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Objectives: The nature of paramedic workflows, where paramedics are responsible to provide care and chart concurrently, can result in incomplete or non-existent patient care reports on patient handover to the emergency department (ED). Charting delays and retrospective recollection of care may lead to patient information gaps, which can increase ED workload, cause care delays, and increase the risk of adverse events. Speech recognition documentation technology has the potential to produce complete patient care reports quicker and improve paramedic-to-ED handover. We performed a scoping review to determine paramedic perceptions and user requirements for speech recognition documentation technology., Methods: MEDLINE, Google Scholar, IEEE Explore, ProQuest, and CINAHL were searched from 2014 to March 2024. Criteria included studies focused on paramedics' use or perceptions of speech recognition documentation technology. This review included studies conducted in the prehospital environment and adjacent agencies (i.e., ED, fire, police, military)., Results: The review identified eight articles that met inclusion criteria. All eight articles were small focus group-based studies in laboratory settings published on or after 2020. Five studies were conducted in the United States, two in Switzerland, and one in Japan. Of the eight studies, five recommended further live environment testing of the technology examined, and three underscored the importance of a user-centred design. The top user requirements for speech recognition adoption was hands-free use, noise reduction technology, battery life, and word accuracy. All eight studies recommended further research and development of speech recognition documentation technology in the prehospital workflow., Conclusion: This scoping review has highlighted that while there is a growing interest in speech recognition documentation technology in the paramedicine workflow, more research is needed, especially with larger samples in a live environment. The user requirements and perceptions of speech recognition documentation technology in paramedicine must be better understood to design systems with high adoption rates., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Domestic animals, such as cats and dogs, are present in the majority of Australian households. Recently, questions regarding the possibility that domestic animals can serve as silent witnesses, from whom evidence can be collected, or act as vectors of contamination and transfer, have started to be raised. Yet, little is known regarding the transfer and prevalence of human DNA to and from cats. This study investigated if cats are reservoirs and vectors for human DNA transfer. Twenty cats from 15 households were sampled from 4 different areas (head (fur), back (fur), left (skin) and right (fur)) to obtain information on the background DNA that may be found on an animal. Further, transfer of human DNA to and from an animal, after a short patting contact, was tested. Human DNA was found to be prevalent on all cats. Of the areas sampled, most DNA was collected from the top of the fur from the back followed by the head and right/fur. No or very low quantities of human DNA was recovered from the left (skin) area. Most of the human DNA originated from the owners, but DNA from others was also often present (47 % of samples). Further, the transfer tests demonstrated that human DNA transferred readily to (detected in 45 % of samples) and from (detected in 80 % of samples) cats during patting. These results show that animals can act as reservoirs of human DNA and vectors for human DNA transfer that may need to be considered during evaluative DNA reporting. Furthermore, if an interaction between an animal and a perpetrator is suspected, consideration should be given to collecting DNA evidence from suspected contact areas on an animal., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Older adults (and caregivers) face important health-related decisions which can have important consequences on their well-being, independence, and outcomes (e.g., where to live, how to stay safe, where to get care). There is a critical need for tools to help them make informed decisions that reflects what is most important to them. We report on a qualitative analysis of survey data collected from home care providers to inform the design and development of digital decision support tools for older adults.

Laboratory (lab) tests can assist diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring illness and health. Lab results are one of the most commonly accessible types of personal health information, yet they can be difficult for consumers (e.g., patients, laypeople, citizens) to understand. Consequently, many consumers turn to digital educational resources (e.g., websites, mobile applications) to make sense of their tests and results. In this study, we compared the understandability and readability of four different consumer targeted webpages with information about a commonly ordered blood test called the Complete Blood Count (CBC). The webpages varied in terms of understandability, and only one met the threshold. None of the web pages provided any information about how to respond to lab results. Although all four webpages were quite readable, some were much longer than others. The length of webpages may impact users' attention, ability to locate information, and determine what is most important. Future work is warranted to better understand users' information needs and the usability and user experience of these types of websites.

Laboratory test results are increasingly available to health consumers. Almost all test results are accompanied by a reference range to aid in interpretation. This study asked 25 non-healthcare providers to explain the term reference range. The descriptions highlighted four principal themes: health consumers were unsure about their understanding of the term reference range; they equated a reference range with a normal range; few had some degree of awareness of the limitations of reference ranges; and few had limited awareness of the difference between a reference range and clinical cutoff. Further efforts should be made to educate health consumers on the utility and limitations of reference ranges. When providing results to health consumers, laboratories should consider including other means of contextualizing test results in order to support their understanding of potential clinical significance.

