scholarly journals Quality Assurance of Health Wearables Data: Participatory Workshop on Barriers, Solutions, and Expectations

10.2196/15329 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e15329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robab Abdolkhani ◽  
Kathleen Gray ◽  
Ann Borda ◽  
Ruth DeSouza

Background The ubiquity of health wearables and the consequent production of patient-generated health data (PGHD) are rapidly escalating. However, the utilization of PGHD in routine clinical practices is still low because of data quality issues. There is no agreed approach to PGHD quality assurance; therefore, realizing the promise of PGHD requires in-depth discussion among diverse stakeholders to identify the data quality assurance challenges they face and understand their needs for PGHD quality assurance. Objective This paper reports findings from a workshop aimed to explore stakeholders’ data quality challenges, identify their needs and expectations, and offer practical solutions. Methods A qualitative multi-stakeholder workshop was conducted as a half-day event on the campus of an Australian University located in a major health care precinct, namely the Melbourne Parkville Precinct. The 18 participants had experience of PGHD use in clinical care, including people who identified as health care consumers, clinical care providers, wearables suppliers, and health information specialists. Data collection was done by facilitators capturing written notes of the proceedings as attendees engaged in participatory design activities in written and oral formats, using a range of whole-group and small-group interactive methods. The collected data were analyzed thematically, using deductive and inductive coding. Results The participants’ discussions revealed a range of technical, behavioral, operational, and organizational challenges surrounding PGHD, from the time when data are collected by patients to the time data are used by health care providers for clinical decision making. PGHD stakeholders found consensus on training and engagement needs, continuous collaboration among stakeholders, and development of technical and policy standards to assure PGHD quality. Conclusions Assuring PGHD quality is a complex process that requires the contribution of all PGHD stakeholders. The variety and depth of inputs in our workshop highlighted the importance of co-designing guidance for PGHD quality guidance.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robab Abdolkhani ◽  
Kathleen Gray ◽  
Ann Borda ◽  
Ruth DeSouza

BACKGROUND The ubiquity of health wearables and the consequent production of patient-generated health data (PGHD) are rapidly escalating. However, the utilization of PGHD in routine clinical practices is still low because of data quality issues. There is no agreed approach to PGHD quality assurance; therefore, realizing the promise of PGHD requires in-depth discussion among diverse stakeholders to identify the data quality assurance challenges they face and understand their needs for PGHD quality assurance. OBJECTIVE This paper reports findings from a workshop aimed to explore stakeholders’ data quality challenges, identify their needs and expectations, and offer practical solutions. METHODS A qualitative multi-stakeholder workshop was conducted as a half-day event on the campus of an Australian University located in a major health care precinct, namely the Melbourne Parkville Precinct. The 18 participants had experience of PGHD use in clinical care, including people who identified as health care consumers, clinical care providers, wearables suppliers, and health information specialists. Data collection was done by facilitators capturing written notes of the proceedings as attendees engaged in participatory design activities in written and oral formats, using a range of whole-group and small-group interactive methods. The collected data were analyzed thematically, using deductive and inductive coding. RESULTS The participants’ discussions revealed a range of technical, behavioral, operational, and organizational challenges surrounding PGHD, from the time when data are collected by patients to the time data are used by health care providers for clinical decision making. PGHD stakeholders found consensus on training and engagement needs, continuous collaboration among stakeholders, and development of technical and policy standards to assure PGHD quality. CONCLUSIONS Assuring PGHD quality is a complex process that requires the contribution of all PGHD stakeholders. The variety and depth of inputs in our workshop highlighted the importance of co-designing guidance for PGHD quality guidance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Horner ◽  
Maria Modayil ◽  
Laura Roche Chapman ◽  
An Dinh

PurposeWhen patients refuse medical or rehabilitation procedures, waivers of liability have been used to bar future lawsuits. The purpose of this tutorial is to review the myriad issues surrounding consent, refusal, and waivers. The larger goal is to invigorate clinical practice by providing clinicians with knowledge of ethics and law. This tutorial is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.MethodThe authors use a hypothetical case of a “noncompliant” individual under the care of an interdisciplinary neurorehabilitation team to illuminate the ethical and legal features of the patient–practitioner relationship; the elements of clinical decision-making capacity; the duty of disclosure and the right of informed consent or informed refusal; and the relationship among noncompliance, defensive practices, and iatrogenic harm. We explore the legal question of whether waivers of liability in the medical context are enforceable or unenforceable as a matter of public policy.ConclusionsSpeech-language pathologists, among other health care providers, have fiduciary and other ethical and legal obligations to patients. Because waivers try to shift liability for substandard care from health care providers to patients, courts usually find waivers of liability in the medical context unenforceable as a matter of public policy.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Alcalá Pompeo ◽  
Maria Helena Pinto ◽  
Claudia Bernardi Cesarino ◽  
Renilda Rosa Dias Ferreira de Araújo ◽  
Nadia Antonia Aparecida Poletti

