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US EPA's IRIS pilot program: establishing IRIS as a centralized, peer-reviewed data base with agency consensus. Integrated Risk Information System.

The US EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) contains Agency consensus scientific positions and quantitative values on cancer and noncancer health effects that may result from lifetime oral or inhalation exposure to specific chemical substances in the environment. Combined with specific exposure assessment information, the summary health information in IRIS may be used as a source in evaluating potential public health risks from environmental contaminants. IRIS is available to the public via EPA's Internet server at http://www.epa.gov/iris. Originally developed for internal EPA use, IRIS usage has broadened since being made publicly available in 1988 to include the private and public sectors nationally and internationally. Up to 1995, IRIS summaries were generated from within various EPA Offices and Regions and reviewed by Agency Workgroups, one for cancer and one for noncancer endpoints, before entry onto IRIS. In response to the increasing usage and recognition of IRIS and suggestions for improvement, an IRIS Pilot program was initiated in 1995. The purpose of the Pilot was 3-fold: To improve efficiency in getting information on to IRIS; to improve documentation for the positions reported in IRIS summaries, including applying new methodologies and guidance; and to improve opportunity for public input including external peer review. A new infrastructure was put in place, consisting of a cross-Agency team of 'Chemical Managers', a Pilot Program Manager, and a set of Agency 'Consensus Reviewers'. Cancer and noncancer assessments were prepared in an integrated fashion for Pilot chemical substances, documented in 'Toxicological Reviews' and derivative IRIS summaries. Public input was emphasized via an initial data call and rigorous external peer review. A final step was Agency-wide consensus review by senior staff scientists representing EPA's Offices and Regions. EPA's experience with the Pilot is forming the basis for designing operational aspects of the long-term IRIS program.

Benchmarking↗

An integrated perinatal information system and telecommunications networking.

The integrated perinatal information system in Albany Medical Center has two significant features: that of a flexible user-definable database and ease of networking both locally and regionally. The unified perinatal record is structured in Ansi standard MUMPS and resides on the College Vax 750. A special set of program tools ensures effective multi-split screen display, moving pointers, and corresponding multiple choice entries. Because it is self contained, it has the ability to create complex data structures without programming. A powerful math/statistical library has been incorporated. In house, the use of existing PABX wire allows for simultaneous voice/data traffic. Linkage to the regional system is made by modem connection. The system is compatible with the demands of both clinical and regional management.

Computers↗

Discrimination of complex patterns: orientation information is integrated across spatial scale; spatial-frequency and contrast information are not.

Real-world objects are complex, containing information at multiple orientations and spatial scales. It is well established that at initial cortical stages of processing, local information about an image is separately represented at multiple spatial scales. However, it is not yet established how these early representations are later integrated across scale to signal useful information about complex stimulus features, such as edges and textures. In the studies reported here, we investigate the scale-integration processes involved in distinguishing among complex patterns. We use a concurrent-response paradigm in which observers simultaneously judge two components of compound gratings that differ widely in spatial frequency. In different experiments, each component takes one of two slightly different values along the dimensions of spatial frequency, contrast, or orientation. Using analyses developed within the framework of a multivariate extension of signal-detection theory, we ask how information about the frequency, contrast, or orientation of the components is or is not integrated across the two grating components. Our techniques permit us to isolate and identify interactions due to excitatory or inhibitory processes from effects due to noise, and to separately assess any attentional limitations that might occur in processing. Results indicate that orientation information is fully integrated across spatial scales within a limited orientation band and that decisions are based entirely on the summed information. Information about spatial frequency and contrast is not summed over spatial scale; cross-scale results show sensory independence. However, our results suggest that observers cannot simultaneously use information about frequency or contrast when it is presented at different spatial scales. Our results provide direct evidence for the existence of a higher-level summing circuit tailored to signal information about orientation. The properties of this mechanism differ substantially from edge-detector mechanisms proposed by Marr and others.

Female↗

Demystifying the hospital information system/radiology information system integration process.

