Journal of Health Information Management
Year:2007 | Volume:4 | Issue:1 (7)|Papers Count:17

Introduction: With increasing production of health information, information technologies have been used for better management and usage of such data. This enormous increase in gathering and storing of information and widespread accessibility also concerns individuals regarding privacy and security of information. This research is concerned with this issue due to decisions on establishing individual health electronic files in Iran.Methods: During this descriptive-comparative study, security requirements of electronic health files in Iran, England and Canada were reviewed and compared. Checklist was used for data collection. Data was collected from journal papers, and books accessed through libraries and other credible online sources between 1995-2006.Results: Security requirements regarding health electronic file such as information security systems, safety of communication and operations management, access control were established in those countries except for Iran. There is no safety and security requirement in this regard in Iran.Conclusion: Security and safety of health electronic file is one of the basic requirements, which lacks in Iran. Due to recent interests in establishing health electronic file in Iran by Ministry of Health and Medical Education, it is necessary that such requirements been established by responsible bodies.

Introduction: Search tools including Search Engines, Meta Search Engines and Subject Directory are used to find the needed information in the World Wide Web. The aim of this study was to compare selected Search Engines and Meta Search Engines in retrieving information concerning physiotherapy from the World Wide Web to determine overlap among them.Methods: The current study was carried out using descriptive comparative methods. Seven search engines and seven meta search engines introduced by "searchinginewatch.com" as the most frequently used ones, were analyzed. Then subject sub category of physiotherapy in eight subject fields were chosen from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) as keywords. After choosing keywords, a search was made via using the search and Meta search engines to identify how many results could be obtained by studied search engines for each individual keyword. Finally the rate of overlap among search engines and meta search engines was measure in terms of percentage.The obtained data were then analyzed using descriptive methods and the SPSS.Results: According to the result of this study, "Altavista", All the web and "Google" showed the higher most retrieved results. Among the Meta search engines "Ixquick" got the first rank. Search results of "Altavista" and "all the web", "Vivsimon" and "Clusty" and "Metacrawler" and "Dogpile" showed large overlaps. Moreover, overlap percentage between search engines and Meta search engines with respect to keyword, was determined in this study.Conclusion: In this study, the percentage of overlap among selected search engines and meta search engines using the selected keywords, was shown to be 40% - 60%. This difference was because of variety of results ranking methods in different search engines and Meta search engines.

Introduction: indicators are regarded as tools of evaluating different situations in all systems.Hospitals as a part of health systems are not an exception. They should also be evaluated based on different views, the main aim of this study was to determine the rate of utilization of hospital resources in Isfahan province.Methods: This is a descriptive, trend study which was carried out in Isfahan province. A total of 1920 data sheets collected from 1997 to 2001 were analyzed. These data belonged to 32 hospitals located across the province.The form was a validated tool for data collection and was used throughout the country.Results: Total mean of bed occupancy (BOR) was 42.2% during the study period. Training hospitals with 54.3% showed the highest rate while district hospitals were the lowest (41.4%).The average length of stay (LOS) was 2.6 days. The length of stay in training hospitals was 3.6 days, 1.9 days in private hospitals and 4.4 days in the regional ones.Bed turn over rate was 3.3 days during the studied five year period.Conclusion: In the third world countries, the number of hospital beds is far less than the minimum required for the population.According to international standards, there should be three hospital beds for a thousand people in the community. In our country there is 1.5 beds per one thousand and despite this shortage, even this capacity is not correctly used so that more than 50% of hospital beds are vacant and since they stand far away from the right place.

Introduction: The drive for health care and medical sciences to become evidence-based has been accelerated during recent years and therefore quick access to relevant information without the use of information and communication technology seems impossible. The aim of this study was to evaluate medical students' knowledge of computers and information science in Urmia University.Methods: This survey was implemented using questionnaire research method. A total of 166 from 275 medical students in different levels namely physiopathology, internship, and externship were assessed in November 2006. The data were collected in questionnaires. They were analyzed with SPSS.Results: Some 71.3% of the students had access to a computer at their homes but most of them (77%) had had no formal computer training before. Most of students could send and receive emails and also attach a file to it. Most of them had a little information about advanced search tools (27.7%) and search operators (5.4%). Approximately 1/3 of students knew about medical information banks and used them.Conclusion: Most of students had no formal computer training before, though such trainings would help students perform educational search tasks more quickly. Students had a little information about using search tools, though they are the most important tools for getting access to information resources within the web. Medical information banks are sources that would help medical students to gain more quick access to useful articles; however, students had little information about these important sources and therefore did not use them frequently.