Without a gold standard for mobile app usability testing, this paper outlines a case study of how a not-for-profit organization tested the usability of a public-facing mobile app designed to promote the health and wellbeing of workers in Canada by offering accessible resources conveniently through one's mobile phone. Although the app was developed by a third-party vendor, usability testing and refinement was left to the organization due to budgetary and time constraints. The app underwent three rounds of iterative usability testing. The first phase consisted of observing participants using the app followed by an interview. The second and third phases involved participants following task-based instructions and answering survey questions. All phases uncovered issues which helped to improve and refine the usability of the app before the launch to the public. This work offers a case study example of how low-cost in-house usability testing could be employed.

With increasing use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in health, and rapid technological changes, there is a pressing need to prepare current and future health professionals to use ICTs as an integral part of their practice. We propose the Technological Literacy Framework, which includes 3 interlinked elements-knowledge, capabilities, and critical thinking and decision making-as an overarching structure for organizing and designing competencies, learning objectives, and educational interventions for health professions education in the digital era. We provide examples of EHR and telehealth educational interventions and how they map to the framework.

Application of usability evaluations throughout the health technology lifecycle is necessary to improve the efficiency, safety, and effectiveness of health service delivery. Unfortunately, technology vendors and healthcare organizations may not have funding, time or expertise to conduct usability studies. In this paper, we describe how usability checklists can potentially fill this gap. First, we introduce a case study using a checklist to identify usability issues with a primary care dashboard. Then we provide an expert summary of the strengths and limitations of usability checklists. Findings suggest that checklists are efficient to identify important usability issues. They can be used effectively by project team members - including clinicians - without formal usability training. However, checklists should complement rather than replace usability evaluations with representative users.

With the rapid adoption of telemedicine since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become imperative to teach and evaluate health professional trainees on skills important to conducting effective virtual visits. We developed a simulation-based workshop with (1) readings, (2) a lecture covering online communication and the virtual head and neck exam, (3) a telemedicine simulation with a standardized patient observed by faculty, (4) personalized feedback from faculty, and (5) a group debrief session. We created an evaluation rubric based on three of 20 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) telemedicine competencies to assess learner performance during the simulations. Students (medical and physician assistant students; n = 50), and internal medicine residents (n = 20) completed this workshop in 2023. At least 90% of trainees across the two groups were rated as approaching entrustment or entrustable in each competency. This workshop is an example of a scalable telemedicine curriculum that can be used to teach and evaluate learners in the virtual physical exam across the training continuum.

Background: The ecological validity associated with usability testing of health information technologies (HITs) can affect test results and the predictability of real-world performance. It is, therefore, necessary to identify conditions with the greatest effect on validity., Method: We conducted a comparative analysis of two usability testing conditions. We tested a HIT designed for anesthesiologists to detect pain signals and compared two fidelity levels of ecological validity. We measured the difference in the number and type of use errors identified between high and low-fidelity experimental conditions., Results: We identified the same error types in both test conditions, although the number of errors varied as a function of the condition. The difference in total error counts was relatively modest and not consistent across levels of severity., Conclusions: Increasing ecological validity does not invariably increase the ability to detect use errors. Our findings suggest that low-fidelity tests are an efficient way to identify and mitigate usability issues affecting ease of use, effectiveness, and safety. We believe early low-fidelity testing is an efficient but underused way to maximize the value of usability testing.

Competencies are the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to operate and perform successfully in the workplace. Due to the evolving nature of health informatics, it is important continuously examine and refine competencies in this field. In this study, we administered a questionnaire to Canadian employers (N = 29) of health informatics cooperative education (co-op) students to garner their feedback on competencies within a New Health Informatics Professional Competencies Framework. Overall, the findings supported this new framework. An average of ratings within each of the four competency categories revealed that participants perceived Management Science to be the most important, followed by Information & Computer Science, then Health Science and finally Data Science. Further, at least 20 (69 %) respondents rated nine of the 12 competencies as important. Of the 12 competencies, Biological and Clinical Science was rated the lowest. Findings from this study can potentially be used to inform curricula, career progression, and hiring practices in health informatics. Future work includes refining the questionnaire to assess the competencies more comprehensively and potentially exploring the importance of more transferable skills or general competencies (e.g., communication, problem-solving). Additionally, we want to survey a broader sample of health informatics professionals and integrate recent national and international work on health informatics competencies. Future work is also recommended towards the development of a maturity model for competencies of more experienced health informatics professionals., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

People are increasingly offered access to their personal health information (e.g., laboratory results, clinical notes, diagnostic imaging results). However, this information is the same as that used by health care providers with clinical expertise and training in medical terminology, which citizens typically do not have. In this study, we examined participants (N = 24) preferences for four different types of displays for online laboratory (lab) results: Tabular, Annotated, Visual, and Trends + Contextual Information. The Friedman test of difference comparing participants' ratings of the four displays was significant, χ2(3)=10.8, P=.013, and the Wilcoxon signed rank pairwise comparison tests revealed that participants rated the visual lab results display significantly more favourably than the traditional display (Z=-2.746, P=.006). These findings indicate that many people prefer lab results displayed using more visual cues and some perceived this format as easier to understand than the other display formats. Given the importance of people accessing, understanding, and using their own health information, it is crucial for displays and systems to provide a better user experience. Displaying data (e.g., lab results) visually is one possible way to improve interpretability of personal health information provided to the public.