Most organizations planning to implement picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) are aware of the need to integrate the hospital information system (HIS) and radiology information system (RIS) with the PACS, yet few are acutely aware of the challenges associated with this requirement. This report highlights the results of collaborative efforts between Children's Hospital Medical Center-Cincinnati (CHMC) applications specialists with expertise in the HIS and CHMC information system, radiology staff familiar with the enterprise and radiology workflow and data flow requirements; and General Electric integration engineers familiar with the SMS HIS and RIS, and GE PACS. CHMC received Board approval, including full funding of the entire PACS project, in October 1998. An aggressive time frame for installation was established, as CHMC's PACS leadership committed to the selection, design, and implementation of PACS and computed radiography (CR) within 18 to 20 months. CHMC selected GE (Milwaukee, WI) as its PACS vendor in July 1999, and began its implementation in November 1999. We will present the four-stage integration process undertaken at CHMC: (1) planning the integration effort, (2) designing the Interface, (3) building the interface, and (4) testing the Interface.

Computer Systems↗

Reengineering the biomedical-equipment procurement process through an integrated management information system.

The design of each new hospital site is typically preceded by decisions on the most appropriate level of biomedical equipment which significantly influences the layout of the hospital departments which are under construction. The most appropriate biomedical equipment should ideally be decided upon considering a series of demographic and social parameters of the hospital and international regulations and standards. This information should ultimately be distilled to proper technical specifications. This paper proposes a streamlined management process related to the procurement of biomedical equipment for new hospital sites or for those under expansion. The new management process aims to increase the efficiency of the experts involved in the definition of the most appropriate level of equipment and its technical specifications. It also addresses all aspects of the biomedical equipment-selection cycle, including the evaluation of the bids submitted by the equipment suppliers. The proposed process is assisted by a management information system, which integrates all related data-handling operations. It provides extensive decision-support facilities to the expert and a platform for the support of knowledge re-use in the field of biomedical-equipment selection.

Competitive Bidding↗

How effective is integration of information from muscle afferents in spinal pathways?

Integration of information forwarded by group I and group II muscle afferents to premotor interneurones was estimated from spatial facilitation in oligosynaptic (most likely disynaptic) reflex pathways from these afferents. Indications for mutual facilitation of synaptic actions of group I and group II afferents have been found on both inhibitory and excitatory premotor interneurones but were easier to demonstrate in the inhibitory pathways. However, the facilitation appeared weak under our experimental conditions and depended critically upon the intensity and timing of the stimuli used to activate muscle afferents.

Afferent Pathways↗

Quantitative assessment of effects of visual scanning on concurrent task performance.

Much of the research in visual scanning has adopted a single task experimental paradigm. The characteristics of visual scanning in multi-task situations are largely unknown. A quantitative assessment of the effects of visual scanning on concurrent task performance was gained from two experiments. Subjects were required to perform a simulated driving task, which involved a primary pursuit tracking task and a discrete response task. The response task was one of simple information acquisition in the first experiment and of complex information integration in the second. The information acquisition task required subjects to search for a spatial or verbal target. The information integration task required them to search for a spatial or verbal target and then make a rule-based decision by integrating the information carried by current and previous targets. The two types of task involved either spatial or verbal material, whose location was displayed with 4 levels of spatial uncertainty. The results of the two experiments which were: 2 (single/dual task) x 2 (spatial/verbal material) x 4 (levels of uncertainty of target location) revealed unique characteristics of visual scanning in multi-task performance. The effects of visual scanning on task performance and subjective workload were more pronounced in the dual task conditions than in the single. Increases in scanning demand produced greater interference with a concurrent spatial task than with a verbal one when the location uncertainty of visual scanning was sufficiently high. Implications for multi-task human-machine interface design are discussed.

Female↗

The integration of informal care, case management and community-based services for persons with HIV/AIDS.