Introduction: Users of Hospital Information System know its problems better than others.Studying their views are very important and can be especially effective in the development of the information system. The aim of this study was to investigate the users' views towards the quality of Hospital Information System in the training hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.Methods: The current study was an applied research which was conducted with descriptive cross-sectional method. A four-section questionnaire was designed for data collection consisting of: characteristics of quality information, reasons of low quality of information, accessibility of information and decision support. Validity and reliability were tested and SPSS was used for data analysis.Results: The findings indicated that 62.8% of users explained that one of reasons of low quality information was a problem related to obtaining information. About 47.7% of users were unsatisfied with hospital information system ability for decision making support. In general 53.2% of users were slightly satisfied with the overall quality information of the system.Conclusion: According to the findings of this study there are some problems concerning information quality of Hospital Information System in Mashhad training hospitals. These problems include of inappropriate information quality of the system and incompatibility with user needs which leads to decreased satisfaction of users towards the system.

Introduction: Risk management nowadays is one of the main concerns of all professions in order to protect themselves as well as keeping a competitive edge in the market.Analyzing risks and their consequences (FMEA) is one of the techniques of risk assessment which has been used in this research to define and assess risks and prevention measures for the risk.Methods: In this descriptive, cross sectional study, medical record department of Al-Zahra hospital was studied. The researcher did observe work processes and interviewed with hospital staff during 1385-86 and then prepared a diagrammatic presentation of those processes. All processes were reviewed in detail and possible risks and consequences, severity, accordance, discovery and risk priority was defined through focus groups.FEMA was used in this research. FEMA was considered reliable due to its use by researchers in other countries and its validity is defined through expert opinion. Experts in medical record were consulted and suggested actions were discussed in a focus group and prioritized by department manager according to significance and implacability. Ranking was assessed according to the criteria of decision table in this research.Results: 24 out of 56 possible failures were related to admission office with the highest score related to “inability of admission personnel in re-reading admission order”.Conclusion: Techniques such as FEMA with emphasis on group work and prevention, enhance staff precision, and attention to their possible professional weaknesses as well as taking actions to prevent them.

Introduction: The current study was designed to focus on the status of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in the personnel of Medical Records Departments of training hospital affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.Since occupational safety has a direct impact on efficiency, assessment of personnel health is of great importance.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive survey included 75 personnel of medical records departments. The required data were collected in Noredic and a demographic questionnaire.Results: It was shown that 92% of the subjects in this study suffered from musculoskeletal disorders. In 2005 they had 177 days off work.Also they were visited by a doctor because of musculoskeletal disorders 26 times in a year and they had 37 days off work. They reported that MSD or pain were present in lumbar 9.3%, neck 9.3%, shoulders 6.7% and wrist 10.7%. There was an insignificant relationship between demographic variables and work related injuries. In 69.3% of the cases, pain quality of MSD was observed at working and in 37.3% cases pain severity was with 3 degrees.Conclusion: Researchers propose use ergonomic factors in workplace to prevent musculoskeletal disorders for medical records staff.

Introduction: Nowadays, researches are used in various disciplines of science as a powerful means of evaluating the latest scientific achievements. The most important source in medical studies, however, seems to be patients' documents in hospitals' archives. The basic aim of this study was to determine the importance and the application of medical records in doing researches from the viewpoint of Isfahan's educational hospitals' researchers.Methods: This research was descriptive – cross sectional. A sample of 300 researchers was randomly chosen and studied in our survey. Data collection was performed via use of self questionnaire according to the research aims during spring and summer of 2005. Findings were analyzed with descriptive-statistical methods within the SPSS.Results: The cause of researchers' reluctance to use medical records in their studies was 37.5% due to incomplete information of the records and illegible documents in 31% of cases. The case that researchers used medical records in research was centralized information and easy access.Conclusion: Accuracy complements and legibility of medical records during documentation process not only enhances use of medical records by researchers but also enhances validity and reliabilities of finding of researches based on these records.

