Judith V. Douglas – författare

This book has been a long time in the making. The computerization activi­ ties described in these pages began in 1977 at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), but we devoted most of our focus and efforts to building and then implementing the extensive hospital information system known as the Decentralized Hospital Computer System (DHCP) throughout VA. Deliv­ ering the product has been our primary goal. We spent relatively little time documenting or describing our experiences or lessons learned. Except for some presentations at national meetings and a relatively few publications, almost none of which were in the standard trade journals read by Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and equivalent top managers in the private and nonprofit sectors, VA's accomplishments remained a well-kept secret. In 1988, Helly Orthner encouraged VA staff to consider writing a book, but the press of day-to-day activities always seemed to take precedence, and the book languished on the back burner.

This book focuses on current federal sector efforts to shape healthcare, i.e., to improve performance while containing costs. The solutions offered include redesigning processes and, where appropriate, the use of enabling technologies to do so. Since historically, innovations in the federal sector have often migrated to and profoundly changed practices in the private sector, many of the initiatives described involve some degree of partnering between the public and private sector. Others represent work in the federal sector that address the same problems confronted in the private sector and offer valuable and transferable solutions and approaches. The major strength of this book is its use of concrete examples that show how process redesign and the integration of enabling technologies have led to performance improvement and cost reduction in the largest healthcare system in the world. The contributors--all acknowledged experts in their fields--draw upon their knowledge of the healthcare industry and their expertise in working within and with the federal sector health system.They focus on exciting changes and improvements, and they elaborate on strategies for the future that will reshape federal sector healthcare. The book does not intend to give "correct answers," but to demonstrate mature thinking in shaping healthcare in general. In the years ahead, engineering healthcare to meet the demands of newly knowledgeable consumers will be critical. In addition to giving insights into what the federal sector leadership is doing to address the challenges of population health, each chapter will highlight the perspective of employers, payers, and deliverers of health services.

Cancer Informatics chronicles the development of the National Cancer Institute's new Cancer Informatics Infrastructure (CII) - an information management system infrastructure designed to faciliate clinical trials, provide for reliable, secure information exchange, and improve patient care. The book details the challenges involved in creating and managing such a knowledge base, including technologies, standards, and current, state-of-the-art applications.The ultimate goal of CII is to function as an enabler of clinical trials, expediting the clinical trials lifecycle, faciliating faster and safer drug development and more appropriate treatment choices for cancer patients. Contributors address the role the CII must play in converting the growing knowledge of genes, proteins, and pathways into appropriate preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic measures. Presented in four sections, the first provides an overview of the processes involved in moving the infrastructure for cancer from theory into practice. Sections two through four offer the latest work done in the areas of technology, cancer-specific and national standards, and applications to faciliate clinical trials.

Changes in health care are at a breakneck pace. Regardless of the many changes we have collectively experienced, delivering health care has been, is, and will continue to be an enormously information-intensive process. Whether caring for a patient or a population, whether managing a clinic or a continuum, we are in a knowledge exchange business. A major task for our industry, and the task for chief information officers (CIOs), is to find and apply improved strategies and technologies for managing healthcare information. In a fiercely competitive healthcare marketplace, the pressures to suc­ ceed in this undertaking-and the rewards associated with success-are enormous. While the task is still daunting, we can all be encouraged by progress being made in information management. There are documented successes throughout health care, and there is growing recognition by healthcare chief executive officers and boards that information strategies, and their deployment, are essential to organizational efficiency, quite pos­ sibly organizational survival.

Performance Improvement through Information Management highlights performance improvement and business strategies throughout various health care settings, focusing on business drivers and management mechanisms, explaining when, how, and why information technology solutions are of value. Structured on three levels: Market Environment, Transformational Processes, and Enabling Technologies, the text describes the current state of the art of health care and the shape of things to come, and provides practical solutions and strategies for implementing applications of technology within the current context of health care and its transformation. This text will be an invaluable reference to the chief executive officers, chief information officers, senior executives, and board members who are shaping health care today and into the 21st century. Likewise, it will appeal to healthcare administrators and managers, healthcare systems specialists, and students in advanced healthcare professional and academic programs.

As a result of severe wounds received in World War II, I have spent many months in military hospitals, including 20 months in an Army hospital immediately after the war. I continue to use the Military Health System, as do many of my colleagues in Congress, because I firmly believe the quality of health care delivered in military and veterans hospitals is second to none. The largest system of its type in the world, the U.S. military healthcare system is undergoing changes as dramatic as those experienced by the entire country. During Desert Storm, we saw new technologies, such as telemedicine, at work in the field. Since then, military medicine has contin­ ued to imprave and develop innovations that often focus on healthcare issues of concern to society as a whole. We already have seen technology transfer at work. Things we use in our everyday lives, from sunscreen to the Internet, have come to us directly from innovations developed by federal researchers. The private sector, working with the public agencies, has creatively adapted federal research. For example, the hemopump is used successfully by heart surgeons world­ wide to save heart patients. This device, developed by Richard Wampler, was based on satellite technology information that was declassified in the early 1980s. The chapters in this book focus on current federal sector efforts to shape health care and technology transfer. Many of the initiatives described involve some degree of partnering between the public and private sectors.