The desire to access personal and high-quality health information electronically is increasing, not only in Canada, but globally. With the advent of the COVID - 19 pandemic the desire and demand for telemedicine and timely access to personal health data such as online laboratory (lab) results has increased substantially. This study examines citizens' perspectives of being provided with high-quality information about a specific lab test (i.e., potassium) in the same display as a trend graph. Therefore, the objective of this study is to test how participants managed this additional information about the context of the test, understood, and applied it. The researchers analyzed the responses of semi-structured interviews with Canadian participants (N=24) using conventional content analysis. This paper examined four themes related to providing complementary information concurrently with lab results in the same display: 1) Benefits of Collocated Information, 2) Information Overload, 3) Misinterpretation, 4) Confusion. This study provided examples of some of the difficulties that the participants faced accessing their lab values online, while navigating and discerning complimentary high-quality health information available in their patient portal.

Given the importance of telemedicine in improving healthcare access for underserved patients, professional students need experience using virtual clinical workflows. We developed an educational workshop with (1) readings, (2) a knowledge assessment test, (3) dermatology and teledermatology lectures, (5) a telemedicine simulation with a standardized patient, and (6) a debriefing session. The simulation included a "hybrid" workflow with live videoconferencing and store-and-forward image review. We measured student performance using three American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Telemedicine Competencies for medical education. Ninety-eight medical and physician assistant students completed this workshop between 2021 and 2022, and 80% were entrustable or approaching entrustment in each competency. Some students struggled with data collection and technology use. Our results suggest that this workshop offers a practical and generalizable way to teach about multiple virtual workflows and strengthen students' telemedicine competencies.

Citizens' access to their online health information is pivotal. Therefore, this study examines citizens' access to their online health information across countries and healthcare settings. The study is based on a survey design targeting the 98 IMIA representatives of the national societies. Results indicate that Test results and Medications are the two types of online information that citizens in most cases have access to. Ten countries provide citizens access to all the different types of information included in the study. That relatively few countries provide citizens access to all the included types of online health information underscores the importance of continuous emphasis on accessibility and research within this field.

While medication reconciliation is necessary to reduce errors, it is often challenging to gather an accurate history in the clinic. Telemedicine offers a relative advantage over clinic and hospital-based interviews by enabling the clinician to inspect the home environment, review pill bottles, and identify social determinants affecting adherence, such as financial instability. To be effective, however, clinicians must be trained in best-practice interview methods and the proper use of telemedicine. There is very little information in the literature describing the best strategies for teaching students or measuring competencies in telemedicine. Therefore, we created an educational module with a telemedicine simulation and an evaluation rubric. We piloted this module with 48 medical and physician assistant students. Most students could complete a virtual interview and gather a medication history. However, only half identified an over-the-counter medication missing from the list. Most students were either entrustable or approaching entrustment in the six telemedicine competencies measured in this simulation. This simulation is valuable for teaching students about medication reconciliation, using telemedicine to close gaps in access to care, and identifying health-related social needs affecting medication adherence.

In 2021, the Association of American Medical Colleges published Telehealth Competencies Across the Learning Continuum, a roadmap for designing telemedicine curricula and evaluating learners. While this document advances educators' shared understanding of telemedicine's core content and performance expectations, it does not include turn-key-ready evaluation instruments. At the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, we developed a year-long telemedicine curriculum for third-year medical and second-year physician assistant students. We used the AAMC framework to create program objectives and instructional simulations. We designed and piloted an assessment rubric for eight AAMC competencies to accompany the simulations. In this monograph, we describe the rubric development, scores for students participating in simulations, and results comparing inter-rater reliability between faculty and standardized patient evaluators. Our preliminary work suggests that our rubric provides a practical method for evaluating learners by faculty during telemedicine simulations. We also identified opportunities for additional reliability and validity testing., (©2023 AMIA - All rights reserved.)

Awareness of the factors surrounding the transfer of DNA from a person, item, or surface to another person, item, or surface is highly relevant during investigations of alleged criminal activity. Animals in domestic environments could be a victim, offender, or innocent party associated with a crime. There is, however, very limited knowledge of human DNA transfer, persistence, prevalence, and recovery (DNA TPPR) associated with domestic animals. This pilot study aimed to improve our understanding of DNA TPPR associated with domestic dogs by collecting and analysing samples from various external areas of dogs of various breeds, interactions with humans, and living arrangements, and conducting a series of tests to investigate the possibility of dogs being vectors for the indirect transfer of human DNA. Reference DNA profiles from the dog owners and others living in the same residence were acquired to assist interpretation of the findings. The findings show that human DNA is prevalent on dogs, and in the majority of samples, two-person mixtures are present. Dogs were also found to be vectors for the transfer of human DNA, with DNA transferred from the dog to a gloved hand during patting and a sheet while walking.

