Journal of Health Information Management
Year:2013 | Volume:10 | Issue:1 (29)|Papers Count:20

Introduction: Library software is a computer-based program that is used in libraries and information centers for information storage, processing and retrieval. Interface environment is a part of library software that establishes connection between computer and user and also shifts information between user and the system. The present study aimed to determine the attitudes of librarians in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences towards the specifications of Pars Azarakhsh library software interface in 2009.Methods: A questionnaire was used for data collection, consisting of 51 closed questions. The study population included the librarians in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Librarians were all those who were working in libraries of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (n=50). Descriptive statistics methods and correlation test were used for data analysis.Results: The results of this research showed that librarians believed some factors like pageant, vocabulary and messages of software as well as learning how to use software were in medium and upper than medium. Moreover, librarian's attitude toward help and other capabilities was lower than medium. All the librarians believed that Pars Azarakhsh software user interface environment was medium (3.20). In addition, there was a non-significant difference between Pars Azarakhsh software user interface and computer literacy of librarians. There was a significant difference between letters and messages of software and library literacy of librarians and there was no significant difference between other variables of Pars Azarakhsh software user interface and library literacy of librarians.Conclusion: Findings showed that librarians' view about Pars Azarakhsh variables was at medium level.Among these variables, some such as how to work with software, pageant, vocabulary, and messages of software were in the best situation. However, help features and other capabilities need to be developed more.

Introduction: Evaluation is a suitable way to improve the healthcare quality. At the other hand, quality and validity of information is an important factor in this process. The aim of this study was to assess adjustment and agreement between medical records data and pregnant women reported healthcare data in prenatal maternity care.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 185 pregnant women who were selected randomly and received maternity care from 40 urban health centers and health bases in Tabriz. Technical quality data were obtained from two different sources, i.e. medical record and pregnant women reported data.Questionnaire's content validity was reviewed and confirmed by 10 experts and its reliability was confirmed based on Cronbach's alpha (a=0.748). Weighted Kappa and ICC (intra-class correlation coefficient) were used to analyze each item. Data were analyzed using the STATA ver.10 and SPSS ver.17 statistical packages.Results: There was a weak adjustment between the two data sources. Only in some services there was a moderate adjustment such as number of care (Kappa=0.56), blood pressure and weight measurement (Kappa=0.55). In registration time to health center (P=0.95, 95% CI 0.931-0.962) and awareness of pregnancy (P=0.87, 95% CI 0.824-0.903) there was a strong adjustment between medical document and customers reported data.Conclusion: For some services such as pregnancy education, it is preferred to use pregnant women reported data, because such data are a form of output assessment. Furthermore, due to a defect in the recording services, customers’ reported data were more valid than the health records.

Introduction: Information seeking skills has an important role in independent searching and enables one to have a strong research. The aim of this study was to investigate information seeking skills among the residents of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.Methods: It was a descriptive study. Morgan sampling table used to select 248 residents from 659 residents of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire which was validated by expert and its reliability was tested with Cronbach's alpha (0.83).Results: Only 3.9% of the residents attended in Iranian National Medical Digital Library (INLM) workshop and only 16.2% of them were registered to INLM. 38.3% of them were familiar with up-to-date database and 25.8% of them used it.48.4% of them used "advanced search". 49.2% of them used "bullion operations" and only 13.3% of them were familiar with databases’ facilities to manage their search results. Only 5.5% of them always evaluated the retrieved information.Conclusion: Information seeking skills of residents was very low. Attending in workshops on database and information literacy can help them to improve their skills and have better research.

Modern information and communication technologies have brought about rapidity and ease leading to more comfort and welfare in our life. However, the users' health and safety would be seriously in danger in the case of misuse. The present paper attempted to review the literature on the undesirable effects of information technologies on the health and safety of humans and their environment and thereby emphasized the necessity of training users. The results revealed that unmanaged use of information and communication technologies may result in widespread detrimental effects including physical disorders, diseases and anomalies. In addition, the environment safety is threatened by a variety of e-wastes and pollutants. Among several solutions put forward to fight the threats, training users and developing national management strategies are the most basic ones. Information and communication technologies extension and education programs should train users about how to reasonably use the technologies, how to avoid the probable risks, and in particular, encourage them to choose green technologies.