Introduction: Internet is one of the main indicators of the many scientific, economical and social opportunities raised from information technology. Due to growing popularity of internet, using portals is a convenient and cost effective way for public health education and service provision.This paper explores evaluation criteria for a portal site. Defining these criteria helps greatly in design, implementation, evaluation and usage of these portals by managers and users.Methods: In this descriptive study, 53 experts in the field of web programming were selected through purposeful sampling.Data were collected through internet search, interview with key informants and a questionnaire with likert scale. The questionnaire was designed according to software standards and researcher’s experience. Questionnaire was reviewed for face and content validity by key informants. Reliability was achieved through pilot study and factor analysis (Alfa Cronbach=0.78) Findings were analyzed using SPSS.Results: “Cost of buying a portal” ranked highest among 10 assessed parameters. This means that the cost is a major influencing factor regardless of technical aspects of the site and selection guidelines. In addition, maintenance and updating cost of these sites compare to their production cost has increased according to current standard software.Conclusion: Managers should be knowledgeable about evaluation and selection of portals for health and medical institutions. This will enhance quality of design and services provided through portals.

Medical errors are a great concern among health care authorities and providers. Medical error is the third most common cause of death in the United States Health Care Facilities and every year, almost 98,000 people die as a result of this problem. Health care policy makers recommend that application of information technology may promote patient safety through prevention of errors, creation of surveillance and error analysis. Medical errors happen with medications, treatments, diagnoses, procedures and administration. CPOE (Computerized Physician Order Entry), CDSS (Clinical Decision Support System), HER (Electronic Health Record) and BCMA (Bar Code Medication Administration) are known systems for preventing and reducing medical errors.This article means to the review and define medical errors as well as analyzing the effect of information technology on reducing and preventing medical errors. Finally some suggestions are presented on the use of IT in health care facilities.

Introduction: The main purpose of this survey was to study the relationship between faculty members’ participation in administrative decision-makings and the level of their morale in University of Isfahan and Medical Sciences University of Isfahan. The research basic questions focused on the relationship between faculty members’ participation in three decision-making dimensions namely educational, administrative and research with their moral dimensions including belongingness, identification and rationality. The rate of faculty members’ participation was studied based on such demographic variables as gender, specialty and rank, seniority and employment status.Methods: A descriptive and correlation coefficient research method was employed. The statistical sample consisted of 165 faculty members who were selected through a multi-stage sampling method from the two universities. The research data were collected through two researcher-made questionnaires: 1. participation in decision-making and 2. morale measurement questionnaire. The questionnaire reliability was measured with Cronbach-Alpha coefficient method. The questionnaires validity was determined based on content validity and internal validity was analyzed.Results: The results revealed that there was a relationship between the degree of faculty members’ participation in administrative decision-makings and their morale level. Participation in educational decision-makings correlated with high belongingness. Also faculty members’ participation in administrative decision-makings increased the rationality dimension of their morale. Also there was a relationship between the degree of faculty members’ participation in research decision-makings and the identification dimension of their morale. A significant difference between the degree of faculty members’ participation and demographic variables was not observed.Conclusion: A significant difference was observed between the levels of faculty members morale based on their seniority. The highest degree of faculty members’ participation in administrative decision makings was in the area of research and the least rate of participation pertained to educational decision-makings. Furthermore, the ranking of the three dimensions of morale in the sample showed that the level of their morale with respect to rational dimension was higher and was lower with respect to belongingness.