OBJECTIVE: To know the hospital discharge process in place and the nurses' performance in preparing patients for discharge. METHODS: A descriptive study using semi-structured interviews was used to collect data from 43 patients of medical-surgical units of a major teaching hospital in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS: The majority of patients (83.72%) received tailored discharge instructions. However, a great number of patients (72.08%) reported discharge instructions were not given by nurses. Almost a half of patients (48.84%) reported that discharge instructions were given by their physicians. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study provide insights to improve the educational process of new nurses and their preparation to provide effective discharge instructions. There is also a need to design and implement a hospital discharge process that promotes the participation of interdisciplinary health care providers who are involved in patient clinical care. This discharge process might be an effective way to change health care providers' attitude toward discharge instructions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2048-2048
Author(s):  
P.S. Jensen

IntroductionDespite major research advances in pediatric psychopharmacology and psychotherapy over the last 20 years, the lack of well-trained specialists has posed almost insurmountable barriers to many children and families from receiving high-quality, evidence-based assessment and treatments. The REACH Institute, an international non-profit organization dedicated to disseminating evidence-based treatments, has developed portable, effective methods to train primary care and specialty health providers in pediatric psychopharmacology and psychotherapies.ObjectivesTo develop effective, scientifically-proven methods for teaching and disseminating evidence-based treatments.AimsTo develop, disseminate, and evaluate high quality approaches for teaching primary care and specialty mental health practitioners in pediatric psychopharmacology.MethodsUsing novel approaches grounded in scientific behavioral change technologies, over 700 health care providers have been trained in evidence-based pediatric psychopharmacology in sites across multiple countries, including the US, Canada, and Norway. All trainings are rigorously evaluated for changes in health care practitioners' behaviors and clinical practices, including within an NIH-funded randomized controlled trial (RCT).ResultsTrainings have been very well-received across multiple countries, requiring only minor adaptations. These trainings have been effective in yielding changes in health care practitioners abilities and actual clinical practices, enabling more children to access appropriate pediatric psychopharmacology.ConclusionsEffective and disseminable methods for changing health care practitioners behaviors in applying pediatric psychopharmacology treatments are possible, and can be adapted to different countries, languages, and cultural contexts.


2022 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliott Crigger ◽  
Karen Reinbold ◽  
Chelsea Hanson ◽  
Audiey Kao ◽  
Kathleen Blake ◽  
...  

AbstractAugmented Intelligence (AI) systems have the power to transform health care and bring us closer to the quadruple aim: enhancing patient experience, improving population health, reducing costs, and improving the work life of health care providers. Earning physicians' trust is critical for accelerating adoption of AI into patient care. As technology evolves, the medical community will need to develop standards for these innovative technologies and re-visit current regulatory systems that physicians and patients rely on to ensure that health care AI is responsible, evidence-based, free from bias, and designed and deployed to promote equity. To develop actionable guidance for trustworthy AI in health care, the AMA reviewed literature on the challenges health care AI poses and reflected on existing guidance as a starting point for addressing those challenges (including models for regulating the introduction of innovative technologies into clinical care).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Arentz ◽  
Caroline Smith ◽  
Rebecca Redmond ◽  
Jason Abbott ◽  
Mike Armour

Abstract Background Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) in women is persistent, intermittent cyclical and non-cyclical lower abdominal pain, lasting for more than 6 months. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a popular treatment option for women’s health conditions, but little is known about how treatment for CPP is delivered by TCM practitioners. The aim of this survey was to explore practitioners understanding and treatment of women with CPP, and how they integrate their management and care into the health care system. Method An online cross-sectional survey of registered TCM practitioners in Australia and New Zealand. Survey domains included treatment characteristics (e.g. frequency), evaluation of treatment efficacy, referral networks, and sources of information that informed clinical decision making. Results One hundred and twenty-two registered TCM practitioners responded to this survey, 91.7% reported regular treatment of women with CPP. Treatment decisions were most-often guided by a combination of biomedical and TCM diagnosis (77.6%), and once per week was the most common treatment frequency (66.7%) for acupuncture. Meditation (63.7%) and dietary changes (57.8%) were other commonly used approaches to management. The effectiveness of treatment was assessed using multiple approaches, most commonly pain scales, (such as the numeric rating scale) and any change in use of analgesic medications. Limitations to TCM treatment were reported by over three quarters (83.7%) of practitioners, most commonly due to cost (56.5%) and inconvenience (40.2%) rather than safety or lack of efficacy. Integration within the wider healthcare system was common with over two thirds (67.9%) receiving referrals from health care providers. Conclusion TCM practitioners seeing women with various CPP symptoms, commonly incorporate both traditional and modern diagnostic methods to inform their treatment plan, monitor treatment progress using commonly accepted approaches and measures and often as a part of multidisciplinary healthcare for women with CPP.


