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Self-administered computer-assisted interviewing (SACAI) gathers accurate information from patients and could facilitate Emergency Department (ED) diagnosis. As part of an ongoing research effort whose long-range goal is to develop automated medical interviewing for diagnostic decision support, we explored usability attributes of SACAI in the ED.

Poor usability is a threat to patient safety and linked to productivity loss, workflow disruption, user frustration, sub-optimal product use and system de-installations. Although usability is receiving more attention nationally and internationally, myths about usability persist. This editorial debunks five common myths about usability (1) usability only concerns the look and feel of a product and is, therefore, only a minor concern, (2) usability is not measurable, (3) usability stifles [...]

Efforts to promote adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) have focused on primary care physicians, who are now expected to exchange data electronically with other providers, including specialists. However, the variation of EHR adoption among specialists is underexplored.

Medical students are often afforded the privilege of counselling patients. In the past resources were limited to pen and paper or anatomic models. The evolution of mobile applications allows for limitless access to resources that facilitate bedside patient education.

The prominence given to universal implementation of electronic health record (EHR) systems in U.S. health care reform, underscores the importance of devising reliable measures of factors that predict medical care providers' use of EHRs. This paper presents an easily administered provider survey instrument that includes measures corresponding to core dimensions of DeLone and McClean's (D & M) model of information system success.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Readmissions Reduction Program adjusts payments to hospitals based on 30-day readmission rates for patients with acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia. This holds hospitals accountable for a complex phenomenon about which there is little evidence regarding effective interventions. Further study may benefit from a method for efficiently and inexpensively identifying patients at risk of readmission. Several models have been developed to assess [...]

Mobile health (mHealth) is a growing field aimed at developing mobile information and communication technologies for healthcare. Adolescents are known for their ubiquitous use of mobile technologies in everyday life. However, the use of mHealth tools among adolescents is not well described.

In 2013, electronic documentation of clinical care stands at a crossroads. The benefits of creating digital notes are at risk of being overwhelmed by the inclusion of easily importable detail. Providers are the primary authors of encounters with patients. We must document clearly our understanding of patients and our communication with them and our colleagues. We want to document efficiently to meet without exceeding documentation guidelines. We copy and paste [...]

Among the expected benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) is increased reporting of public health information, such as immunization status. State and local immunization registries aid control of vaccine-preventable diseases and help offset fragmentation in healthcare, but reporting is often slow and incomplete. The Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), an initiative of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, has implemented EHRs with immunization reporting capability in community settings.

Healthcare Electronic Syndromic Surveillance (ESS) is the systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of ongoing clinical data with subsequent dissemination of results, which aid clinical decision-making.