Traditionally, health records have been stored in paper folders at the physician’s consulting rooms – or at the patient’s home. Some people stored the health records of their family members, so as to keep a running history of all the medical procedures they went through, and what medications they were given by different physicians at different stages of their lives. Technology has introduced better and safer ways of storing these records, namely, through the use of Personal Health Records (PHRs). With time, different types of PHRs have emerged, i.e. local, remote server-based, and hybrid PHRs. Web-based PHRs fall under the remote server-based PHRs; and recently, a new market in storing PHRs has emerged. Cloud computing has become a trend in storing PHRs in a more accessible and efficient manner. Despite its many benefits, cloud computing has many privacy and security concerns. As a result, the adoption rate of cloud services is not yet very high. A qualitative and exploratory research design approach was followed in this study, in order to reach the objective of proposing guidelines that could assist PHR providers in selecting a secure Cloud Service Provider (CSP) to store their customers’ health data. The research methods that were used include a literature review, systematic literature review, qualitative content analysis, reasoning, argumentation and elite interviews. A systematic literature review and qualitative content analysis were conducted to examine those risks in the cloud environment that could have a negative impact on the secure storing of PHRs. PHRs must satisfy certain dimensions, in order for them to be meaningful for use. While these were highlighted in the research, it also emerged that certain risks affect the PHR dimensions directly, thus threatening the meaningfulness and usability of cloud-based PHRs. The literature review revealed that specific control measures can be adopted to mitigate the identified risks. These control measures form part of the material used in this study to identify the guidelines for secure cloud-based PHRs. The guidelines were formulated through the use of reasoning and argumentation. After the guidelines were formulated, elite interviews were conducted, in order to validate and finalize the main research output: i.e. guidelines. The results of this study may alert PHR providers to the risks that exist in the cloud environment; so that they can make informed decisions when choosing a CSP for storing their customers’ health data.

Within the field of medical informatics, patient medical records are the sole source of information for dealing with clinical activities concerning the documentation, care, progression, and ongoing interactions between the patient and clinicians. Electronic or computer-based patient records (CPRs) have had a presence within health care in some form and magnitude for the past thirty years yet only recently have been incorporated in health care to a larger extent. Due to the wide variation of professions in health care, there is a problem of CPRs not being able to fulfill all the possibilities and demands the individual professionals need, since many CPRs are designed as a generic system, to be used across multiple professions. The focus of this report is on the utilization of a generic CPR in a specialist clinical setting, i.e., a physical therapy clinic, and to analyze how the therapists utilize the different components and features in a generic CPR. The purpose of the evaluation was to investigate how viable the CPR was as a documentation tool and to which extent it supported the therapists in their clinical, documentation and delivery of care activities. In this study, a total of seven physical therapists participated in a post-usage evaluation of an existing CPR. The evaluation was achieved by interpretative research with open-ended interviews and observations. The results of the study showed that despite some shortcomings, the generic CPR was an effective tool for the clinicians, not only as a documenting aid, but also enabling them to quickly research the patients' prior diagnosis and treatment history, plan for future care, support decision-making and to communicate with other professionals so as to coordinate treatment and planning.

The fragmented nature of modern health care provision makes it increasingly difficult to achieve continuity of care. This is equally true in the context of the South African healthcare landscape. This results in a strong emphasis on the informational dimension of continuity of care which highlights the importance of the continuity of medical records. Paper-based methods of record keeping are inadequate to support informational continuity of care which leads to an increased interest in electronic methods of record keeping through the adoption of various Health Information Technologies (HITs). This research project investigates the role that various HITs such as Personal Health Records (PHRs), Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), and Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) can play in improving informational continuity of care resulting in the development of a standards-based technological model for the South African healthcare sector. This technological model employs appropriate HITs to address the problem of informational continuity of care in the South African healthcare landscape The benefits that are possible through the adoption of the proposed technological model can only be realized if the proposed HITs are used in a meaningful manner once adopted and implemented. The Delphi method is employed to identify factors that need to be addressed to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of such HITs in the South African healthcare landscape. Lastly, guidelines are formulated to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of HITs in the South African healthcare landscape to improve the continuity of care. The guidelines address both the technological requirements on a high level, as well as the factors that need to be addressed to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of the technological components suggested. These guidelines will play a significant role in raising awareness of the factors that need to be addressed to create an environment conducive to the adoption and meaningful use of appropriate HITs in order to improve the continuity of care in the South African healthcare landscape.

