerning operations management and design when trying to enlarge the literature beyond the assistential dimension. Therefore, after a review of the most important operations management and health bases, a conceptual model is proposed in this article which covers the relevant elements of an operation's projects such as: strategy, capacity, human resources, incentive systems, organizational structure and decision-making. This is in order to systematize the current stage of the field, highlighting the differences between recent studies and proposing a set of practices and premises which are necessary for the operationalization of the proposed model.

Awareness and Information Sources of Hypertensive Diseases Among Aged Civil Servants in Southwest, Nigeria

This article describes a study which investigates the awareness and information sources of hypertensive diseases among aged civil servants in Southwest, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and the study focused on aged civil servants in south western Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select respondents for the study. The instruments used to obtain information from respondents was a questionnaire, divided into seven sections with respect to the objectives of the study. The psychometric properties of the instrument were also determined. The information obtained was subjected to analysis using the descriptive statistics. The findings of the study revealed that aged civil servants in the three selected states in south-western Nigeria have a high personal concern for hypertensive disease. Interventional strategies to curtail hypertensive diseases among aged civil servants are low. In addition, governments failed to provide necessary amenities and also do not pay salaries promptly for staff. To this end, aged civil servants seek medical care and services by themselves and in most cases, they do not give attention to such health needs. This can lead to a high tendency for the prevalence of hypertensive diseases. The study recommends that apart from paying salaries promptly, governments should provide interventional strategies such as providing better information through media, conducting workshops and seminars, providing health related teachings, among others for civil servants in south western Nigeria. This could increase the awareness of hypertensive disease and also of the various sources of care available for them.

Step Towards Interoperability in Nursing Practice

Hospital inpatient care compromises one of the most demanding services in health institutions for providing a careful and continuous healthcare assistance. Such demands require a constant update of the patients' health record allied with support systems responsible for monitoring their clinical information. In this context, the problem in this study becomes a process of continuous improvement. To define the case study, it was necessary to use research tools such as questionnaires and interviews. With these techniques, it was possible to delineate the state and dimension of the problem. Subsequently, the approach and solution was established and a new web platform for the daily monitoring of patients was proposed focused on nurses. The tool incorporates a real-time data visualization, and a patient record during an inpatient care episode. Moreover, this article also highlights the required adaptability of this platform for each health unit according to needs. With this solution, it is expected to correct many of the problems detected through quantitative results.

An Analysis of Factors Affecting Postnatal Depression Intervention Adherence

Adjunct mobile support for postnatal depression could promote treatment adherence and long-term maintenance of behavioural change. The aim of this article is to establish the factors that determine adherence to postnatal depression intervention and support. Also, this article is intended to establish attitudes that women have towards postnatal depression intervention and support. Eighty-four women with a previous diagnosis of postnatal depression completed an online questionnaire on their previous use of postnatal depression intervention and factors inhibiting adherence, as well as attitudes towards the intervention. Results showed that adjunct support and combining multiple interventions would improve adherence. The provision of treatment guidance will also positively enhance treatment uptake and retention. Therefore, these factors should be considered for the development of theory-based adjunct mobile application for postnatal depression.

A Recent Systematic Review on Simulation Modeling and Emergency Departments

Healthcare, being a complex and huge system, suffers from low quality of care delivered to arriving patients. The quality of care depends on the patient's condition and the availability of hospital's resources. Therefore, many authors have studied the problems faced by such systems and emphasized in their articles the importance of a system review for better performance. In healthcare, different departments interact with each other in order to deliver a certain service to arriving patients and provide the recommended care. In particular, the emergency department (ED) is proven to be the busiest unit of the hospital; thus, the exiting problems and recommended solutions are highlighted in this study by a literature systematic review. The main goal of this article is to study the problems that EDs face nowadays and how simulation modeling can interfere in order to alleviate these problems, propose corresponding solutions and increase patient satisfaction.