While there is a global desire to increase digital health capacity, digital health should transform health services delivery rather than simply automate - or worse - replicate existing practices. Failing to capitalize on this transformative potential misses an opportunity to engage patients and other users to provide a more person-centered experience. However, digital transformation done recklessly can disrupt workflow, alienate users, and jeopardize patient safety, as we have observed with implementation of many digital health tools. This paper uses a telemedicine example to provide insight into how digital health innovation can be a meaningful enabler of health system transformation. Examining different ways to leverage digital health technologies is crucial to best capitalize on their potential.

Cross-disciplinary approaches to remediate complex healthcare service delivery issues may have merit. This study aims to establish the potential benefits of applying service design and evaluative research concepts in healthcare. Specifically, this study aims to demonstrate how a Customer Journey Map and a Logic Model could be used in unison to identify and remedy service delivery gaps to reduce barriers to care. This study provides systems thinking approach to solving operational issues in healthcare.

The pandemic has had devastating impacts on humanity and the global healthcare sector. An analysis into the social determinants of health, in particular racial and ethnic disparities may explain why certain population groups have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The objective of this study is to humanize and personify numerical data. Additionally, COVID-19 population data will be stratified via three data visualization tools (i.e., a persona, a journey map, Sankey diagram) to create a Visualized Combined Experience (VCE) Diagram to illustrate the micro, and macro, perspectives of marginalized individuals across the continuum of care.

Technology failures in telehealth are common, and clinicians need the skills to diagnose and manage them at the point of care. However, there are issues beyond technology failures mediating the effective use of telehealth. We must teach best-practice procedures for conducting telemedicine visits and include in instructional simulations commonly encountered failure modes so students can build their skills. To this end, we recruited medical students to conduct a Healthcare Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (HFMEA) to predict failures in telemedicine, their potential causes, and the consequences to develop and teach prevention strategies. Sixteen students observed telehealth appointments independently. Based on their observations, we identified four categories of failures in telemedicine: technical issues, patient safety, communication, and social and structural determinants. We proposed a normalized workflow that included management and prevention strategies. Our findings can inform the creation of new curricula.

Perceptions of errors associated with healthcare information technology (HIT) often depend on the context and position of the viewer. HIT vendors posit very different causes of errors than clinicians, implementation teams, or IT staff. Even within the same hospital, members of departments and services often implicate other departments. Organizations may attribute errors to external care partners that refer patients, such as nursing homes or outside clinics. Also, the various clinical roles within an organization (e.g., physicians, nurses, pharmacists) can conceptualize errors and their root causes differently. Overarching all these perceptual factors, the definitions, mechanisms, and incidence of HIT-related errors are remarkably conflictual. There is neither a universal standard for defining or counting these errors. This paper attempts to enumerate and clarify the issues related to differential perceptions of medical errors associated with HIT. It then suggests solutions.

Background: Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the number of health care consumers (ie, patients, citizens, and laypeople) with access to their laboratory results through portals. However, many portals are not designed with the consumer in mind, which can limit communication effectiveness and consumer empowerment., Objective: We aimed to study design facilitators and barriers affecting consumer use of a laboratory results portal. We sought to identify modifiable design attributes to inform future interface specifications and improve patient safety., Methods: A web-based questionnaire with open- and closed-ended items was distributed to consumers in British Columbia, Canada. Open-ended items with affinity diagramming and closed-ended questions with descriptive statistics were analyzed., Results: Participants (N=30) preferred reviewing their laboratory results through portals rather than waiting to see their provider. However, respondents were critical of the interface design (ie, interface usability, information completeness, and display clarity). Scores suggest there are display issues impacting communication that require urgent attention., Conclusions: There are modifiable usability, content, and display issues associated with laboratory results portals that, if addressed, could arguably improve communication effectiveness, patient empowerment, and health care safety., (©Helen Monkman, Janessa Griffith, Leah MacDonald, Blake Lesselroth. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (https://humanfactors.jmir.org), 12.06.2023.)

Educators must provide controlled scenarios for health professional students to develop patient safety competencies related to telemedicine, including when and how to escalate care. We developed a telepsychiatry workshop to give students experience with a high-stakes mental health condition. The workshop included (1) pre-session readings; (2) didactics on mood disorders and telepsychiatry; (3) a motivational interviewing exercise; (4) a simulated telemedicine encounter; and (5) a faculty-led group debrief. We evaluated teaching effectiveness using a competency assessment with three scales: (1) medical knowledge; (2) interpersonal and communication skills; and (3) telemedicine competencies. Between 0 and 59% of students were entrustable for each telemedicine competency. Our workshop demonstrates how to teach students about the safe use of telehealth technology and provides practice triaging mental health conditions commonly encountered in primary care and mental health telemedicine clinics., (©2022 AMIA - All rights reserved.)

