Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to David P Taylor.
Smart Forms are condition-specific documentation tools that integrate pertinent data review, guideline-based decision support, ambulatory order entry, patient education and coded data capture capabilities. Smart Forms are being developed as Web applications in a service oriented architecture and employ a rules engine for dynamic content generation.
The health care environment is communications and information intensive. Nurses especially have communications as part of their routine activities, yet little is known about specific nursing communications needs and technologies that might address these needs. This project analyzed the specific communications needs of nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA, through focus group meetings, nursing staff interviews, and direct observation of unit communications. Based on these data, an ideal requirements list for a nursing communication system was created. Data were also gathered and analyzed from units piloting cell phones as nursing communications tools. On non-cell phone units we found that the bulk of communication activity is from the front desk operations associate to the nurse through a sub-optimal overhead paging system that is often unclear or inaudible. The pilot of cellular phones has demonstrated improvements in nursing communications at MGH and there are indications that other emerging technologies will be better able to address the ideal communication needs of nurses.
Although amblyopia is most successfully treated when detected in early childhood, many preschool-aged children are not being screened. This project explored the delivery of Web-based vision screenings, integrated with patient education, to parents and children, aged 3 to 6 years. Through a user-centered design methodology involving requirements gathering, iterative prototype development, and usability testing, a highly usable screening Website was created. Interviewing and testing parents and children in the home were essential in gathering accurate data about environments where the tool would actually be used. Frequent iterations of designing, testing, and modifying the tool were useful in identifying and correcting usability problems. Usability goals were set early in the project, and in the final phase a satisfaction questionnaire was administered to participants. Twenty-one out of 22 final usability objectives were achieved and the feasibility of Web-based vision screening was demonstrated.