Biomedical subjects

Elske Ammenwerth

Publications and source records attributed to Elske Ammenwerth.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Developing and evaluating criteria to help reviewers of biomedical informatics manuscripts.

Peer-reviewed publication of scientific research results represents the most important means of their communication. The authors have annually reviewed a large heterogeneous set of papers to produce the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Yearbook of Medical Informatics. To support an objective and high-quality review process, the authors attempted to provide reviewers with a set of refined quality criteria, comprised of 80 general criteria and an additional 60 criteria for specific types of manuscripts. Authors conducted a randomized controlled trial, with 18 reviewers, to evaluate application of the refined criteria on review outcomes. Whereas the trial found that reviewers applying the criteria graded papers more strictly (lower overall scores), and that junior reviewers appreciated the availability of the criteria, there was no overall change in the interrater variability in reviewing the manuscripts. The authors describe their experience as a "case report" and provide a reference to the refined quality review criteria without claiming that the criteria represent a validated instrument for quantitative quality measurement.

Humans↗

PubMed2003

Can evaluation studies benefit from triangulation? A case study.

BACKGROUND: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly being used in health care. Rigorous evaluations of ICT applications during both introduction and routine use are of great importance for decision makers and users. Within evaluation research, two main (and often rather distinct) traditions can be found: the objectivistic and the subjectivistic tradition. METHODS: The theory of triangulation deals with the integration of methods and approaches as to conduct better evaluation studies. In evaluation research, triangulation in general means the multiple employment of various sources of data, observers, methods, and/or theories in investigations of the same phenomenon. We applied triangulation aspects in the analysis of the effects of a computer-based nursing documentation system. RESULTS: We discuss, based on this case study, what benefits can be obtained from applying triangulation in an evaluation study. We show how both the validation of results and the completeness of results can be supported by triangulation. DISCUSSION: The decision whether triangulation may be useful for a given research question, and how it may be correctly applied, requires-like other evaluation methods-intensive training and methodological experience. Medical informatics evaluation research may profit from this well-established theory.

Documentation↗

PubMed2003

[Effects of a computer-assisted system for nursing care documentation on quality and quantity of nursing care documentation].

The University Hospital in Heidelberg has been gathering experience with the computer based nursing documentationsystem PIK since 1998. Its introduction on four pilotwards was systematically evaluated in an intervention study, gaining data to acceptance issues as well as to the quality of nursing documentation, as the nursing process is often not documented in an appropriate manner. Data to quantity and quality of nursing documentation before and after the intervention was gathered by means of a quality checklist, which was developed on the basis of an intensive literature review. To measure a difference in the quality of nursing documentation 20 documents from each of the four wards were assessed at the three assigned points of time by two nursing experts. The assessors stated a significant improvement in documentation quality due to the increase in formal completeness when documenting the nursing process. The content of the documentation as well as the individualization of the nursing care plan still need to be improved.

Attitude to Computers↗

PubMed2002

Health care in the information society. A prognosis for the year 2013.

Our society is increasingly influenced by modern information and communication technology (ICT). Health care has profited greatly by this development. How could health care provision look in the near future, in 10 years, or more precisely, in the year 2013? What measures must be undertaken by political and self-governing health institutions, and by medical informatics research, to ensure an efficient, medically advanced and yet affordable future health care system? Three factors will greatly influence the further development of information processing in health care within the near future: the development of the population, medical advances, and advances in informatics. These factors have motivated us to set up 30 theses for health care provision in the year 2013. The theses cover areas of health care, such as its people, its information systems, and its ICT tools. Three major goals requiring achievement have been identified: patient-centered recording and use of medical data for cooperative care, process-integrated decision support through current medical knowledge, comprehensive use of patient data for research and health care reporting. In consequence, political institutions should provide a framework for networked, patient-centered health care. They are called on to regulate the storage and exchange of health care data and of appropriate information system architectures. Finally, the health care institutions themselves must emphasize professional information management more strongly. Relevant research topics in medical informatics are: comprehensive electronic patient records, modern health information system architectures, architectures for medical knowledge centers, specific data processing methods ('medical data mining'), and multi-functional, mobile ICT tools.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Factors affecting and affected by user acceptance of computer-based nursing documentation: results of a two-year study.

OBJECTIVES: The documentation of the nursing process is an important but often neglected part of clinical documentation. Paper-based systems have been introduced to support nursing process documentation. Frequently, however, problems such as low quality of documentation are reported. It is unclear whether computer-based documentation systems can reduce these problems and which factors influence their acceptance by users. DESIGN: We introduced a computer-based nursing documentation system on four wards of the University Hospitals of Heidelberg and systematically evaluated its preconditions and its effects in a pretest-posttest intervention study. For the analysis of user acceptance, we concentrated on subjective data drawn from questionnaires and interviews. MEASUREMENTS: A questionnaire was developed using items from published questionnaires and items that had to be developed for the special purpose of this study. RESULTS: The quantitative results point to two factors influencing the acceptance of a new computer-based documentation system: the previous acceptance of the nursing process and the previous amount of self-confidence when using computers. On one ward, the diverse acceptance scores heavily declined after the introduction of the nursing documentation system. Explorative qualitative analysis on this ward points to further success factors of computer-based nursing documentation systems. CONCLUSION: Our results can be used to assist the planning and introduction of computer-based nursing documentation systems. They demonstrate the importance of computer experience and acceptance of the nursing process on a ward but also point to other factors such as the fit between nursing workflow and the functionality of a nursing documentation system.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