Background: Journey maps are visualization tools that can facilitate the diagrammatical representation of stakeholder groups by interest or function for comparative visual analysis. Therefore, journey maps can illustrate intersections and relationships between organizations and consumers using products or services. We propose that some synergies may exist between journey maps and the concept of a learning health system (LHS). The overarching goal of an LHS is to use health care data to inform clinical practice and improve service delivery processes and patient outcomes., Objective: The purpose of this review was to assess the literature and establish a relationship between journey mapping techniques and LHSs. Specifically, in this study, we explored the current state of the literature to answer the following research questions: (1) Is there a relationship between journey mapping techniques and an LHS in the literature? (2) Is there a way to integrate the data from journey mapping activities into an LHS? (3) How can the data gleaned from journey map activities be used to inform an LHS?, Methods: A scoping review was conducted by querying the following electronic databases: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Ovid), IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost), APA PsycInfo (EBSCOhost), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), and MEDLINE (EBSCOhost). Two researchers applied the inclusion criteria and assessed all articles by title and abstract in the first screen, using Covidence. Following this, a full-text review of included articles was done, with relevant data extracted, tabulated, and assessed thematically., Results: The initial search yielded 694 studies. Of those, 179 duplicates were removed. Following this, 515 articles were assessed during the first screening phase, and 412 were excluded, as they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Next, 103 articles were read in full, and 95 were excluded, resulting in a final sample of 8 articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria. The article sample can be subsumed into 2 overarching themes: (1) the need to evolve service delivery models in health care, and (2) the potential value of using patient journey data in an LHS., Conclusions: This scoping review demonstrated the gap in knowledge regarding integrating the data from journey mapping activities into an LHS. Our findings highlighted the importance of using the data from patient experiences to enrich an LHS and provide holistic care. To satisfy this gap, the authors intend to continue this investigation to establish the relationship between journey mapping and the concept of LHSs. This scoping review will serve as phase 1 of an investigative series. Phase 2 will entail the creation of a holistic framework to guide and streamline data integration from journey mapping activities into an LHS. Lastly, phase 3 will provide a proof of concept to demonstrate how patient journey mapping activities could be integrated into an LHS., (©Amanda L Joseph, Helen Monkman, Andre Kushniruk, Yuri Quintana. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (https://humanfactors.jmir.org), 27.02.2023.)

Introduction: The discipline of health informatics emerged to address the need for uniquely skilled professionals to design, develop, implement, and evaluate health information technology. Core competencies are an essential pre-requisite for establishing a professional discipline such as health informatics. In 2012, Digital Health Canada released a framework (DHC Framework) for Canadian health informatics competencies. Multiple perspectives on health informatics competencies have evolved to reflect global and unique country contexts. In this paper, we will describe a two-phase study in which we ultimately developed a new framework for health informatics competencies., Methods: In Phase 1, we conducted a scoping review of to identify health informatics competencies from research articles and grey literature from professional associations. Of 1038 articles identified in the search, ultimately 38 met our inclusion criteria and were subject to in-depth analysis. We summarized our findings from this phase into a preliminary framework of health informatics competencies and then in Phase 2, we shared these findings with subject matter experts (SMEs; N = 5) to garner their feedback. The SMEs were all instructors in health informatics in Canada and held various roles (director, professor, advisor, and co-operative education coordinator). We used their insights into the current and forecasted Canadian health informatics landscape to iteratively develop a new framework until we achieved consensus amongst the subject matter experts., Results: In Phase 1, all competencies of the DHC Framework were supported by the literature. However, we also identified two emergent competencies: Human Factors and Data Science. In Phase 2, consultations with SMEs guided the introduction of one new competency category and seven new competencies. One competency was renamed and two were removed from the DHC Framework. Additionally, we added new terms that encompass the framework and labelled the core of the framework Health Informatics Professionalism., Discussion: We found that the DHC Framework did not capture all necessary competencies required by health informatics professionals. Based on the literature and consultations with SMEs, we extended the DHC Framework to better reflect the current Canadian context and propose a new Health Informatics Core Competencies Framework. The new framework can be used to inform Canadian health informatics programs to ensure graduates are equipped for careers in health informatics. Future work includes validating the new framework with Canadian health informatics employers to assess whether this new framework adequately reflects their needs, and more detail may be required to define specific skills necessary in each competency., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Involving representative users in usability testing of health information technology (HIT) is central to user-centered design. However, (vulnerable) older adults as representative users have unique requirements. Aging processes may affect physical capabilities and cognitive skills, which can hamper testing with this demographic and may require special attention and revised protocols. This study was performed to provide expert-based recommendations for HIT user-testing with (vulnerable) older adults to support inclusive HIT design and evaluation., Methods: First, we conducted a structured workshop with ten experts in HIT implementation and research, recruited through purposeful sampling, to generate insights into how characteristics of older adults may influence user-testing. Next, five Human Factor researchers experienced in HIT user-testing with (vulnerable) older adults validated the results and provided additional textual insights to gain consensus on the most important recommendations. A thematic analysis was performed on the resulting inquiries. Applied codes were based on the User-Centered Design framework., Results: The analysis resulted in nine recommendations for user-testing of HIT with older adults, divided into three main themes: (1) empathetic approach and trust-building, (2) new requirements for testing and study design, and (3) adjustments to usability evaluation methods. For each theme a checklist of relevant items to follow-up on the recommendation is provided., Conclusions: The recommendations generated through expert inquiry contribute to more effective usability testing of HIT with older adults. This provides an important step towards improved accessibility of HIT amongst older adults through inclusive user-centered design., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (IMIA and Thieme. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

