Point Of Data Entry Research Articles

Mapping the Clinical Pathway for Patients Undergoing Vestibular Schwannoma Resection

The introduction of the electronic health record (EHR) has improved the collection and storage of patient information, enhancing clinical communication and academic research. However, EHRs are limited by data quality and the time-consuming task of manual data extraction. This study aimed to use process mapping to help identify critical data entry points within the clinical pathway for patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS) ideal for structured data entry and automated data collection to improve patient care and research. A 2-stage methodology was used at a neurosurgical unit. Process maps were developed using semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the management of VS resection. Process maps were then retrospectively validated against EHRs for patients admitted between August 2019 and December 2021, establishing critical data entry points. In the process map development, 20 stakeholders were interviewed. Process maps were validated against EHRs of 36 patients admitted for VS resection. Operative notes, surgical inpatient reviews (including ward rounds), and discharge summaries were available for all patients, representing critical data entry points. Areas for documentation improvement were in the preoperative clinics (30/36; 83.3%), preoperative skull base multidisciplinary team (32/36; 88.9%), postoperative follow-up clinics (32/36; 88.9%), and postoperative skull base multidisciplinary team meeting (29/36; 80.6%). This is a first use to our knowledge of a 2-stage methodology for process mapping the clinical pathway for patients undergoing VS resection. We identified critical data entry points that can be targeted for structured data entry and for automated data collection tools, positively impacting patient care and research.

Evaluating the implementation of curriculum reform: the perspectives of Welsh teachers navigating the new health and wellbeing area of learning experience

ABSTRACT The Curriculum for Wales became statutory for Welsh schools in September 2022. This study aimed to gather insight from Welsh teachers embedding the New Curriculum for Wales within their context, with a specific focus on the implementation of the Health and Wellbeing (HWB) Area of Learning and Experience (AoLE). Participants included fifteen teachers (secondary n = 8, primary n = 7), currently teaching in Wales, who had been involved in the curriculum design of the HWB AoLE within their context. This research utilised a novel research design combining both research insight and professional learning within an innovative workshop design. A qualitative case study approach was used with multiple data entry points (work booklets, audio recordings, workshop tasks, online evaluation form) during a one-day workshop event. The case study was underpinned by a modified appreciative inquiry approach. The data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. This study was successful in gathering insight from Welsh teachers. Reflecting upon the implementation of the new Curriculum for Wales has useful implications for other countries worldwide that are considering curriculum reform. This research recommends that the implementation of pedagogical and curricular change be taken as seriously as the new curriculum content itself.

A Vulnerability Scanning Method for Web Services in Embedded Firmware

As the Internet of Things (IoT) era arrives, the proliferation of IoT devices exposed to the Internet presents a significant challenge to device security. Firmware is software that operates within Internet of Things (IoT) devices, directly governing their behaviors and functionalities. Consequently, the security of firmware is critical to shielding IoT devices from potential threats. In order to enable users to operate a device intuitively, firmware commonly provides a web interface. Consequently, this interface frequently serves as the primary attack goal in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, rendering them susceptible to numerous cyber-attacks. Unfortunately, web services have complex data interactions and implicit dependencies, and it is not easy to balance efficiency and accuracy during the analysis process, leading to heavy overhead. This paper proposes a lightweight vulnerability scanning approach, WFinder, designed explicitly for embedded firmware web services to perform vulnerability checks on backend binary files in firmware. WFinder uses static analysis to focus on identifying vulnerabilities in boundary binary files related to web services in firmware. Initially, the approach identifies boundary binary files and external data entry points based on front-end and back-end associativity features. Subsequently, rules are formulated to filter hazardous functions to narrow the analysis targets. Finally, the method generates sensitive call paths from the external data input points to the hazardous functions and conducts a lightweight taint analysis along these paths to uncover potential vulnerabilities. We implemented a prototype of WFinder and evaluated it on the firmware of ten devices from five well-known manufacturers. We discovered thirteen potential vulnerabilities, eight of which were confirmed by the CNVD, and assigned them CNVD identification numbers. Compared with the most advanced tool, SATC, WFinder was more efficient at discovering more bugs on the test set. These results indicate that WFinder is effective at detecting bugs in embedded web services.