Introduction: The main objective of libraries is the selection and preparation of information resources. This research aimed to investigate the perspectives of librarians in University of Isfahan and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences about the necessity of Stuart Lee's collection development factors in libraries of university.Methods: This was a descriptive survey in which a questionnaire was used for data collection. The study population consisted of 129 librarians in academic libraries of University of Isfahan and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2010-2011, the sample size was estimated to be 86 subjects and finally 76 questionnaires were returned. This research was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. For verifying the face validity of questionnaire, it was given to other professors of Library and Information Sciences in University of Isfahan and their suggestions were applied and the reliability of the questionnaire was also estimated 82% using Cronbach's Alpha.Results: About 59.2% of the academic libraries in Isfahan had a written policy for electronic resources collection management.40.5% of respondees believed that the major duties and goals of the mother organization and its various aspects are included in the budget program. The cost of resources with 47.9% affected the priority of publications. The periodical electronic resources had high priority compared to other electronic resources.Conclusion: Academic libraries of Isfahan have taken a growing trend in collection management, although a long road lies ahead to complete the utility.

Introduction: Obtaining top academic position among countries of the Middle East and having advanced knowledge and ability to produce knowledge are among the most important goals set in Iran's twenty-year vision. Present study aimed to determine impact factor of specialized and technical journals of Iran and to compare with selected countries and provide appropriate recommendation.Methods: In this comparative study which was conducted through cross-sectional method in winter 2012, impact factor and quantitative indices of some Iranian published journals were compared with journals of twenty five countries. Countries were selected based on Islamic Republic of Iran's vision. A checklist was used for data collection whose validity was confirmed using expert opinion and its reliability was 100%, because the variables were objective and consensus was present between two researchers on data extraction. Required data were extracted from 2009 and 2010 Journal Citation ReportsÒ (JCR). Mean of Impact factor was obtained for each country using descriptive statistics. Finally, the countries were ranked based on total scores acquired by each country.Results: Twenty five studied countries had 1440 and 1507 specialized and technical journals with 87 (6.04%) and 124 (8.23%) ISI indexed in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Growth of published journal in Iran, Turkey and Pakistan was 9.7%, 4.5% and 2.1%, respectively in 2010 compared to 2009, however, this number for 2010 ISI indexed journals for Armenia, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran was 200%, 58.1%, 57.1% and 36%, respectively.Conclusion: Turkey, Iran and Pakistan with 20, 14 and 9 points, respectively were the first three countries among twenty five studied countries based on science production indices. This study indicated that Iranian scholars had lots of efforts in producing science in recent years, with considerable advances every year compared to previous year. To achieve goals of twenty-year vision, considering ISI standards, easy access of scholars to paper and journals and publishing joint papers should be placed in the agenda of the authorities and process owners.

Introduction: Self-assessment in healthcare is inevitable, like in all other sections. Scarce resources, necessity of performance refining, vitality of provided services and quality of services are evidence for necessity of having a proper system of self-assessment of performance in this area. Hence, the purpose of present study was to study areas of improvement based on European Foundation for quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model in Imam Mousa Kazem Hospital.Methods: The present study used a descriptive cross-sectional method. Statistical population consisted of experts and hospital senior managers in Imam Mousa Kazem Hospital in 2002. The study tools included a standard questionnaire of EFQM whose validity was confirmed by faculty members and experts and its reliability was obtained at 0.97 through Cronbach's alpha. Data analysis was done in nine areas using SPSS software. The study population were hospital top managers in 2002 who were selected through census method. Data were collected using questionnaire based on EFQM model. Collected data were analyzed through RADAR rationale.Results: Imam Mousa Kazem Hospital obtained 599 points in its assessment, however, the area of enablers obtained 300 and area of results obtained 299 points. Obtained percentages for each of nine areas are as follows: Leadership (60), policies and strategy (58), employees (68), resources and partners (60), processes (56), customers result (58), employees result (60), community results (63) and key performance (61%).Conclusion: The self-assessment based of EFQM model resulted in an information system of strength and weakness points in 9 areas so that RADAR logic, weakness points were determined for the intervention and improvement areas.

Introduction: Hospital information system (HIS) plays an important role in enhancing the quality of remedy in hospitals. HIS is considered as an information system that may have great influence on the effectiveness and efficiency of hospital management. Evaluation system is one of the most important issues that is greatly emphasized in the management system. This paper evaluate HIS based on Ahituv and Neumann model. The general objective of this study was to assess HIS in hospitals where Kowsar software is in use.Methods: This study used a descriptive-field survey approach and carried out in 2012. The data were collected via both field and library sources. Subset of this research contained ten governmental hospitals under supervision of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Indeed, the Kowsar software was installed in all the studied hospitals. Since the number of subjects was 209, it was feasible to use all staff. The volunteers were given localized questionnaires based on Ahituv and Neumann model indices (time, content, and structure) to assess the HIS. The questionnaire included 37 items with regard to the five choice likert scale. The elite panel confirmed questionnaire content validity. In addition, reliability was calculated via Cronbach's alpha (0.85).Results: Data analysis showed that there were two true hypotheses among the three. In fact, both time and content were verified with 0.95 reliability rate but the structure was not in an acceptable level.Conclusion: The HIS governing the organization was in a proper condition in terms of timeline, accuracy, relevancy, and appropriateness of brevity, however, in terms of frequency, period, and universality it was not satisfactory and needed modification. HIS basically requires restructuring and also detailed information and several figures and charts to illustrate statistical outputs. Altogether, a newer version of Kowsar can be released to overcome the drawbacks.