On March 11, 2020, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the highly infectious virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was characterized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic [1,2]. Due to its highly contagious nature, COVID-19 has catalyzed the introduction of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing and quarantine measures [6]. Thus, the pandemic has shifted society to become reliant on healthcare technologies. The objective of this scoping review is to establish what health informatics interventions have been applied, validated and tested globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings demonstrated a range of 12 types of health informatics interventions with various global applications and use. As evidenced by the intervention heterogeneity, the necessity to adopt a global cohesive strategy to improve human safety through the utilization of smart, efficient, and communicable technologies is vital.

The journey map concept evolved out of the service design field and is still relatively new in the healthcare landscape [1]. Journey maps are visualizations that effectively highlight organizational issues and allow stakeholder groups to be depicted by interest or function for a comparative visual analysis [2]. There are five journey map approaches: 1) Mental (Cognitive) Model Map, 2) Customer Journey Map, 3) Experience Map, 4) Service Blueprint Map, 5) Spatial Map. The objective of this article is three-fold: 1) quantify and delineate the journey mapping visualization techniques utilized from the phase 1 scoping review [2], 2) create a Journey Map Evaluation Guide, 3) create a Journey Map Decision Support Tool to facilitate a standardized method for journey map selection. For those less familiar with journey mapping, this framework can serve as a decision-making tool to facilitate the most effective choice among the different journey mapping visualization approaches. The tools presented in this study can provide a mechanism to standardize the assessment, classification and utilization of journey maps in the healthcare sector and industries abound.

Visualizations form an important part of public health informatics (PHI) communications. Visualizing data facilitates discussion, aids understanding, makes patterns apparent, promotes analysis, and fosters recall. How rare are novel visualizations in the PHI literature? In Phase 1, we used a rapid review methodology to test the commonness of the Sankey diagram in the PHI theory literature via an automated text search for key terms. In Phase 2, we prototype an uncommon chart type. A total of 27 relvant papers were searched and a computer-generated Sankey diagram was prototyped. PHI professionals have access to visualization tools emerging from social media and niche systems. PHI literature underutilizes uncommon visualizations requiring programming expertise. The authors advocate for: multi-disciplinary teamwork, technical education, the use of open visualization tools, and further adoption of visualization for public health professionals.

The 21st century has brought forth unprecedented technological advances, such as the advent of portable digital devices [1]. This trend has also permeated the health care sector, with the introduction of digital health services, like providing citizens with access to their online laboratory (lab) results. This qualitative study will illustrate the patient journey, namely participant 16 (P16), to address the research question: what phases does a person go through when accessing their lab results online? The findings revealed that lab results were accessed from two types of devices a tablet (e.g., portable computer) when at home and a mobile phone when away from home. We also found that interpretation of results can be a challenge and it was unclear if P16 was able to understand her lab results. To illustrate the complexity of interpreting and accessing online lab results, the authors created a Customer Journey Map to contextualize the experiences of P16. The journey map depicts a combination of factors such as: eHealth literacy, limited access to providers, difficulty interpreting lab test results. Additionally, recommendations for online lab portal functionality enhancements were discovered through the mapping exercise. This study demonstrated that along with providing citizens with access to digital health technologies and services, considerations to eHealth literacy, the digital divide and health equity are paramount. As evidenced by the visualization, journey maps hold promise to serve as efficient tools to build empathy and identify the unique needs and perspectives of citizens.

Usability problems in the interaction between patients and telemedicine platforms has been recognized as a deterrent in the public's acceptance and use of this alternative healthcare delivery method. Therefore, evaluating the usability of telemedicine provider websites, with a focus on potential patients' first interaction with telemedicine, is a critical research inquiry. To this end, a novel survey was developed to conduct an unmoderated remote usability test (URUT) of the Teladoc website. Teladoc is one of the largest providers of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) telemedicine. The Teladoc Website Usability Survey (TWUS) instrument collected both objective task completion success metrics and subjective user feedback. A codebook was developed to categorize design features and user interface aspects that affected usability. The TWUS and codebook demonstrated value in identifying usability problems with the Teladoc interface and can be applied in other telemedicine or Health Information Technology (HIT) usability studies. Identifying and addressing usability issues is an important approach to increase the widespread acceptance and adoption of these healthcare delivery technologies.

