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Biomedical subjects

J St Onge

Publications and source records attributed to J St Onge.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Usability evaluation of the progress note construction set.

OVERVIEW: The Veterans Administration (VA) Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) is a nationally deployed software product that integrates provider order entry, progress notes, vitals, consults, discharge summaries, problem lists, medications, labs, radiology, transcribed documents, study reports, and clinical reminders. Users rapidly adopted the graphical user interface for data retrieval, but demanded options to typing for data entry. We programmed "point and click" forms that integrate with CPRS individually, but were soon overwhelmed by requests. Subsequently, we developed the Progress Note Construction Set (PNCS); a tool suite that permits subject matter experts without programming skills to create reusable "point and click" forms. In this study, we evaluate the usability of these user-constructed forms. METHODS: An untrained, non-VA subject matter expert used the PNCS to create a graphical form for "skin tear" documentation. Ten VA nurses used the skin tear form to document findings for 7 standardized clinical scenarios. Following each scenario the subjects answered usability questions about the form. RESULTS: The subject matter expert created the skin tear form in 78 minutes. Users found the form to facilitate their data entry (p 0.0265), and to be at least as fast (p 0.0029) and as easy to use as expected (p 0.0166). Average note entry time was 3.4 minutes. CONCLUSION: The PNCS allowed a non-programmer to quickly create a usable, CPRS-integrated point and click form. Users found the subject matter expert s form fast and easy to use. The tool suite is a more scaleable form creation method because capacity is no longer limited by programmer availability.

Medical Records Systems, Computerized↗
PubMed1999

Preventive practicum training in healthcare organizations. The Meharry model.

BACKGROUND: Practicum training for preventive medicine residents often occurs in agencies whose community is geographically defined and whose governance is closely linked to public election. We were unsure about the financial ability of such departments to support training and are concerned that over-reliance on traditional health departments might not be best for either medically indigent populations or preventive medicine. We, therefore, sought to apply a public health model--based on a strategic partnership between nursing and preventive medicine--to a large health care organization. The result was formation of a mini-health department, suitable for fully accredited preventive medicine practicum training, within the Alvin C. York Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Murfreesboro, TN. This Center serves a defined population of 21,594 patients and about 1600 employees. The theoretical framework for the new department was based on demonstration of a close fit between the competencies expected of preventive medicine physicians by the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) and activities required by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). Because of JCAHO requirements, many healthcare organizations already pay for preventive medicine services. CONCLUSIONS: By placing preventive medicine training faculty into existing budget slots at our institution, systemwide personnel costs for prevention decreased by about $36,000 per year, even as personnel funding for preventive medicine physicians increased from about $24,000 to $376,000 per year. Moreover, there was dramatic, sustained improvement in 17 indicators of preventive care quality as determined by an external peer review organization. In addition to providing a new venue for training, this model may also improve the quality and reach of preventive services, decreased fixed costs for service delivery, and yield new employment opportunities for preventive medicine physicians.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1997

Medical education must make room for student-specific ethical dilemmas.

Most contemporary undergraduate courses in medical ethics leave a critical gap unfilled because they fail to address student-specific issues, says third-year student Joye St. Onge. In this article, which won third prize in CMAJs 1996 Dr. William Logie Medical Ethics Essay Contest, St. Onge outlines the importance of discussing student-specific ethical dilemmas and suggests ways to introduce such teaching in medical schools.

Canada↗
PubMed1989

Serotypes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from human and animal sources.

Forty human isolates and twenty-eight animal isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Prince Edward Island area (Atlantic Canada) were serotyped using a kit consisting of 4 polyvalent O-group antisera and 17 monovalent O-type (serovar) antisera, in accordance with the International Antigenic Typing Scheme. The results showed a difference between humans/dogs (50%/48% group I) and pigs (71% group IV). Whereas O-serovar 9 and 1 appeared to be most involved in human and canine infections, O-serovar 3 was the predominant type in porcine infections.

Animals↗