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Background: Scholarship related to doctor–patient computer-mediated communication (CMC) has been relatively sparse, which is unsurprising given the evidence that seldom makes use of this mode of communication. Although scholars have made use of a number of methods to study CMC within this relational context, few have examined the ways in which CMC serves to fulfill relational functions; task-oriented communication seems to comprise the majority of such mediated discourse. However, CMC exchanges between doctors and patients often include relationship-oriented communication, though it is not frequently studied. Method: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, and Communication & Mass Media Complete to identify relevant articles. The search was supplemented by backward and forward reference checking as well as existing reviews. Results: The findings revealed a number of barriers that prevent the widespread use of CMC in doctor–patient communication, such as legal concerns, concerns over provider workload and reimbursement, and privacy/trust issues. Similarly, consistent with media richness theory, doctor–patient CMC appears to be perceived as effective for straightforward and relatively simple tasks. Conclusions: The current review examined the transformative potential of CMC that is enabled by task-oriented communication, and more importantly, relationship-oriented communication. Further research is warranted to examine the potential to foster deliberative doctor–patient communication through CMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rural residents in the United States are more likely to use tobacco, have less access to tobacco control resources and efforts, and are more highly exposed to secondhand smoke than their urban counterparts. The purpose was to design and pilot test a shortened, self-administered online survey (Community Readiness Survey-Short form [CRS-S]) to assess community readiness for smoke-free policy in rural communities. The Community Readiness Survey-Long form (CRS-L) is a 30- to 90-min telephone-administered survey. The Community Readiness Model can guide the design of programs and policy interventions to reduce health risks. Methods: 160 key informants from Wave 3 of a 5-year community-based randomized controlled trial set in Kentucky completed the CRS-L; 61 of approximately 140–284 items were significantly related to the relevant readiness dimension subscores and selected for inclusion. The online CRS-S was created with these items using Qualtrics software; 43 smoke-free advocates who had completed the CRS-L during Wave 4 were invited to participate. Correlations between the CRS-S and the CRS-L on overall readiness and the dimension scores were calculated. Readiness scores were correlated with existence of public policy and voluntary smoke-free policies to assess convergent validity. Results: The correlation between the overall CRS-S and CRS-L scores was relatively strong (.82), and there is evidence to support convergent validity. Most respondents completed the CRS-S in less than 15 min and preferred this format. Conclusions: The CRS-S is a valid and less time- and resource-intensive method to assess readiness for smoke-free policy in rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on supply chain management principles relevant to clinical development (CD) and provides some insights on how sponsors can apply them. One principle is that CD process reveals more parallels with manufacturing because like any process, CD has inputs, internal processing and outputs. Also, CD can be viewed as a company with suppliers and customers. Discussions on the role of investigator, material defects, and preferred supplier relationships are also presented.

This study examines the extent to which professional journalism adopts and uses citizen journalism, such as user-generated content (UGC) and user-submitted stories (USS), at the individual, organizational, and community levels. In doing so, the study adopts a web-based survey of top U.S. news editors (n = 142) coupled with U.S. Census Data. The study reveals that experience as online journalists and online staff size play roles in the adoption and use of UGC. The study also finds that community structural pluralism is related to the adoption and use of news stories written together by professional and citizen journalists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]