People are increasingly accessing their own laboratory (lab) results online. However, Canadians may be expected to use different systems to access their results, depending upon where they are tested (e.g., community lab vs. hospital), and these results may be displayed differently. This study examined the extent to which participants without medical expertise (N = 25) made errors identifying lab results (i.e., missing or mis-identifying abnormal results) in a mock report. Six participants overlooked each of the flagged values, 20 participants missed an abnormal result that was not flagged, and 2 participants mis-identified a normal value as out of range. We describe potential causes of these errors and the implications for the design of consumer-facing lab results.

Personal Health Records (PHRs) are poised to improve patient safety, however the mechanism(s) in which they improve safety is not clear. To this end, we conducted a scoping review with the following objectives: 1) explore the extent of the evidence that PHRs improve patient safety, 2) determine where PHR research has been done per International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Represented Region [1], 3) to identify the PHR naming convention(s) used per IMIA Region [1]. The findings revealed that there is limited evidence that PHRs improve patient safety. The results also revealed heterogeneity in PHR nomenclature and how they were used in healthcare settings. However, the overarching theme of the study, was that future research is needed to ensure that PHRs are designed and used in a patient safety context with human factors and usability considerations.

Laboratory (lab) test results are increasingly available online for patient review. However, there is a dearth of research with respect to users' information needs, goals, and information processing strategies. In this exploratory qualitative study, we interviewed a sample of (N = 25) online lab results users to understand their objectives and search targets. We transcribed their responses and used affinity diagramming to identify themes in their responses. Our analysis identified six reasons why people look at their online lab results (i.e., health status, reassurance, health education, speed, self-management, and patient safety) and two themes about what people look for (i.e., abnormal and normal values, trends). Knowing what drives users and what information they are looking for can inform the design of online lab reporting, improve usefulness, and better satisfy user needs.

We developed a teledermatology simulation to give medical and physician assistant students practice with live videoconferencing and store-and-forward workflows. The simulation included (1) pre-session reading; (2) a brief teledermatology didactic; (3) a simulated encounter with a standardized patient; and (4) faculty-led debriefs. The faculty observed students during the simulation and distributed a post-session learner satisfaction survey. Although students had mixed feelings about the simulation, 88% said the workshop met or exceeded expectations.

Simulations offer a safe environment for health professional training and the opportunity to predictably and consistently introduce events or variables that may be rare or dangerous in a live setting. Exposing trainees to unanticipated events during simulations can improve their ability to adapt and improvise. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth worldwide and highlighted the need for better training in health professional schools. In the United States, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) published new telehealth competency standards in 2021. The AAMC stated that health care providers should be aware of the risks of technology failures, capable of troubleshooting them, and lead systems interventions to improve safety. However, the AAMC does not provide guidance on the specific failures or solutions. In this study, we developed a set of technology failures that can be simulated in a telehealth curriculum. We incorporated one technology failure into a simulated telehealth encounter and gathered students' (N = 53) feedback on the exercise. Students' feedback was overwhelmingly positive. They agreed that integrating technology failures into telehealth simulations provides important practice managing these events during clinical encounters. While telehealth is an important healthcare delivery modality that can improve access-to-care, it is imperative to train medical students to navigate technology failures so that can adeptly manage these issues in clinical practice.

Diabetes Prevention Programs (DPPs) can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, the participation rates in DPPs have been limited. Many individuals at risk of developing diabetes have difficulties making healthy choices because of the cognitive effort required to understand the risks, the role of biomarkers, the consequences of inaction and the actions required to delay or avoid development of T2D. We report on the design and development of a prototype digital tool that decreases cognitive effort for people at risk of developing T2D using the effort-optimized intervention framework.

Many organizations created COVID-19 dashboards to communicate epidemiologic statistics or community health capabilities with the public. In this paper we used dashboard heuristics to identify common violations observed in COVID-19 dashboards targeted to citizens. Many of the faults we identified likely stem from failing to include users in the design of these dashboards. We urge health information dashboard designers to implement design principles and test dashboards with representative users to ensure that their tools are satisfying user needs.

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, clinicians, public officials, and citizens alike struggled to stay abreast of the constant and evolving stream of information about the clinical manifestations of illness, epidemiology of the disease, and the public health response. In this paper, we adapted (i.e., added and modified elements) Beasley and colleagues' information chaos framework to understand the context of citizens' experiences with information during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will show how our adapted framework can be used to characterize information associated challenges observed during this time and the possible impact of information chaos on peoples' cognition and behaviours. Ultimately, we believe that research will benefit by adopting a more holistic perspective using the information chaos framework than strictly studying the independent factors in isolation.