This research examines the integration of informal and formal care for persons with HIV/AIDS. Data come from a panel survey of informal HIV/AIDS caregivers (N = 642) and are analyzed using a modified version of the Behavioral Model that allows for inclusion of predisposing, enabling and need characteristics of persons with HIV/AIDS and their caregivers. The outcome component of our model emphasizes the role of case management as an intermediary service designed to facilitate linkage to other services. Results indicate: substantial use of case management and other services among persons receiving informal care; characteristics of care recipients, caregivers and dyads directly influence case management and service use; case management positively influences service use at baseline and change in service use over time; and the association between case management and service use generates indirect influences on service use related to characteristics of care recipients, caregivers and dyads. These results highlight the importance of case management as a mechanism for integrating informal and formal care and demonstrate that service utilization is influenced by the social context of illness.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Integrated health information systems based on the RAI/MDS series of instruments.

There is a growing need for an integrated health information system to be used in community, institutional and hospital based settings. For example, changes in the structure, process and venues of service delivery mean that individuals with similar needs may be cared for in a variety of different settings. Moreover, as people make transitions from one sector of the healthcare system to another, there is a need for comparable information to ensure continuity of care and reduced assessment burden. The RAI/MDS series of assessment instruments comprise an integrated health information system because they have consistent terminology, common core items, and a common conceptual basis in a clinical approach that emphasizes the identification of functional problems.

Canada↗

Tying it all together: The Integrated Academic Information Management System being implemented at Maryland.

With the National Library of Medicine serving as the catalyst, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, Campus for the Professions, entered into a major initiative to integrate information management systems in support of the campus missions of education, research, and clinical care. Strategic planning initiated the integration process and continues in an iterative mode. In support of integration, changes were made in the campus organizational structure and in its technological infrastructure. Implementation involves transforming the Information Resources Management Division into an information utility on a phased and incremental basis. Collaboration with the Health Sciences Library is key to this transformation, as are numerous outreach activities.

Computers↗

Information systems integration in radiology.

Advances in information systems and technology in conjunction with outside forces requiring improved reporting are driving sweeping changes in the practice of radiology. In most academic radiology departments, there can be at least five separate information systems in daily use, a clinical picture archiving and communication system (PACS), a hospital information system (HIS), a radiology information system (RIS), a voice-recognition dictation system, and an electronic teaching/research file system. A PACS will have incomplete, incorrect, and inconsistent data if manual data entry is used. Correct routing of studies for diagnostic reporting and clinical review requires accurate information about the study type and the referring physician or service, often not easily entered manually. An HIS is a hospital-wide information system used to access patient information, reports from various services, and billing information. The RIS is typically a system specifically designed to place radiology orders, to receive interpretations, and to prepare bills for patients. Voice-recognition systems automatically transcribe the radiologist's dictation, eliminating transcription delays. Another system that is needed in a teaching hospital holds images and data for research and education. Integration of diverse systems must be performed to provide the functionality required by an electronic radiology department and the services it supports. Health Level 7 (HL7) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) have enabled sharing of data among systems and can be used as the building blocks for truly integrated systems, but the user community and manufacturers need to specify the types of functionality needed to build clinically useful systems. Although technology development has produced the tools for interoperability for clinical and research/educational use, more work needs to be done to define the types of interaction that needs to be performed to realize the potential of these systems.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Design considerations for integrated hospital information systems.

This article describes the main characteristics of the integrated hospital information system (HIS) environment, discusses design objectives, and analyzes four design issues--system architecture, conceptual data base design, application portfolio, and plans for development and implementation. The main objective is to provide managers and system designers with a guiding blueprint for HIS design based on state-of-the-practice technological capabilities and current experience with integrated HIS. Clearly, the capabilities of present information technology provide more feasible ways to implement integrated HIS in a distributed environment. This approach answers hospital information needs by shifting some of the processing and data to the end-user level, yet allows management to retain control of the central portion of the data base while facilitating data sharing among various organizational units.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Integration of information literacy into a revised medical school curriculum.

The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California's newly revised Year I-II curriculum integrates information literacy components based on the AAMC's medical informatics objectives throughout the two-year continuum. Students are required to participate in various components taught by librarians from the Norris Medical Library including (1) an information skills workshop, (2) a yearlong literature search project, and (3) an evidence-based medicine resources workshop. Critical appraisal of literature also is included in the curriculum to ensure that the students are familiar with the various research study designs. Librarians also provide resources to assist students in researching learning issues related to cases presented in the curriculum. To encourage the faculty mentors to serve as good models of information users, librarians offer brief training sessions on information resources to faculty.