Introduction: Administrative processes in universities should performe in coordination with major university policies and directions. Financial performance is one of the main factors in achieving efficency and effectiveness in management. This research investigates cost of undergraduate and post graduate student trainings at Faculty of Health Management and Medical Informatics during period of 1385-86.Methods: During this retrospective, cross sectional applied research, all costs related to student training at this faculty has been estimated. “Performance based cost estimation” method has been used with educational services at Faculty considered at basis of expenditure. Data were collected using researcher designed cheklist from financial documents of the Faculty.Results: Per capita cost of students of medical librarianship; graduate diploma and bachelor in medical records; master of medical record; and master of health service management was 12565434 Rls, 11503362 Rls, 39120021 Rls and 13963497 Rls respectively during2006-2007.Traditional cost estimation however resutls to 13963497 Rls per capita.Conclusion: Master of medical records had the highest per capita expenses while graduate diploma and bachelor of medial records had the lowest per capita expenses.Expensed related to lecturers and administrative cost such as education office, educational departments, library, research affairs and student affairs were reported to form the bulk of the costs of student training.Efforts could be made to reduce these costs as well as increasing the number of students.

Introduction: Pediatric wards are places for care of children with physical and psychological problems. These places should be designed to reduce anxiety and Cather for children’s emotional and physical needs. This research aimed to assess physical spaces of pediatric wards in Isfahan hospitals during 1384 with comparison to standards.Methods: This is a descriptive study. A valid and reliable checklist was used for data collection.Data were collected personally by the researcher. Data were analyzed using SPSS.Results: University affiliated hospitals had a better standard (%81.25) design and architecture compare to other hospitals. “Educational, Treatment and Welfare" units at university affiliated hospitals were better than non university hospitals. University affiliated hospitals were providing a better standard on “welfare facilities” (%74.96) compared to others.Conclusion: Physical spaces of pediatric wards at Isfahan hospitals are appropriate.

Introduction: Occupational risks and incidents at work have led to many unpleasant consequences during the last decades so that each year the 28th April is dedicated to "Workers Memorial Day" to commemorate workers who lost their lives in occupational incidents.Safety of personnel and their work environment have a great importance all over the world.Consideration required in medical and health units and also in hospitals, is an important administrative task. Most of the managers in developed countries, assume safety as an investment with a great return profit. Safety in hospital radiology units is very crucial. In these units, there is a risk of potential radiation to the patients, companions, personnel, etc. The current study aimed to assess risks and identification of hazardous areas in order to increase the awareness of hospital managers and providing them with correct measures to improve safety in such Methods: This was a descriptive-cross sectional, applied study.In this study, all private and hospitals radiology units were included. Using standard safety checklist, needed information was collected via interviews and observations and then, following data collection; we evaluated the risks through Melbourne University’s 3D Model. SPSS was applied for data analysis.Results: The results showed observing safety principles in connection with using personal protection equipment was 2.53 out of 5(51%), safety laws and guidelines is 3.03 from 5 scores and 60%, physical safety and environment equipments is 3.6 from 5 score, 72%, fire safety equipment and electricity safety is 2.9 from 5 score, 58%, public safety public is 3.05 from 5 score and 61%. Also it is determined that Conclusion: Generally from the 5 areas studied, the greatest score and percentage (3.6 from 5 score and 72%) related to physical safety and environment equipments. The lowest score and percentage however (2.53 from 5 score and 51%) pertained to personal protection equipments.

Introduction: Evaluation of efficiency is considered to be highly important. Assessment of managers` creativity and organizational health is a reliable measure for efficiency. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between employers` creativity and organizational health with employees of Medical Sciences Universities throughout the country.Methods: This was a descriptive–analytic study. Questionnaires including questions pertaining to efficiency, creativity and organizational health were used to assess efficiency. For this reason 1281 people in Medical Sciences Universities of Urmia, Bushehr, Zabol, Ghazvin, Gholestan and Mashhad were included in this study. Findings were analyzed with proper statistical methods.Results: 1. statistically, there was a significant relationship between organizational health and efficiency; i.e. increase in organizational health would proportionately result in increase in efficiency (P=0.01). 2. There was a negative relationship between employers` creativity and organizational health, but this relation was not significant. The scale of employers` creativity declined with increase in organizational health (P>0.05). 3. There was a direct proportion between employers` creativity and efficiency, though it was not significant. The scale of efficiency increased when creativity was high.Conclusion: Improvement of organizational health results in an increase in efficiency.