Like the three editions that preceded it, this new edition targets markets in health care practice and educational settings. It addresses practicing nurses and nursing students, together with nursing leadership and nursing faculty. It speaks to nursing informatics specialists and—in a departure from earlier editions of this title—to all nurses, regardless of their specialty, extending its usefulness as a text as noted below. In recognition of the evolving electronic health information environment and of interdisciplinary health care teams, the book is designed to be of interest to members of other health care professions (quality officers, administrators, etc.) as well as health information technology professionals (in health care facilities and in industry). The book will include numerous relevant case studies to illustrate the theories and principles discussed, making it an ideal candidate for use within nursing curricula (both undergraduate and graduate), as well as continuing education and staff development programs. This book honors the format established by the first three editions by including a content array and questions to guide the reader. This 4th edition also includes numerous brief case studies that help to illustrate the theories and practices described within the various chapters. Most of these “mini-cases” are provided by members of professional nursing organizations that comprise the TIGER Initiative. These mini-cases are listed in the front matter and highlighted via formatting throughout the text.

Performance Improvement through Information Management highlights performance improvement and business strategies throughout various health care settings, focusing on business drivers and management mechanisms, explaining when, how, and why information technology solutions are of value. Structured on three levels: Market Environment, Transformational Processes, and Enabling Technologies, the text describes the current state of the art of health care and the shape of things to come, and provides practical solutions and strategies for implementing applications of technology within the current context of health care and its transformation. This text will be an invaluable reference to the chief executive officers, chief information officers, senior executives, and board members who are shaping health care today and into the 21st century. Likewise, it will appeal to healthcare administrators and managers, healthcare systems specialists, and students in advanced healthcare professional and academic programs.

Changes in health care are at a breakneck pace. Regardless of the many changes we have collectively experienced, delivering health care has been, is, and will continue to be an enormously information-intensive process. Whether caring for a patient or a population, whether managing a clinic or a continuum, we are in a knowledge exchange business. A major task for our industry, and the task for chief information officers (CIOs), is to find and apply improved strategies and technologies for managing healthcare information. In a fiercely competitive healthcare marketplace, the pressures to suc­ ceed in this undertaking-and the rewards associated with success-are enormous. While the task is still daunting, we can all be encouraged by progress being made in information management. There are documented successes throughout health care, and there is growing recognition by healthcare chief executive officers and boards that information strategies, and their deployment, are essential to organizational efficiency, quite pos­ sibly organizational survival.

Cancer Informatics chronicles the development of the National Cancer Institute's new Cancer Informatics Infrastructure (CII) - an information management system infrastructure designed to faciliate clinical trials, provide for reliable, secure information exchange, and improve patient care. The book details the challenges involved in creating and managing such a knowledge base, including technologies, standards, and current, state-of-the-art applications.The ultimate goal of CII is to function as an enabler of clinical trials, expediting the clinical trials lifecycle, faciliating faster and safer drug development and more appropriate treatment choices for cancer patients. Contributors address the role the CII must play in converting the growing knowledge of genes, proteins, and pathways into appropriate preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic measures. Presented in four sections, the first provides an overview of the processes involved in moving the infrastructure for cancer from theory into practice. Sections two through four offer the latest work done in the areas of technology, cancer-specific and national standards, and applications to faciliate clinical trials.

Performance Improvement through Information Management highlights performance improvement and business strategies throughout various health care settings, focusing on business drivers and management mechanisms, explaining when, how, and why information technology solutions are of value. Structured on three levels: Market Environment, Transformational Processes, and Enabling Technologies, the text describes the current state of the art of health care and the shape of things to come, and provides practical solutions and strategies for implementing applications of technology within the current context of health care and its transformation. This text will be an invaluable reference to the chief executive officers, chief information officers, senior executives, and board members who are shaping health care today and into the 21st century. Likewise, it will appeal to healthcare administrators and managers, healthcare systems specialists, and students in advanced healthcare professional and academic programs.

Changes in health care are at a breakneck pace. Regardless of the many changes we have collectively experienced, delivering health care has been, is, and will continue to be an enormously information-intensive process. Whether caring for a patient or a population, whether managing a clinic or a continuum, we are in a knowledge exchange business. A major task for our industry, and the task for chief information officers (CIOs), is to find and apply improved strategies and technologies for managing healthcare information. In a fiercely competitive healthcare marketplace, the pressures to suc­ ceed in this undertaking-and the rewards associated with success-are enormous. While the task is still daunting, we can all be encouraged by progress being made in information management. There are documented successes throughout health care, and there is growing recognition by healthcare chief executive officers and boards that information strategies, and their deployment, are essential to organizational efficiency, quite pos­ sibly organizational survival.