Author(s):  
Kelly M. Trevino ◽  
Kenneth I. Pargament

The current chapter examines the relationship between religion/spirituality (R/S) and medicine through the psychological lens of a religious coping framework. This relationship is considered at the theoretical, patient, caregiver, and care team levels. The R/S beliefs, practices, and coping strategies of patients, informal caregivers, and health care providers in the context of illness is then discussed. A large body of research demonstrates the important role of R/S in how patients and caregivers understand and cope with illness. Similarly, many health care providers view illness and their clinical care through a R/S lens and believe that attending to patients’ spiritual needs is part of their professional role. The chapter concludes with a brief review of psycho-spiritual interventions in medical populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 185 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 2076-2081
Author(s):  
Melissa Rittenhouse ◽  
Jonathan Scott ◽  
Patricia Deuster

Abstract Introduction The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge of dietary supplements (DS) and adverse event (AE) reporting practices of the Department of Defense health care providers. AEs related to use of DS are not uncommon. However, it is estimated that less than 2% of AEs are reported. This is problematic given the Food and Drug Administration relies on AE reports to identify and ultimately remove unsafe products from the market. Inadequate reporting of AE puts all DS users at risk. Materials and Methods Cross-sectional design was used. Electronic surveys were sent to the Department of Defense health care professionals (HCPs) and Emergency Medicine (EM) physicians asking questions about practices regarding DS and AE knowledge and reporting behaviors. The surveys were open for 5 months. During this period of time, HCPs received three email reminders following the initial email to enhance participation. The computer package IBM SPSS version 25 software (IBM Corp. Released 2017. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0, Armonk, New York) was used for statistical analysis. Frequency distributions of the responses were analyzed. Results Of the 1,700 surveyed, 270 HCPs and 68 EM physicians completed the surveys. At least 39% of HCPs reported never receiving formal DS training. Seventy-two percent of HCPs reported asking their patients about the use of DS. However, when asked if they knew where to report an AE, only 40% of HCPs knew where to report an AE and only 38% knew how to report an AE. Of the EM physicians, only 38% asked their patients about DS. However, a majority (78%) reported that they had encountered an AE. EM physicians also reported they lacked knowledge regarding where (87%) and how (87%) to report AE. Conclusions It is clear that physician and nonphysician HCPs would benefit from additional training about DS and how and where to report suspected AE. Providing regular training on risks, common AE, and how and where to report an AE would help fill the knowledge gap in the ever-changing DS industry. Addressing these issues and coming up with a solution to integrating AE reporting into clinical care could improve health care practices and increase AE reporting to the Food and Drug Administration, which would have a beneficial impact on patient care, public safety, and mission readiness.


2022 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica B. Vela ◽  
Amarachi I. Erondu ◽  
Nichole A. Smith ◽  
Monica E. Peek ◽  
James N. Woodruff ◽  
...  

Health care providers hold negative explicit and implicit biases against marginalized groups of people such as racial and ethnic minoritized populations. These biases permeate the health care system and affect patients via patient–clinician communication, clinical decision making, and institutionalized practices. Addressing bias remains a fundamental professional responsibility of those accountable for the health and wellness of our populations. Current interventions include instruction on the existence and harmful role of bias in perpetuating health disparities, as well as skills training for the management of bias. These interventions can raise awareness of provider bias and engage health care providers in establishing egalitarian goals for care delivery, but these changes are not sustained, and the interventions have not demonstrated change in behavior in the clinical or learning environment. Unfortunately, the efficacy of these interventions may be hampered by health care providers’ work and learning environments, which are rife with discriminatory practices that sustain the very biases US health care professions are seeking to diminish. We offer a conceptual model demonstrating that provider-level implicit bias interventions should be accompanied by interventions that systemically change structures inside and outside the health care system if the country is to succeed in influencing biases and reducing health inequities. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


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