Biomedical subjects

Stephen Kay

Publications and source records attributed to Stephen Kay.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Simplifying the complexity surrounding ICU work processes--identifying the scope for information management in ICU settings.

A multi-site study, conducted in two English and two Danish intensive care units, investigates the complexity of work processes in intensive care, and the implications of this complexity for information management with regards to clinical information systems. Data were collected via observations, shadowing of clinical staff, interviews and questionnaires. The construction of role activity diagrams enabled the capture of critical care work processes. Upon analysing these diagrams, it was found that intensive care work processes consist of 'simplified-complexity', these processes are changed with the introduction of information systems for the everyday use and management of all clinical information. The prevailing notion of complexity surrounding critical care clinical work processes was refuted and found to be misleading; in reality, it is not the work processes that cause the complexity, the complexity is rooted in the way in which clinical information is used and managed. This study emphasises that the potential for clinical information systems that consider integrating all clinical information requirements is not only immense but also very plausible.

Denmark↗

PubMed2005

Bio-Health Information: a Preliminary Review of On-line Cystic Fibrosis Resources.

The aims of this study are to determine, and to better understand, elements that are common across a range of bio-health information resources; and to characterize those resources in terms of search and display functionality. Our ultimate goal is to better define the role of bio-health information in clinical practice and in biological research. This paper reports our first step, which is to compare different web-based resources that describe cystic fibrosis. The resources came from PubMed, Nucleotide, EMBL-EBI, DDBJ, OMIM, MeSH, ICD-10, and the Cystic Fibrosis Mutation Database. We found obvious differences in terms of scope and purpose. However, while there were obvious similarities between related resources in terms of content, we also found differences among these resources in terms of display form, specificity of qualifiers, file format and the potential for computer processing. While our work is in its early stages, this study has clarified the nature of bio-health information resources and has allowed us to begin to characterize these resources in terms of their suitability in clinical practice and in biological research.

Cystic Fibrosis↗

PubMed2004

Seamless information systems for critical care--myth or magic?

A multi-site study is described that evaluates the scope for seamless Clinical Information Systems (CIS) in critical care. Observations, shadowing of clinical staff, interviews and questionnaires show a triangulation in data collection methods as well as location triangulation as the study is conducted across four sites, two each in UK and Denmark. Role Activity Diagrams (RAD) are used to capture critical care work processes. The RADs are analysed to show the 'simplified complexity' of the work processes, which are changed by the introduction of information systems for the everyday use and management of all clinical information. Further, CIS that reconcile expectations of both hospital management and clinical staff and that have the potential to adapt to their organisational environment have a greater chance of surviving in autopoietic organisations such as critical care. Despite decades of Informatics, no such system exists in its entirety; this study shows that 'ancient problems' of clinical information systems development, implementation and integration are still heavily prevalent. However, the potential for CIS that consider integrating all clinical information requirements is immense.

Critical Care↗

PubMed2003

Organisational culture matters for system integration in health care.

This paper illustrates the importance of organisational culture for Clinical Information Systems (CIS) integration. The study is based on data collected in intensive care units in the UK and Denmark. Data were collected using qualitative methods, i.e., observations, interviews and shadowing of health care providers, together with a questionnaire at each site. The data are analysed to extract salient variables for CIS integration, and it is shown that these variables can be separated into two categories that describe the 'Actual Usefulness' of the system and the 'Organisational Culture'. This model is then extended to show that CIS integration directly affects the work processes of the organisation, forming an iterative process of change as a CIS is introduced and integrated.

Attitude to Computers↗