California↗

Within-category discontinuity interacts with verbal rule complexity in perceptual category learning.

A test of the predicted interaction between within-category discontinuity and verbal rule complexity on information-integration and rule-based category learning was conducted. Within-category discontinuity adversely affected information-integration category learning but not rule-based category learning. Model-based analyses suggested that some information-integration participants improved performance by recruiting more "units" in the discontinuous condition. Verbal rule complexity adversely affected rule-based category learning but not information-integration category learning. Model-based analyses suggested that the rule based effect was on both decision criterion learning and variability in decision criterion placement. These results suggest that within-category discontinuity and decision rule complexity differentially impact information-integration and rule-based category learning and provide information regarding the detailed processing characteristics of these two proposed category learning systems.

Concept Formation↗

Integrating radiology information systems with healthcare delivery environments using DICOM and HL7 standards.

Integration based on open standards, in order to achieve communication and information interoperability, is one of the key aspects of modern health care information systems. Interoperability presents data and communication layer interchange. In this context we identified the HL7 standard as the world's leading medical Information and communication technology (ICT) standard for the business layer in healthcare information systems and we tried to explore the ability to exchange clinical documents with minimal integrated healthcare information systems (IHCIS) change. We explored HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) abilities to achieve radiology information system integration (DICOM) to IHCIS (HL7). We introduced the use of WADO service interconnection to IHCIS and finally CDA rendering in widely used Internet explorers.

Croatia↗

Integrated healthcare information systems.

When it comes to electronic data processing in healthcare, we offer a guarded, but hopeful, prognosis. To be sure, the age of electronic information processing has hit healthcare. Employers, insurance companies, hospitals, physicians and a host of ancillary service providers are all being ushered into a world of high speed, high tech electronic information. Some are even predicting that the health information business will grow from $20 billion to over $100 billion in a decade. Yet, out industry lags behind other industries in its overall movement to the paperless world. Selecting and installing the most advanced integrated information system isn't a simple task, as we've seen. As in life, compromises can produce less than optimal results. Nevertheless, integrated healthcare systems simply won't achieve their goals without systems designed to support the operation of a continuum of services. That's the reality! It is difficult to read about the wonderful advances in other sectors, while realizing that many trees still fall each year in the name of the health care industry. Yes, there are some outstanding examples of organizations pushing the envelop in a variety of areas. Yet from a very practical standpoint, many (like our physician's office) are still struggling or are on the sidelines wondering what to do. Given the competitive marketplace, organizations without effective systems may not have long to wonder and wait.

Community Networks↗

Defining the application portfolio for an integrated hospital information system: a tutorial.

Although many successful applications in the hospital environment have been introduced and implemented, hospital information systems have had little impact upon the daily operation of hospitals. Furthermore, integrated hospital information systems, although vital to the hospitals' functioning, have proved to be more complicated to develop and difficult to harness than expected. This paper discusses the need for an integrated hospital information system and provides a framework for the development of its application portfolio. The scope of such a system is the integration of the medical, administrative and fiscal information elements of the hospital into a unified systems environment.

Computer Communication Networks↗

St. Louis Integrated Immunization Information System.

The immunization rate for St. Louis, Missouri, children age two and younger is only 49 percent, below the statewide rate of 64 percent and far below the estimated national rate of 75 percent. In response to this crisis, the St. Louis Integrated Immunization Information System (SLIIIS) was designed to establish an on-line immunization information system, identify barriers to immunization among health care providers and the client population, and implement methods for removing these barriers. Available to both public and private health care providers, SLIIIS uses a population-based approach to monitoring and improving immunization levels in the Eastern Missouri Region. SLIIIS was initiated by a partnership of an academic center with community agencies and institutions. Review of initial development efforts and system design may be valuable to others involved in creating regionally integrated information systems.

Child, Preschool↗