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Communication and Information Technology in Healthcare Management

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Communication and Informatics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2023) | Viewed by 6836

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Dr. Yulia A. Strekalova

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Department of Health Services Research, Management & Policy, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
Interests: team science; healthcare and technology; systemic design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The explosive adoption of technology in healthcare management, along with the development of real-time health systems, are helping healthcare practice achieve the Quadruple Aim [1], which aims to improve health outcomes, enhance clinician experiences, boost patient experiences and lower costs. Clinical care has evolved with the explosive adoption of mobile devices, healthcare apps, telehealth, and artificial intelligence tools that support healthcare decision making. Clinical mobility, including the information, communication, and collaboration on which patient care depends, is intrinsic to real-time healthcare delivery. Furthermore, the complexity of the rapid implementation of multiple technologies demands new skills and approaches to healthcare workforce development and patient education. Overall, to be successful and sustainable, the growth of communication and information technology innovation in healthcare management requires a strong, evidence-based foundation to advance anytime, anywhere information sharing, communication, and connection among healthcare providers, ancillary staff, and patients. Papers addressing these topics are invited for this Special Issue, especially those combining a high academic standard coupled with a practical focus on providing sustainable solutions for communication and information system design in healthcare.

This Special Issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health focuses on the current state of knowledge on the development and implementation of communication and information technology in healthcare management informed by both user-centered design and systems-thinking perspectives. New research papers, reviews, brief reports, and case studies are welcome for this Issue. Papers dealing with policy development and ethics research are also welcome. Other manuscript types accepted include methodological papers, position papers, and commentaries.

Reference

1. Bodenheimer, T.; Sinsky, C. From Triple to Quadruple Aim: Care of the Patient Requires Care of the Provider. Ann. Fam. Med. 2014, 12, 573–576, https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1713.

Dr. Yulia A. Strekalova
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

information systems
digital health
health technology
artificial intelligence
patient education
healthcare professionals
systems thinking
user design
human–machine teaming

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1047 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Implementation of the Lean Healthcare System in the Emergency Room of the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia: A Case Study

by Paulo Sergio de Freitas, Guilherme Silva de Mendonça and Elmiro Santos Resende

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(24), 7184; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20247184 - 15 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1481

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of the implementation of the lean healthcare system at the emergency room of the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia, based on a comparison of hospital indicators obtained over the three phases corresponding to the period of one year before the implementation (T1), the year during the implementation (T2) and one year after implementation (T3). The methodology applied through this study can be classified as a case study that is exploratory and descriptive and developed in stages. Based herein on the search for hospital indicators, as occurred in the implementation of a lean process at the Clinical Hospital Emergency Department, along with a description of the implemented lean system. During the collection period of data relevant to the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Score and Length of Stay Indicator, the motivation of the teams grew, but with a notable tension between municipal management and hospital management. It was found that, despite the fluctuations, the patient length of stay in the Emergency Room remained high. With the exception of the variable of female deaths before 24 h of hospitalization, all other variables showed percentage increases before and after the intervention. This study reported the difficulties encountered by HC-UFU in implementing the lean project in an emergency room, thus ensuring that other institutions that intend to implement this project do not make the same types of mistakes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Communication and Information Technology in Healthcare Management)

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14 pages, 359 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gauging the Changing Landscape: Telehealth Perceptions among Hispanic Females with Breast Cancer

by France Nguyen-Grozavu, Eunjeong Ko and Andrea Valadez Galindo

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(3), 1713; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031713 - 17 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1234

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth use rapidly grew while its uptake steadily increased in cancer care. Prior research has reported existing racial and ethnic disparities in telehealth, with Hispanics reporting lower rates of use compared to other major racial/ethnic groups. Our study examined the perceived benefits and challenges/disadvantages faced by Hispanic females diagnosed with breast cancer in San Diego County, California. In-depth interviews were conducted with 27 participants, who were mostly Spanish speaking. The recordings of the interviews were transcribed and translated from Spanish to English. Reflexive thematic analyses revealed both potential benefits and challenges of telehealth. The perceived benefits included logistic and financial aspects (such as convenience and time/financial savings), faster access and longer duration spent with clinicians, the availability of family members, and the minimization of COVID-19 risk. The reported challenges/disadvantages of telehealth and the suggested strategies to address them focused on limitations in clinical care, diminished engagement with clinicians, difficulty accessing interpreter services, and technological access and challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the landscape of how care is provided, with a greater shift to telehealth services. More research is needed to further examine the challenges of telehealth, particularly for groups that are disproportionately affected, to avoid the disruption of patients’ cancer care and to promote a better patient healthcare experience. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Communication and Information Technology in Healthcare Management)