269 Profiling frail patients assessed by the rapid access frailty team in the emergency Department of a Level 3 hospital

Abstract Background The Rapid Access Frailty Team (RAFT) in the Emergency Department (ED) currently consists of 2 physiotherapists. The aim of the team is to review frail patients presenting to the ED during core working hours. Key roles of the team include facilitating a safe discharge and providing early intervention to assist patient flow and a safer, more positive patient experience. Methods For the purpose of this study, frail patients were defined as those with a score of 4 or greater on the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Data was manually recorded after each episode of care using data entry points including demographic details, interventions, outcome etc. Data was analysed from a 5 month period between January–May 2023. Results The RAFT Team reviewed an average of 100 patients per month. (Age range 44-98 yrs). 51% were over 75 years old. Gender distribution was not significantly different. 57% were female versus 43% male. The main presenting complaint of frail patients assessed by RAFT was falls. 69% of those reviewed were discharged. Approximately 36% of this group lived alone. 61% were female (Mean age 81y). 39% were males (Mean age 77y). CFS scores of those living alone ranged from 4–7. 37.5% of those reviewed had formal care in place at home. 10% of carers showed evidence of carer stress. 88% of patients had a falls assessment and equipment was provided to 65%. Physiotherapy (65%), Occupational Therapy (28%) and PHN were the most common community referrals required. 30% were referred to our Rapid Access Frailty Hub. Conclusion The number of frail patients presenting to our ED is growing. Increasing numbers of frail under 75yo patients are requiring RAFT input. Many frail patients continue to live at home alone. The RAFT team play a vital role in improving quality of care for this patient group and facilitate rapid, safe discharge home where possible.

Exploring the usability of a chatbot-based conversational dietary assessment tool among cardiovascular patients

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Dietary intervention in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) plays an integral role in health promotion and improving the quality of life for those with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Innovative techniques offer great potential to deliver cost-effective dietary modifications by providing dietary intake self-tracking and personalized advice. Nevertheless, the time-consuming inconvenience of manual food logging has led to the development of conversational agents that alleviate the tracking burden and promote self-reflection. However, the usability of nutrition chatbots among CVD patients has not yet been investigated in clinical practice. Purpose This study aimed to examine the usability of a chatbot-based dietary assessment tool among CVD patients in a prospective observational trial and discuss the preliminary results. Methods In the clinical trial, patients who are scheduled for or recently have undergone specific surgical procedures are selected for participation. Data collection starts one week before the intervention and continues until one year after discharge. Participants collect self-reported food intake data via the chatbot several times per day for a maximum of 4 non-consecutive days every other week. Quarterly assessments are scheduled to gather feedback on the use of the system. This paper focuses on the data collected in the first quarter of this trial. The usability was measured through chatbot usage and qualitative input through interviews. Results Participant recruitment started in December 2021. Thirteen out of sixteen participants (1 female and 15 males, mean_age=62.6) completed their first quarter of the trial. We included 1267 valid data entry points by evaluating the reported items and participants' self-perceived tracking accuracy. The average response rate is 87.83%, with the average self-perceived accuracy as 8.05. Although there's no significant difference in the time they spent reporting each meal (mean 110.79s, p>0.05), we observed a significant increase in the number of reported items for each meal (mean 3.79, p<0.05) and a significant decrease in time they spent reporting each item (mean 29.69s, p<0.01). Participants explained that while getting familiar with the chatbot, they found it increasingly easier to report more items if needed, and the self-reporting became less time-consuming. During the interview, the participants shared their enthusiasm about using the chatbot for food tracking and praised its simplicity and learnability. Meanwhile, they gave suggestions to improve the chatbot: 1) involving their partners when using the chatbot; 2) knowing the dietary behaviour of their peers; 3) receiving recognition with anonymous competitions. Conclusion The chatbot was found efficient to use with reasonable high learnability among participants. With insights into the usability issues and patients' expectations from the chatbot, we will conduct further research on developing personalized recommendations.

Observational analysis of documentation burden and data duplication in trauma patient pathways at a major trauma centre

ObjectivesTrauma patients require extensive documentation across paper and electronic modalities. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess the documentation burden for trauma patients by contrasting entries against predetermined...

