Information Systems and Patient Care

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Information Systems and Patient Care

• Jenna Hetland

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Overview

• Prevalence and Causes of Medical Errors
• Current Research and Solutions
• Emergence of Intelligent Agents
• Proposed Direction of Research

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Prevalence and Causes of Medical Errors

• Between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths attributed to
  medical error each year
• Adverse drug events alone account for over 7,000
  deaths annually
• More than workplace injuries
• These figures are for deaths only, not occurrences

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Prevalence and Causes of Medical Errors

• Errors are a systems problem, not the result of
  individual carelessness
• Other high-risk industries have abandoned the
  error-free operator mentality
• Attacking problems from a systems viewpoint has
  proven successful
• Errors are not discrete events
• Systems are constantly changing

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Current Research and Solutions

• Error reporting systems
• Personnel must accurately recall the events
  surrounding the incident
• Error would need to be reported multiple times
  before root cause could be identified
• A reactive solution

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Current Research and Solutions

• Implementation of Information Systems
• Many have been aimed at optimizing time resources
  of medical personnel
• Are task-specific
• Current systems do not promote the qualities
  necessary for effective information systems
• Over half have failed because of resistance on
  behalf of medical personnel

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Emergence of Intelligent Agents

• An alternative to traditional systems
• Possess many qualities suitable for use in the
  healthcare domain
• Support initiatives necessary for effective
  information systems
• Preliminary investigation has shown them to be
  effective
• Obstacles still remain

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Proposed Direction of Research

• Integrate essential tasks as well as optimize
  conditions for the patient
• Use of patient-centric autonomous agents
• Occurrence of adverse drug events within the
  prescription renewal process
• Great deal of information passed between
  personnel
• Monetary discrepancy

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Questions?