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Biomedical subjects

T W Abendroth

Publications and source records attributed to T W Abendroth.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Reaping the benefits of medical information systems.

Increasingly, external forces affect and constrain physicians' clinical decision making and consequently their practice of medicine. Physicians are expected to achieve optimal patient outcomes at the lowest possible cost, which requires that they have quick and convenient access to comprehensive clinical information from different sources. Considerable experience to date has shown that computers can improve physicians' problem solving and decision making by presenting pertinent data, information, and knowledge when it is needed, where it is needed, and in an appropriate format. The authors advocate the use of medical information systems in the daily practice of medicine. They identify critical information-related issues affecting clinicians, provide a brief overview of computer applications in medical care, and discuss studies that indicate how medical information systems can assist physicians in the delivery of cost-effective, high-quality care. Finally they discuss how individual institutions can best reap the benefits of medical information systems.

Efficiency, Organizational↗
PubMed1994

Selecting a commercial clinical information system: an academic medical center's experience.

Choosing a commercial clinical information system to meet the information needs of patient care, research, education, administration, finance, and ongoing changes of the healthcare system of an academic medical center is a challenging task. For the past six months, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center undertook this task through (i) establishing a task force, (ii) assessing end-user information needs, (iii) understanding future institutional development and strategies, (iv) conceptualizing the ideal system, (v) identifying a short list of vendors, (vi) sending RFIs to vendors, (vii) visiting vendors' headquarters, (viii) technical review, (ix) reference calls, (x) using consultation services, (xi) on-site demonstration, and (xii) visiting the vendor's clients.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1991

End-user participation in the needs assessment for a clinical information system.

The successful introduction of a new information system requires technological and behavioral changes. Intended users of the new system should participate in defining goals for the system, examining alternatives for achieving these goals, and selecting from these alternatives. Broad-based end-user involvement is especially useful during the needs assessment (goal definition) phase, both to identify the diverse expectations of the end-user community and to develop a sense of system ownership by these users. System planners can stimulate active end-user involvement by inviting each constituent user group (for example, each hospital department) to assume responsibility for specifying its objectives for the new system. The collection of all groups' objectives defines the organization's expectations of a new system, provides a means for comparing systems, and aids in predicting the overall acceptance of any proposed system. Each constituent group's list of objectives likewise provides a measure of anticipated acceptance for that group.

Computer User Training↗
PubMed1986

When is a diagnostic test result positive? Decision tree models based on net utility and threshold.

The question "When is a diagnostic test result positive?" can be addressed by clinical decision analysis. We developed two simple decision tree models for selecting appropriate cutoff levels: a net utility model and a threshold model. These models have been incorporated in a software program for desktop computers. We believe it is important for investigators to provide raw data on test performance, for three reasons. First, these data can be used in simple decision tree models to identify "appropriate" cutoff levels. Second, they can be used to evaluate empiric cutoff levels or decision rules. Third, they can be used to evaluate optimal cutoff levels for detailed decision trees depicting specific clinical problems.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1986

A microcomputer program for critical evaluation of diagnostic tests.

We developed a microcomputer program that provides a Bayesian model of diagnostic performance and a simple decision tree model of clinical utility. We have used this program to review diagnostic performance and clinical utility for proposed new services at our 360-bed university hospital. We believe that significant benefits can be achieved if medical journals report complete data on test performance. First, this allows physicians to perform their own evaluations of diagnostic performance. Second, this allows physicians to evaluate clinical utility using either standard decision trees or decision trees that reflect specific clinical problems.

Bayes Theorem↗