Cancer Informatics chronicles the development of the National Cancer Institute''s new Cancer Informatics Infrastructure (CII) - an information management system infrastructure designed to faciliate clinical trials, provide for reliable, secure information exchange, and improve patient care. The book details the challenges involved in creating and managing such a knowledge base, including technologies, standards, and current, state-of-the-art applications.The ultimate goal of CII is to function as an enabler of clinical trials, expediting the clinical trials lifecycle, faciliating faster and safer drug development and more appropriate treatment choices for cancer patients. Contributors address the role the CII must play in converting the growing knowledge of genes, proteins, and pathways into appropriate preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic measures. Presented in four sections, the first provides an overview of the processes involved in moving the infrastructure for cancer from theory into practice. Sections two through four offer the latest work done in the areas of technology, cancer-specific and national standards, and applications to faciliate clinical trials.

This series is intended for the rapidly increasing number of health care professionals who have rudimentary knowledge and experience in health care computing and are seeking opportunities to expand their horizons. It does not attempt to compete with the primers already on the market. Eminent international experts will edit, author, or contribute to each volume in order to provide compre­ hensive and current accounts of innovations and future trends in this quickly evolving field. Each book will be practical, easy to use, and well referenced. Our aim is for the series to encompass all of the health profes­ sions by focusing on specific professions, such as nursing, in indi­ vidual volumes. However, integrated computing systems are only one tool for improving communication arnong members of the health care team. Therefore, it is our hope that the series will stimulate profes­ sionals to explore additional means of fostering interdisciplinary exchange. This series springs from a professional collaboration that has grown over the years into a highly valued personal friendship. Our joint values put people first. If the Computers in Health Care series lets us share those values by helping health care professionals to communicate their ideas for the benefit of patients, then our efforts will have succeeded.

Addressed to health care professionals, this book looks beyond traditional information systems and suggests how to bring a competitive advantage to hospitals and other health care providers. Speaking practitioner to practitioner, the authors explain how they use information technology to manage their health care institutions and to support the delivery of clinical care. The second edition incorporates the far-reaching advances of the last several years which has moved the field of health informatics from the realm of theory into practice. Major new themes in the field, such as a national information infrastructure and community networks, guidelines for case management, and community education and resource centers added. Topics such as clinical and blood banking have been thoroughly updated.

Since its publication in 1988, Nursing Informatics: Where Caring and Technology Meet has established itself as the premier reference text in the field for nurses, nursing administrators, nursing students, and other health care professionals who seek a state-of-the-art review of the role of information technology in the nursing profession. The second edition of this seminal work addresses the growth and evolution of the nursing informatics discipline and how the rapid and far reaching changes that are occurring in information technology and in health care are impacting nurses. In addition to a new section on Integration, the second edition includes all new chapters on: the national health information infrastructure; reengineering health care and business processes; electronic resources for nursing; usability concepts and the clinical workstation; impact of information technology of cost/benefit and efficiency/effectiveness analysis; ubiquitous computing and the nurse; home health care systems; information management and long-term care; the information needs of nurse managed centers; critical path/care map and case management needs; large databases and their implications for planning and health policy; virtual reality; and defining the informatics nurse specialist.

As a result of severe wounds received in World War II, I have spent many months in military hospitals, including 20 months in an Army hospital immediately after the war. I continue to use the Military Health System, as do many of my colleagues in Congress, because I firmly believe the quality of health care delivered in military and veterans hospitals is second to none. The largest system of its type in the world, the U.S. military healthcare system is undergoing changes as dramatic as those experienced by the entire country. During Desert Storm, we saw new technologies, such as telemedicine, at work in the field. Since then, military medicine has contin­ ued to imprave and develop innovations that often focus on healthcare issues of concern to society as a whole. We already have seen technology transfer at work. Things we use in our everyday lives, from sunscreen to the Internet, have come to us directly from innovations developed by federal researchers. The private sector, working with the public agencies, has creatively adapted federal research. For example, the hemopump is used successfully by heart surgeons world­ wide to save heart patients. This device, developed by Richard Wampler, was based on satellite technology information that was declassified in the early 1980s. The chapters in this book focus on current federal sector efforts to shape health care and technology transfer. Many of the initiatives described involve some degree of partnering between the public and private sectors.

Addressed to practitioners of healthcare administration, the book looks beyond traditional information systems. This text suggests how information systems can bring a competitive advantage to hospitals and other healthcare providers. Its viewpoint is neither technical nor clinical. Rather it is concerned with the role and the use of information in the provision of healthcare. The text is divided into several reader-friendly units, which allows the reader to quickly select only what he wants to study in depth. Divided into two sections, one dealing with support for the private practitioner, the other with managing an institution, the material spans a wide array of types of computers. This provides valuable instructional information for nurses, physicians and administrators using the computer as a tool for providing quality medical care.