102 A REVIEW OF THE REFERRAL PATHWAYS & OUTCOMES TO RAPID ACCESS FRAILTY ASSESSMENT UNIT (RAFAU)IN A REGIONAL HOSPITAL

Abstract Background The RAFAU is a Multidisciplinary Team including Medical, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, incorporating a fulltime team of OT and PT based in the Emergency Department called RAFT (Rapid Access Frailty Team). It aims to prevent hospital admissions and social crises. There are three main referral pathways, via community (GP, Public Health Nurses, Allied Health Professionals), RAFT-ED, and general medical follow up. Methods The data used was from RAFAU attendances between May 2021 and March 2022. Inclusion criteria was age greater than 65 and attendance in person. Exclusion criteria was incomplete data. Data was manually recorded after each attendance using data entry points including age range, methods of and reason for referral, etc. This gave us the raw data to develop information on our cohort. Data analysis was completed using Excel. Results A total of 569 patients were seen. The most populous age brackets were 81-85 (28%), 70-75 (25%) and 75-80 (26%) respectively. The vast majority of referrals were from GPs (57%), followed by RAFT-ED (30%). The most common reasons for referral were Medical (34%), Cognitive (27%) and Falls (26%). Conclusion A significant number of patients were seen for the first time by the RAFAU MDT. GPs were the major source of referrals which is to be expected as GPs are in more frequent contact with patients and act as gatekeepers to specialist hospital services. The primary referral reasons were also to be expected as these are three issues that are at the core of Gerontology. 173 hospital admissions were prevented in the ED by a combination of the RAFT and Emergency Doctors. There is good rationale for keeping the RAFAU and RAFT-ED team, and where possible expanding their services. This model could easily be expanded to other hospitals.

Abstract 11885: An App That Brings Guidelines to the Point-of-Care: A Pathway for Anticoagulation in Prosthetic Heart Valves

Introduction: AHA/ACC guidelines are updated regularly, but their clinical implementation at bedside or in the clinic is cumbersome, complicated, and difficult. Apps may fill this gap by bringing medical guidelines to the physician at the bedside. We built the AHA/ACC guidelines as an interactive app that makes the guidelines accessible at the point-of care. This app, in turn, saves time, increases efficiency, and improves the quality of care. Method: While reviewing the AHA/ACC guidelines, we realized that several unique flowcharts can be created each with endpoints being the recommendation for a specific patient characteristic. We used Google App Script and build a spreadsheet-based branching-tree questionnaire with data entry points (e.g., segmented buttons, text data field, or multiple-item selectors) for data inputs. Our data inputs were based on the most recent AHA/ACC guidelines. A unique trigger was set to each data entry item, allowing branching of questions and the users being exposed to a specific subset of questions at each selection. On completion of the clinical module, the app script packages the contents into multiple CSV files (dashboard, pages, contents of each page, and references), and sends the files to Google Firebase, which is Google’s real-time database. In the end, the final recommendation presented is the specific section of the AHA/ACC guideline pertaining to the characteristics of the patient as entered by the user. Qualitative feedback found our app to be “more usable” than the traditional review of guidelines on the website or a paper printout. A subset of the questions for “anticoagulation in prosthetic heart valve patients” is shown in Figure 1. This example represents one of the many modules designed on the same principle. Conclusion: Our interactive app based on AHA/ACC guideline can both save time and improve the quality of care. The app is called “AvoMD”, and we made it available for free on app stores to help clinicians in their practice.

Combining Wearable Devices and Mobile Surveys to Study Child and Youth Development in Malawi: Implementation Study of a Multimodal Approach.

BackgroundMultimodal approaches have been shown to be a promising way to collect data on child development at high frequency, combining different data inputs (from phone surveys to signals from noninvasive biomarkers) to understand children’s health and development outcomes more integrally from multiple perspectives.ObjectiveThe aim of this work was to describe an implementation study using a multimodal approach combining noninvasive biomarkers, social contact patterns, mobile surveying, and face-to-face interviews in order to validate technologies that help us better understand child development in poor countries at a high frequency.MethodsWe carried out a mixed study based on a transversal descriptive analysis and a longitudinal prospective analysis in Malawi. In each village, children were sampled to participate in weekly sessions in which data signals were collected through wearable devices (electrocardiography [ECG] hand pads and electroencephalography [EEG] headbands). Additionally, wearable proximity sensors to elicit the social network were deployed among children and their caregivers. Mobile surveys using interactive voice response calls were also used as an additional layer of data collection. An end-line face-to-face survey was conducted at the end of the study.ResultsDuring the implementation, 82 EEG/ECG data entry points were collected across four villages. The sampled children for EEG/ECG were 0 to 5 years old. EEG/ECG data were collected once a week. In every session, children wore the EEG headband for 5 minutes and the ECG hand pad for 3 minutes. In total, 3531 calls were sent over 5 weeks, with 2291 participants picking up the calls and 984 of those answering the consent question. In total, 585 people completed the surveys over the course of 5 weeks.ConclusionsThis study achieved its objective of demonstrating the feasibility of generating data through the unprecedented use of a multimodal approach for tracking child development in Malawi, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Above and beyond its multiple dimensions, the dynamics of child development are complex. It is the case not only that no data stream in isolation can accurately characterize it, but also that even if combined, infrequent data might miss critical inflection points and interactions between different conditions and behaviors. In turn, combining different modes at a sufficiently high frequency allows researchers to make progress by considering contact patterns, reported symptoms and behaviors, and critical biomarkers all at once. This application showcases that even in developing countries facing multiple constraints, complementary technologies can leverage and accelerate the digitalization of health, bringing benefits to populations that lack new tools for understanding child well-being and development.