14 pages, 4224 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Sidemar Cezario, Thiago Marques, Rafael Pinto, Juciano Lacerda, Lyrene Silva, Thaisa Santos Lima, Orivaldo Santana, Anna Giselle Ribeiro, Agnaldo Cruz, Ana Claudia Araújo, Angélica Espinosa Miranda, Aedê Cadaxa, César Teixeira, Almudena Muñoz and Ricardo Valentim

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 17049; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192417049 - 19 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1762

Abstract

Background: The “Syphilis No!” campaign the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MoH) launched between November 2018 and March 2019, brought forward the concept "Test, Treat and Cure" to remind the population of the importance of syphilis prevention. In this context, this study aims to analyze the similarity of syphilis online news to comprehend how public health communication interventions influence media coverage of the syphilis issue. Methods: This paper presented a computational approach to assess the effectiveness of communication actions on a public health problem. Data were collected between January 2015 and December 2019 and processed using the Hermes ecosystem, which utilizes text mining and machine learning algorithms to cluster similar content. Results: Hermes identified 1049 google-indexed web pages containing the term ’syphilis’ in Brazil. Of these, 619 were categorized as news stories. In total, 157 were grouped into clusters of at least two similar news items and a single cluster with 462 news classified as “single” for not featuring similar news items. From these, 19 clusters were identified in the pre-campaign period, 23 during the campaign, and 115 in the post-campaign. Conclusions: The findings presented in this study show that the volume of syphilis-related news reports has increased in recent years and gained popularity after the SNP started, having been boosted during the campaign and escalating even after its completion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Communication and Information Technology in Healthcare Management)

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13 pages, 1940 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sentiment Analysis in Understanding the Potential of Online News in the Public Health Crisis Response

by Thiago Marques, Sidemar Cezário, Juciano Lacerda, Rafael Pinto, Lyrene Silva, Orivaldo Santana, Anna Giselle Ribeiro, Agnaldo Souza Cruz, Angélica Espinosa Miranda, Aedê Cadaxa, Lucía Sanjuán Núñez, Hugo Gonçalo Oliveira, Rifat Atun and Ricardo Valentim

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 16801; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416801 - 14 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1724

Abstract

This study analyzes online news disseminated throughout the pre-, during-, and post-intervention periods of the “Syphilis No!” Project, which was developed in Brazil between November 2018 and March 2019. We investigated the influence of sentiment aspects of news to explore their possible relationships with syphilis testing data in response to the syphilis epidemic in Brazil. A dictionary-based technique (VADER) was chosen to perform sentiment analysis considering the Brazilian Portuguese language. Finally, the data collected were used in statistical tests to obtain other indicators, such as correlation and distribution analysis. Of the 627 news items, 198 (31.58%) were classified as a sentiment of security (TP2; stands for the news type 2), whereas 429 (68.42%) were classified as sentiments that instilled vulnerability (TP3; stands for the news type 3). The correlation between the number of syphilis tests and the number of news types TP2 and TP3 was verified from (i) 2015 to 2017 and (ii) 2018 to 2019. For the TP2 type news, in all periods, the p-values were greater than 0.05, thus generating inconclusive results. From 2015 to 2017, there was an ρ = 0.33 correlation between TP3 news and testing data (p-value = 0.04); the years 2018 and 2019 presented a ρ = 0.67 correlation between TP3 news and the number of syphilis tests performed per month, with p-value = 0.0003. In addition, Granger’s test was performed between TP3 news and syphilis testing, which resulted in a p-value = 0.002, thus indicating the existence of Granger causality between these time series. By applying natural language processing to sentiment and informational content analysis of public health campaigns, it was found that the most substantial increase in testing was strongly related to attitude-inducing content (TP3). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Communication and Information Technology in Healthcare Management)

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