The medical literature shows that social determinants of health have a significant impact upon health outcomes. However, health professionals often lack the skills to address these determinants at the systems-level. Therefore, we developed a Design Thinking workshop to teach about health-related social needs and to practice designing person-centered solutions. We piloted the workshop with 53 medical and physician assistant students; 69.8% responded to the post-workshop questionnaire. Nearly 80% of students agreed the workshop helped them understand the effect of context on clinical outcomes and demonstrated how to design patient-centered solutions. However, only 50% of respondents anticipated using the Design Thinking methods in their future practice. We need to identify more effective ways to demonstrate the practical application of Design Thinking to clinical work settings.

The usability of telemedicine provider websites is an essential component of increasing the public's awareness of, understanding of, and safe and effective use of telemedicine. A newly developed usability data collection tool was used to conduct a usability assessment of the Teladoc website pre- and post- a redesign. The results suggest that the Teladoc website had better usability prior to the redesign. The Teladoc Website Usability Survey (TWUS) developed for the Teladoc website usability assessment can be modified and used in future usability studies of telemedicine provider interfaces. Usability research that takes place in specific context of use settings is more valuable to identify usability problems.

Handoffs in patient care responsibilities between practitioners are common in the hospital setting. Because inadequate communication can lead to patient harm, professional organizations have published recommendations and practical guides to support standardized workflow. However, currently available electronic medical record (EMR) tools rarely provide the requisite functionality to support work and often suffer from major usability flaws. Our internal medicine residency program sponsored a quality improvement initiative to improve the design of handoff tools. To support this initiative, our medical informatics program collaborated with a school of architecture and design to identify requirements and ideate interface prototypes. In this article, we describe how we used Design Thinking principles and methods to inform our product design lifecycle, create novel designs, and teach inter-professional students health systems science concepts.

People are increasingly able to access their laboratory (lab) results using patient-facing portals. However, lab reports for citizens are often identical to those for clinicians; without specialized training they can be near impossible to interpret. In this study, we inspected a mobile health application (app) that converts traditional lab results into a citizen-centred format. We used the Health Literacy Online (HLO) checklist to inspect the app. Our inspection revealed that most of the app's strengths were related to its Organization of Content and Simple Navigation and most of its weaknesses were related to Engage Users. We also identified several usability and user experience (UX) issues that were beyond the purview of the HLO checklist. Although this app represents an important step towards making lab results universally accessible, we identified several opportunities for improvements that could increase its value to citizens.

Adhering to user experience (UX) and eHealth literacy principles when developing consumer health information systems (HISs) can not only improve a user's experience but can also have implications on patient safety. Methods exist to explore these dimensions independently, but few methods are available for evaluating consumer (i.e., citizen) health information systems for their adherence to usability and eHealth literacy design principles simultaneously. In this paper, we compared two inspection (i.e., expert review) tools and identified the strengths and weaknesses of each. The findings from this comparison can assist researchers, consumer health information system developers, and evaluators choosing between the two alternatives. Moreover, our comparison revealed the shortcomings in both tools and the need for a novel, purpose-built tool that is more comprehensive than either of the existing tools that assess UX and eHealth literacy and more adequately address design guidelines for the mobile environment.

Background: With the approval of two COVID-19 vaccines in Canada, many people feel a sense of relief, as hope is on the horizon. However, only about 75% of people in Canada plan to receive one of the vaccines., Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the reasons why people in Canada feel hesitant toward receiving a COVID-19 vaccine., Methods: We screened 3915 tweets from public Twitter profiles in Canada by using the search words "vaccine" and "COVID." The tweets that met the inclusion criteria (ie, those about COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy) were coded via content analysis. Codes were then organized into themes and interpreted by using the Theoretical Domains Framework., Results: Overall, 605 tweets were identified as those about COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy stemmed from the following themes: concerns over safety, suspicion about political or economic forces driving the COVID-19 pandemic or vaccine development, a lack of knowledge about the vaccine, antivaccine or confusing messages from authority figures, and a lack of legal liability from vaccine companies. This study also examined mistrust toward the medical industry not due to hesitancy, but due to the legacy of communities marginalized by health care institutions. These themes were categorized into the following five Theoretical Domains Framework constructs: knowledge, beliefs about consequences, environmental context and resources, social influence, and emotion., Conclusions: With the World Health Organization stating that one of the worst threats to global health is vaccine hesitancy, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the reasons behind this reluctance. By using a behavioral science framework, this study adds to the emerging knowledge about vaccine hesitancy in relation to COVID-19 vaccines by analyzing public discourse in tweets in real time. Health care leaders and clinicians may use this knowledge to develop public health interventions that are responsive to the concerns of people who are hesitant to receive vaccines., (©Janessa Griffith, Husayn Marani, Helen Monkman. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 13.04.2021.)