Rheumatic disease and COVID-19: initial data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance provider registries.

Author(s): Gianfrancesco, Milena A; Hyrich, Kimme L; Gossec, Laure; Strangfeld, Anja; Carmona, Loreto; Mateus, Elsa F; Sufka, Paul; Grainger, Rebecca; Wallace, Zachary; Bhana, Suleman; Sirotich, Emily; Liew, Jean; Hausmann, Jonathan S; Costello, Wendy; Robinson, Philip; Machado, Pedro M; Yazdany, Jinoos; COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Steering Committee

Evaluation of the quality of clinical data collection for a pan-Canadian cohort of children affected by inherited metabolic diseases: lessons learned from the Canadian Inherited Metabolic Diseases Research Network

BackgroundThe Canadian Inherited Metabolic Diseases Research Network (CIMDRN) is a pan-Canadian practice-based research network of 14 Hereditary Metabolic Disease Treatment Centres and over 50 investigators. CIMDRN aims to develop evidence to improve health outcomes for children with inherited metabolic diseases (IMD). We describe the development of our clinical data collection platform, discuss our data quality management plan, and present the findings to date from our data quality assessment, highlighting key lessons that can serve as a resource for future clinical research initiatives relating to rare diseases.MethodsAt participating centres, children born from 2006 to 2015 who were diagnosed with one of 31 targeted IMD were eligible to participate in CIMDRN’s clinical research stream. For all participants, we collected a minimum data set that includes information about demographics and diagnosis. For children with five prioritized IMD, we collected longitudinal data including interventions, clinical outcomes, and indicators of disease management. The data quality management plan included: design of user-friendly and intuitive clinical data collection forms; validation measures at point of data entry, designed to minimize data entry errors; regular communications with each CIMDRN site; and routine review of aggregate data.ResultsAs of June 2019, CIMDRN has enrolled 798 participants of whom 764 (96%) have complete minimum data set information. Results from our data quality assessment revealed that potential data quality issues were related to interpretation of definitions of some variables, participants who transferred care across institutions, and the organization of information within the patient charts (e.g., neuropsychological test results). Little information was missing regarding disease ascertainment and diagnosis (e.g., ascertainment method – 0% missing).DiscussionUsing several data quality management strategies, we have established a comprehensive clinical database that provides information about care and outcomes for Canadian children affected by IMD. We describe quality issues and lessons for consideration in future clinical research initiatives for rare diseases, including accurately accommodating different clinic workflows and balancing comprehensiveness of data collection with available resources. Integrating data collection within clinical care, leveraging electronic medical records, and implementing core outcome sets will be essential for achieving sustainability.

The role of new technologies in monitoring the evolution ofpsychopathology and providing measurement-based care in youngpeople.

The role of new technologies in monitoring the evolution ofpsychopathology and providing measurement-based care in youngpeople.

Big data driven e-government framework in Nigeria

Many nations of the world are employing the use of big data in e-government for integrated policy making. However, in Nigeria, data-driven decision making is still a challenge due to lack of a centralized framework that can integrate different silo data centers for insightful and evidence- based governance. The paper proposes a big data-driven e-government framework for e- governance operations. The framework was designed in the Nigerian context using big data mechanisms. It was tested with an experiment that performed a sentiment analysis to uncover the opinion of the masses on selected agencies in order to help policy making. This was done with datasets collected from the social media handles of two (2) government agencies – the Nigerian police force and the Nigerian army. The results uncovered the actual opinions of the populace concerning both agencies as it regards national security. The framework promises a host of benefits such as centralized data entry point for governance, data harvesting system, seamless integration and collaboration of government operations and an easy application of open data policy. The paper concludes with four (4) recommendations which the government of any developing nation can imbibe for results-oriented e-governance and increase the quality of service to citizens and businesses. Keywords: big data, data, e-government, e-governance, framework, hadoop, sentiment analysis

Educational approaches for improving physicians' use of health information technology.