Introduction: Evaluation of hospital information system (HIS) is a complex endeavor, in which all human, technical and organizational aspects should be considered. This study aimed to develop indicators for HIS evaluation.Methods: Present qualitative study was carried out through a cross-sectional method in 2012 in Kerman province, using Delphi technique. Given the objectives of this study, three independent phases were performed including literature review, providing draft indicators for HIS evaluation and reaching consensus. Required data were obtained through interviews and designed forms. Twenty-three experts composed the study population in interview and reaching consensus phases. Validity and reliability were confirmed through content validity and test-retest method, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: Final set of indicators for HIS evaluation consisted of ninety-one indicators under 8 main topics, i.e. technical quality, software quality, architecture and interface quality, vendor quality, after-sale services quality, workflow support quality, support department, outcome quality and HIS cost.Conclusion: Given the complexity of information system evaluation, all human, technical and organizational aspects have to be taken into account in any evaluation. Proposed indicators provide the possibility of comprehensive evaluation of HIS.

Introduction: The emergence of postmodern management components such as persuading, self-controlling, servant leadership, proactive organizing, innovation and co-creating, have raised doubts about traditional management models. The present study aimed to review the application rate of postmodern management components in the libraries of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.Methods: In this descriptive survey, the study population consisted of all the staff of libraries in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (n=78). The sample size was estimated as 55 subjects that were recruited using the stratified random sampling method in 2010-2011. To collect the data, a researcher-made questionnaire was used for the existing and the ideal situations. Its validity was confirmed by the face validity and using Cronbach's Alpha the reliability of the questionnaire was estimated as 0.97 for the existing situation and 0.96 for the ideal situation. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics i.e. one-sample t-test, independent t-test, chi-square, Hotelling, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) test by the SPSS software.Results: The mean scores of postmodern management components in the existing situation were lower than the average and in ideal situation were higher than the average. There was also a significant difference between mean scores of postmodern management components in the existing situation based on demographic factor of gender in components of self-controlling, servant leadership, and innovation, and in ideal situation based on demographic factor of type of work in co-creating (P<0.05).Conclusion: With the advent of the postmodern era and considering the importance of management as an essential pillar of development and progress, managers of academic libraries should be acquainted with postmodern management and should apply its components for appropriate management of libraries.

Introduction: Communication skills are of high importance nowadays. Due to their occupational position, nurses need appropriate and sufficient skills to communicate with their colleagues and patients in order to achieve peace and satisfaction. The present study aimed to determine the effect of communication skills training on the overall amount of general health (and its dimensions) in nurses of Kashani Hospital, Isfahan, Iran.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental research in which the statistical sample included all the nurses employed by Kashani Hospital in 2009 (158 male and female nurses in 12 wards). By applying the relative categorical random sampling method, 20 participants were assigned to the experimental group and the rest (n=20) were assigned to the control group. Eight sessions of communication skills training were held for the experimental group. The standard General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used to measure and evaluate the general health in pre-intervention and post-intervention phases. To determine the reliability of each questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was utilized which provided us with 0.78. Analysis of the data took place on two levels of descriptive statistics (average and standard deviation) and inferential statistics i.e. analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).Results: Communication skills training increased the general health by 73% and decreases depression, anxiety, and social and physical dysfunction by 75%, 72%, 72%, 34%, respectively (P<0.01).Conclusion: Designing and applying standard communication skills training sessions, tied with the help of specialized lecturers, will have a significant effect on human communication, relations, organizational citizenship behavior, and general health of the staff.

Introduction: Good data management practices are essential to any clinical trial, yet this area is one of which can be neglected during the planning stages of a trial. This study focused on the management of the data during each stage of the life for a trial from planning to archive in compliance with good clinical data management practice (GCDMP) standard in clinical trials conducted by the clinical research centers.Methods: This cross-sectional study about data management of clinical trials in clinical research centers was conducted in 2010. A checklist containing 239 questions for total objectives was developed using the standards described in the GCDMP. Based on the Ministry of Health evaluation scores, clinical research centers were divided into three categories of strong, average, and weak. We reviewed documents, facilities, records and any other resources of 15 clinical trials for each category. Collected data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests using SPSS software.Results: Results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between strong, average, and weak groups. In terms of data quality and reporting, no statistically significant difference was indicateed between strong and average clinical trials groups.Conclusion: Clinical trial data management in Iran did not meet GCDMP requirements. Therefore, development of national specific and practical standard with technical detail, establishing a data quality monitoring committee, clinical research assistant training for GCDMP requirements are necessary for achieving data quality and international expectations.