Since the early 20th century, the view has developed that high quality health care can be delivered only when all the pertinent data about the health of a patient is available to the clinician. Various types of health records have emerged to serve the needs of healthcare providers and more recently, patients or consumers. These health records include, but are not limited to, Personal Health Records, Electronic Heath Records, Electronic Medical Records and Payer-Based Health Records. Payer-Based Health Records emerged to serve the needs of medical aids or health care plans. Electronic Medical Records and Electronic Health Records were targeted at the healthcare provider market, whereas a gap developed in the patient market. Personal Health Records were developed to address the patient market, but adoption was slow at first. The success of online social networking reignited the flame that Personal Health Records needed and online consumer-based Personal Health Records were developed. Despite all the various types of health records, there still seems to be a lack of meaningful use of personal health records in modern society. The purpose of this dissertation is to propose a framework for Personal Health Records in online social networking, to address the issue of a lack of a central, accessible repository for health records. In order for a Personal Health Record to serve this need it has to be of meaningful use. The capability of a PHR to be of meaningful use is core to this research. In order to determine whether a Personal Health Record is of meaningful use, a tool is developed to evaluate Personal Health Records. This evaluation tool takes into account all the attributes that a Personal Health Record which is of meaningful use should comprise of. Suitable ratings are allocated to enable measuring of each attribute. A model is compiled to facilitate the selection of six Personal Health Records to be evaluated. One of these six Personal Health Records acts as a pilot site to test the evaluation tool in order to determine the tool’s utility and effect improvements. The other five Personal Health Records are then evaluated to measure their adherence to the attributes of meaningful use. These findings, together with a literature study on the various types of health records and the evaluation tool, inform the building blocks used to present the framework. It is hoped that the framework for Personal Health Records in online social networking proposed in this research, may be of benefit to provide clear guidance for the achievement of a central or integrated, accessible repository for health records through the meaningful use of Personal Health Records.

M.Tech. (Radiography) / The Radiology Information System and the Picture Archiving and Communication System have contributed to improved patient care by eradicating delays in the clinical management of patients. This is achieved by permitting access to instantaneous radiology interpretations and secondary consultations; creating a basis for teleradiology and reducing storage costs by replacing conventional archives with cheaper digital storage. However, the former has attributed to the recent rise in confidentiality breaches involving medical data in the United States of America. Yet, reports of this nature remain unknown in the South African context. Breaches by authorised users remain an under investigated issue and continue to threaten the confidentiality of data. This assumption was employed as the conceptual basis for this study while, the Theory of Planned Behaviour was utilised to generate probable causes of deviant behaviour. A sample of health professionals (n=115) and information technologists (n=2) was drawn to collect data. The extent of compliance was expressed as a percentage error of the discrepancy between the observed behaviour and the regulations stipulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The independent variable (work practices) were categorised into access restriction, intrinsic security measures and the actual breach incidences. The non-parametric Chi-Square test was used to calculate statistical significance the correlational extent of which was determined using the phi coefficient. Both Research Settings indicated poor compliance (percentage errors of 67.3 and 70.37) with the mandated regulations. The study provides insight about the confidentiality status within the South African context. This is the kind of information sought by regulators to aid keep pace with the rapid advances in Information Technology.

