Patient Accounting Systems: Are They Fit with the Users’ Requirements?

Haleh Ayatollahi,Zahra Nazemi,Hamid Haghani 대한의료정보학회 2016 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.22 No.1

Objectives: A patient accounting system is a subsystem of a hospital information system. This system like other informationsystems should be carefully designed to be able to meet users’ requirements. The main aim of this research was to investigateusers’ requirements and to determine whether current patient accounting systems meet users’ needs or not. Methods: Thiswas a survey study, and the participants were the users of six patient accounting systems used in 24 teaching hospitals. Astratified sampling method was used to select the participants (n = 216). The research instruments were a questionnaire and a checklist. The mean value of ≥3 showed the importance of each data element and the capability of the system. Results: Generally, the findings showed that the current patient accounting systems had some weaknesses and were able to meet between 70% and 80% of users’ requirements. Conclusions: The current patient accounting systems need to be improved to be able to meet users’ requirements. This approach can also help to provide hospitals with more usable and reliable financial information.

Confirmation of Expectations and Satisfaction with Hospital Information Systems: A Nursing Perspective

Haleh Ayatollahi,Mostafa Langarizadeh,Habib Chenani 대한의료정보학회 2016 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.22 No.4

Objectives: This study aimed to compare nurses’ satisfaction with, and expectations of, hospital information systems in two teaching hospitals. Methods: This was a survey study, which was completed in 2014. The potential participants were 267 nurses who worked in two teaching hospitals and used the same hospital information system. Data were collected using two questionnaires. Both questionnaires were examined in terms of content validity and reliability. Results: The results showed that, for a majority of nurses, their expectations of the system were not met in either hospital. Moreover, there was a significant association between the nurses’ expectations and the perceived usefulness of the systems (p < 0.001), between the nurses’ expectations and their satisfaction with the systems (p < 0.001), and between the perceived usefulness and nurses' satisfaction with the systems (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results suggested that, apart from the technical issues of implementing clinical information systems, non-technical factors should be taken into account. Among them, the nature of clinical tasks and the organizational culture require more attention to allow a successful system to be designed and implemented.

Integrating Genetic Data into Electronic Health Records: Medical Geneticists’ Perspectives

Haleh Ayatollahi,Seyedeh Fatemeh Hosseini,Morteza Hemmat 대한의료정보학회 2019 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.25 No.4

Objectives: Genetic disorders are the main causes of many other diseases. Integrating genetic data into Electronic Health Records (EHRs) can facilitate the management of genetic information and care of patients in clinical practices. The aim of this study was to identify the main requirements for integrating genetic data into the EHR system from the medical geneticists’ perspectives. Methods: The research was completed in 2018 and consisted of two phases. In the first phase, the main requirements for integrating genetic data into the EHR system were identified by reviewing the literature. In the second phase, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed based on the literature review and the results derived from the first phase. Then, the Delphi method was applied to reach a consensus about the integration requirements. Results: The findings of the first phase showed that data elements, including patients’ and healthcare providers’ personal data, clinical and genetic data, technical infrastructure, security issues and functional requirements, should be taken into account before data integration. In the second phase, a consensus was reached for most of the items (mean ≥3.75). The items with a mean value of less than 2.5 did not achieve a consensus and were removed from the final list. Conclusions: The integration of genetic data into the EHRs can provide a ground for increasing accuracy and precision in the diagnosis and treatment of genetic disorders. Such integration requires adequate investments to identify users’ requirements as well as technical and non-technical issues

Automated Audiometry: A Review of the Implementation and Evaluation Methods

Hassan Shojaeemend,Haleh Ayatollahi 대한의료정보학회 2018 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.24 No.4

Objectives: Automated audiometry provides an opportunity to do audiometry when there is no direct access to a clinical audiologist. This approach will help to use hearing services and resources efficiently. The purpose of this study was to review studies related to automated audiometry by focusing on the implementation of an audiometer, the use of transducers and evaluation methods. Methods: This review study was conducted in 2017. The papers related to the design and implementation of automated audiometry were searched in the following databases: Science Direct, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. The time frame for the papers was between January 1, 2010 and August 31, 2017. Initially, 143 papers were found, and after screening, the number of papers was reduced to 16. Results: The findings showed that the implementation methods were categorized into the use of software (7 papers), hardware (3 papers) and smartphones/tablets (6 papers). The used transducers were a variety of earphones and bone vibrators. Different evaluation methods were used to evaluate the accuracy and the reliability of the diagnoses. However, in most studies, no significant difference was found between automated and traditional audiometry. Conclusions: It seems that automated audiometry produces the same results compared with traditional audiometry. However, the main advantages of this method; namely, saving costs and increased accessibility to hearing services, can lead to a faster diagnosis of hearing impairment, especially in poor areas.

Comprehensive Review of Factors Influencing the Use of Telepractice in Stuttering Treatment

Baran Bayati,Haleh Ayatollahi 대한의료정보학회 2021 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.27 No.1

Objectives: Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by the repetition of sounds, syllables, or words; prolongation ofsounds; and interruptions in speech. Telepractice allows speech services to be delivered to patients regardless of their location. This review investigated factors influencing the use of telepractice in stuttering treatment. Methods: Articles related tothe application of telepractice in stuttering were searched using the Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane, and Pro-Quest databases without consideration of any time limit. Initially, 79 articles were found and after application of the inclusionand exclusion criteria, 15 articles were selected for the review study. Data were analyzed by using the content analysis methodand synthesized narratively. Results: Factors influencing the use of telepractice in stuttering treatment were categorized intoindividual, technical, clinical, and economic factors. Providing access to healthcare services, maintaining personal privacy,and allowing flexibility in arranging appointments were among individual factors. In terms of the technical factors, technicalproblems and Internet speed were addressed. Clinical factors were divided into positive and negative outcomes, andeconomic factors were mainly related to time and cost savings. Conclusions: Although patients may benefit from using telepractice,the widespread adoption of this technology can be hindered by some technical and non-technical factors. Becausetelepractice can be employed as a complementary method to treat stuttering, more attention should be paid to the requiredinfrastructure and factors that may negatively impact the use of this technology.