Introduction: Direct cash payments are the principal sources of health care finance in most countries. Health services may impose a regressive cost burden on households, especially in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to calculate households encountered with catastrophic healthcare expenditures in Qazvin, Iran.Methods: The statistical society included 100 household equaled to 416 people. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaire. The capacity to pay of households was calculated by two methods. If the costs of household health were³40% of their capacity for payment, it would be considered as catastrophic expenditures.Results: According to the findings, the rate of confronting households with health catastrophic expenditures had been estimated 24%, which dentistry services had the highest part in health catastrophic expenditures.Conclusion: Low capacity to pay families should be supported against these expenditures and more financial aid should be provided for them.

Introduction: Reliability of diagnoses coding is essential for the use of data in national and international levels. The present study compared the reliability of diagnoses coding with 10th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) between the two groups of coders.Methods: Two hundred and forty five priorly coded medical records from five public hospitals affiliated to Zahedan University of Medical Sciences were re-coded by hospital coders and researcher in the first half of 2011. Data collection was done through a checklist. Validity of this instrument was confirmed by the experts. Intra-rater reliability (reliability of coder) and inter-rater reliability (reliability of prior codes with researcher codes or current codes of coder with researcher codes) were assessed in different level of diagnoses using Cohen's Kappa.Results: In the most cases, inter-rate reliability was almost perfect. Only in level of first three character of principle diagnoses value of Kappa was moderate (K=0.52). Furthermore, external reliability in most cases was upper than moderate. Only reliability of codes dedicated by researcher and prior codes on medical records in the fifth character of principle diagnosis was low (K=0.18), the fourth character of the first other diagnosis was moderate (K=0.60), and also in chapter level of the third, the other diagnosis were moderate (K=0.54). Furthermore, Kappa value (between coder and researcher) for principle diagnosis in the first three character was moderate (K=0.47), and in the fifth character level was low (K=0.18).Conclusion: Reliability of diagnoses coding was appropriate in level of chapter and the fourth character and was not appropriate in three levels of the first and fourth characters. This could be resulted from error selection of principle diagnosis in multiple-coding and negligence of coder to level of specificity in coding. Thus, implementation of in-service educational programs for coders seems essential.

Introduction: One of the main characteristics of a hospital information system (HIS) is confidentiality. Studies have shown that the security requirements on electronic health records are not fully met in Iran.This study was conducted to determine the percentage of HIPAA (health insurance portability and accountability act) security safeguard application in university hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2010.Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The study population included university hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences equipped with HIS. Data were collected by a checklist through interview with the IT authorities of the hospitals. The checklist was in accordance with HIPAA security standard rules. Tool validity was checked by the content validity method. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: The risk management and data backup plan, two out of seven required administrative security safeguards (i.e. risk analysis, risk management, sanction policy, information system activity review, data backup plan, disaster recovery plan, and emergency mode operation plan), were fully applied in all the hospitals. Both of two required physical security safeguards, disposal and media reuse, were applied in the majority of the hospitals. Of the two required technical security safeguards, unique user identifications, and emergency access procedure were applied only in one of the hospitals.Conclusion: Operational planning must be implemented in order to increase the application of required administrative security safeguards. Full application of the required physical security safeguards, which are close to reach, and the required technical security safeguards could be the main steps in promoting security of the HIS.

Introduction: Intellectual capitals in an organization are assets that their value is increased over time and with sharing with others. Since hospitals are dominant in providing medical services, management of intangible assets could be very important for them. To avoid the waste of costs and efforts, it is necessary to identify the priority and importance of each dimension of intellectual capitals in hospitals, and then to develop and manage them.Methods: This was a descriptive survey which was conducted in three hospitals in Isfahan in 2010. Theoretical studies were based on library investigation and corresponding data were collected through predesigned questionnaires. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by some specialists in management, and its reliability was tested using Cronbach's alpha (a=0.89). The sample size was estimated to be 200 subjects. Some descriptive statistics were presented and the inference for evaluating the importance of intellectual capital dimensions in medical sector was based on student t-test. The web diagram was used for prioritizing the dimensions.Results: Among the intellectual capital dimensions considered in medical sector, the importance of three dimensions of human capital, customer capital and process were higher than average level. Innovation dimension had a moderate significance in intellectual capital while the value of financial capital and information technology was low.Conclusion: Various dimensions of intellectual capitals in hospitals will exhibit different importance.Therefore, administrators of hospitals must provide good foundation for utilization of all assets and produce knowledge, wealth and innovation.