Orientador: Helenice Bosco de Oliveira / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T02:23:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rocha_MariaCecilia_M.pdf: 905094 bytes, checksum: e2815138228095ed2f6e30905b686046 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003 / Resumo: Este trabalho foi realizado na rede SUS-Campinas-SP, em 2001 e investigou 410 casos diagnosticados de tuberculose. Numa primeira análise, foram descritas as seguintes variáveis: casos incidentes e retratamentos, sexo, teste antiHIV, idade, escolaridade, descoberta do diagnóstico, exames realizados (baciloscopia e cultura de escarro, raio X de tórax), hospitalização. O perfil epidemiológico evidenciou pacientes do sexo masculino, caso novo, teste antiHIV negativo ou não-realizado, adulto entre 25 a 44 anos, sintomático respiratório com exames compatíveis e a não-indicação para hospitalização. A partir deste grupo formou-se um subgrupo para descrever a demora diagnóstica. Para tanto, os critérios de inclusão foram residir em Campinas, ser maior de 15 anos, incidente na coorte de 2001, forma clínica pulmonar, teste antiHIV negativo, baciloscopia ou cultura de escarro positiva. Estudar a demora no diagnóstico da tuberculose teve como finalidade detectar elementos que permitarão criar subsídios para reflexão e implementação de políticas públicas voltadas ao controle da doença. O tempo decorrido desde a percepção de alguma sintomatologia, pela população de estudo,até a sua chegada ao serviço público de saúde para uma primeira assistência, denominou-se demora do paciente. O intervalo de tempo entre esta primeira assistência e o início do tratamento referiu-se à demora do serviço. A soma dos intervalos constitui a demora total. Os doentes ingressantes em serviços de saúde, para o tratamento de tuberculose pulmonar, contribuíram com informações antecedentes ao diagnóstico da doença, tais como: sintomatologia prévia, tempo decorrido do aparecimento dos sintomas até procurar assistência médica, tempo decorrido da primeira assistência ao início do tratamento e acesso aos serviços públicos de saúde, de Campinas. Conclui-se que a demora do paciente foi superior a três semanas e possui associação com o tempo de sintomatologia respiratória. Quanto à demora do serviço, superior a duas semanas, está associada ao número de serviços procurados pelo paciente, antes do tratamento. O município apresentou uma demora total superior a quatro semanas, o que sugere investir na busca de casos e educação em saúde, à comunidade / Abstract: This work was made in SUS ¿ Campinas, São Paulo in 2001, 410 diagnostic cases of tuberculosis were investigated. In the first analysis was described the following variations: incident cases and retreatments, sex, AIDS test, age, education, discovery of diagnostic physical examinations performed (bacillus tests, spittle culture, thorax, x-ray), hospitalization. The epidemic profile evidenced male pacients, nem cases, AIDS tests ¿ or not performed, adults within 25 to 44 years old, respiratory symptoms with compatible examinations and non- indication to hospitalization. From this group was made a sub-group to describe the delay of the diagnosis. Therefore, the inclusion criteria were: to live in Campinas, be over 15 years old, be part of the cohort in 2001 pulmonary health condition, AIDS test, bacillus test or positive spittle culture. The study of delay in the tuberculosis diagnostic was to detect the elements that could create subsidies to meditation and implantation of public politics to control this disease. The period since perception of the symptoms by the studied population to the arrival at the health public service for the first assistance was called delay of the pacient. The interval from the first assistance to the beginning of the treatment was called ¿ total delay¿. The pacients entered in health service for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis contributed with the following information before the diagnostic of the disease: previous symptoms, period form the first symptoms to the medical assistance, period form the first assistance to the beginning of treatment and admittance in the public health service in Campinas. It was concluded that the delay of the patient was over three weeks and is related to the period of respiratory symptoms. The delay of service over two weeks is related to number of services demanded by the pacients before the treatment. The county presented a total delay over four weeks; so it's necessary to invest in searches and education to the society comfort / Mestrado / Saude Coletiva / Mestre em Saude Coletiva

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Introduction: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that each year over three million people are treated for fall injuries, and of those three million, one in five falls causes serious injury. One clinical report stated only 37% of elderly patients are asked about falls in the primary care setting. The report found barriers to further fall-related care were due to the many factors that go into assessing if a patient is a fall-risk. Thus, assessing the fall risk for a large elderly population can be both challenging and time-consuming. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of assessing fall risk with the Theoretical Timed Up and Go (T-TUG), using Wave 1 of the Irish Longitudinal Database (TILDA). The validation was done by comparing the T-TUG results to that of the Impairments survey and activities of daily living (ADLs) found in the TILDA. Methods: The data used in this study were obtained from Wave 1 of the TILDA. The TILDA is a survey-designed longitudinal study on aging done on a national scale in Ireland. Study participants who passed inclusion criteria were divided into those who had reported falling in the previous year (N=1221) and those who had not (N=4857). The T-TUG is a fall-risk calculator developed from the NSHAP database, with a multiple regression function using the Timed Up and Go as the dependent variable, and age, gender, body mass index, and over the counter and prescription drugs as the predictor variables. The NSHAP regression coefficients were combined with the TILDA participant parameters defined above to calculate new T-TUG scores for the TILDA cohort. Differentiation between the fall and no fall groups for the T-TUG, ADLs and Impairments survey were done using the Mann-Whitney U Test (p < 0.05). Receiver Operator Characteristics (ROC) curve analyses were done to identify cut-off points, sensitivities, and specificities differentiating the fall and no fall groups for these assessments. Results: Mann-Whitney analysis demonstrated that the fall group scores were statistically different from the no fall group for all three assessments (p-value < 0.001). As determined by AUC, the ROC analysis indicated that the T-TUG (AUC=0.570, p Conclusion: All assessments evaluated were effective at differentiating participants within this database reporting a fall within the last year from those who had not. Whereas the T-TUG and Impairments survey were equally effective at detecting true fallers and non-fallers, the ADLs were much more effective at detecting non-fallers. The T-TUG has the potential to be an EMR based fall risk calculator and could be invaluable as an institutional triage tool.

While Electronic Medical Records provide extensive information about patients, the vast amounts of data cause issues in attempts to quickly retrieve valuable information needed to make accurate assumptions and decisions directly concerned with patients’ health. This search process is naturally time-consuming and forces health professionals to focus on a labor intensive task that diverts their attention from the main task of applying their knowledge to save lives. With the general aim of potentially relieving the professionals from this task of finding information needed for an operational decision, this thesis explores the use of a general BERT model for extractive summarization of Swedish medical records to investigate its capability in extracting sentences that convey important information to MRI physicists. To achieve this, a domain expert evaluation of medical histories was performed, creating the references summaries that were used for model evaluation. Three implementations are included in this study and one of which is TextRank, a prominent unsupervised approach to extractive summarization. The other two are based on clustering and rely on BERT to encode the text. The implementations are then evaluated using ROUGE metrics. The results support the use of a general BERT model for extractive summarization on medical records. Furthermore, the results are discussed in relation to the collected reference summaries, leading to a discussion about potential improvements to be made with regards to the domain expert evaluation, as well as the possibilities for future work on the topic of summarization of clinical documents.

Sharing data is an important part of the progress of science in many fields. In the largely deep learning dominated field of natural language processing, textual resources are in high demand. In certain domains, such as that of medical records, the sharing of data is limited by ethical and legal restrictions and therefore requires anonymization. The process of manual anonymization is tedious and expensive, thus automated anonymization is of great value. Since medical records consist of unstructured text, pieces of sensitive information have to be identified in order to be masked for anonymization. Named-entity recognition (NER) is the subtask of information extraction named entities, such as person names or locations, are identified and categorized. Recently, models that leverage unsupervised training on large quantities of unlabeled training data have performed impressively on the NER task, which shows promise in their usage for the problem of anonymization. In this study, a small set of medical records was annotated with named-entity tags. Because of the lack of any training data, a BERT model already fine-tuned for NER was then evaluated on the evaluation set. The aim was to find out how well the model would perform on NER on medical records, and to explore the possibility of using the model to anonymize medical records. The most positive result was that the model was able to identify all person names in the dataset. The average accuracy for identifying all entity types was however relatively low. It is discussed that the success of identifying person names shows promise in the model’s application for anonymization. However, because the overall accuracy is significantly worse than that of models fine-tuned on domain-specific data, it is suggested that there might be better methods for anonymization in the absence of relevant training data.