The benefits of Health Information Technology (HIT) depend on the way they are being used. Education and training are often needed to move from basic to advanced, value-adding, use. In this article, we describe three educational approaches that can help in achieving this goal: "productive failure," video tutorials, and simulation. We describe the rationale behind these approaches, their strengths, and limitations and illustrate their application, respectively, to three problems associated with the use of HIT in clinical practice: improving data quality within Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) at the point of data entry, use of advanced EMR features for chronic disease management, and impact of the EMR on patient-clinician communication. We conclude that, while these approaches are promising, there is a need for innovation and diversity of educational approaches to address use of advanced HIT features, identified challenges with HIT, and usage in context-as well as for rigorous evaluation.

Implementing Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Outpatient Cosmetic Surgery Clinics: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.

Patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) data are increasingly being collected over the internet or on a smart device by means of electronic versions (e-PROMs). Limited evidence exists about factors influencing e-PROM implementation in outpatient clinics. The authors sought to identify barriers to collection of PRO data from different locations (home or cosmetic surgery office) by means of different modes (paper vs e-PROM) from the perspective of patients, plastic surgeons, and clinic administrative staff; and to explore patient preferences for the design of e-PROM platforms. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 patients, 3 cosmetic surgeons, and administrative staff. Patients were shown 1 of the 3 PROMs (ie, the BODY-Q Satisfaction with Body scale, BREAST-Q Augmentation Module Satisfaction with Breast scale, or FACE-Q Satisfaction with Facial Appearance scale). The formats included paper and electronic (REDCap and TickiT) on a tablet and laptop computer. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative descriptive analysis was conducted. Patients and providers preferred electronic over paper format. The flexibility of the hardware, data entry point (remote location vs point-of-care), and the privacy of the data were the most recurring themes from the patient's perspective. The objective of collecting PROM data, role in peer-benchmarking, and return on investment were key to surgeons and administrative staff. The e-PROMs were well accepted in the community setting by the patients and plastic surgeons alike. The design and interface features of e-PROMs were explored in this study, which may be useful for future, mixed method studies evaluating the implementation of e-PROMs.

Introduction and uptake of electronic growth charts in southern New Zealand.

The introduction of an electronic system for recording and displaying growth measurements replaces multiple paper growth charts and theoretically improves the availability and consistency of information to support clinical decision-making. Introducing this in a single New Zealand District Health Board provided the opportunity to evaluate usage in hospital settings and determine the uptake of growth recording in a defined population. All records between 2010 and 2015 in the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) anthropometry database were downloaded and examined in a retrospective cohort analysis. Records were extracted after matching to demographic and clinical setting data from the hospital patient management system. Analysis included 30 670 data entry points, representing 8551 children. Data entry increased over time to a maximum of 8407 observations in 2015. By the fifth year of use, up to 67% of available clinical encounters had anthropometry recorded in the outpatient department. Rates were lower in the inpatient setting, where only up to 18.4% had anthropometry recorded. The errors identified were low (0.2% of all data). Weight was the most commonly recorded measurement (98.2% of anthropometry entries, 35.1% of available clinical presentations). Height was available for 82.6% of entries and 29.5% of presentations. A body mass index z-score was available for 81.5% of entries and 29.1% of presentations. A head circumference was available for 50.2% of children <2 years age who had anthropometry recorded. The introduction of an electronic anthropometry database has been successful with increasing rates of use over time, especially in outpatient clinics. Further focus to improve inpatient recording of height and weight is needed.

Smart Phones in Research: A tool for data capture by undergraduate medical students during Re-Orientation of Medical Education (ROME) training.

Dear Editor, Re-Orientation of Medical Education(ROME), a one month posting ofundergraduate students in department ofCommunity Medicine, is used not only to buildup the knowledge, attitude, communication andclinical skills, but also to make the physician incontact with the community efficiently. In 1977,the ROME scheme aimed at developing medicaldoctors for the rural community in the visionof medical education, which later envisagedtraining a basic doctor to serve better at the firstcontact with rural and urban community (1, 2).During the posting, the students conducted houseto house survey in rural and urban communitiesand prepared a detailed report of the researchactivities and planned intervention based on theneeds of the community.World consumption of paper has grown 400%in the last four decades. About 35% of the totaltrees cut around the world are used in paperindustries (3). To reduce the paper consumption,The Ugandan Ministry of Health advocated theuse of smart phones in integrated communitycase management approach for health careproviders for child health (4). Every year inROME more than thousands of pages of papersare used for data collection. As a small initiativeto save paper in this year (2018) ROME training,completely paper-less questionnaires were madeand used. Smart phones were used as a tool fordata collection and data entry. Even in the largescale surveys, data capture can be easily done(5). Epicollect5 software (developed by ImperialCollege London funded by the Wellcome trust)was used to collect data through a mobile app.The mobile based data collection has benefitsover paper-based approaches. The Epicollect5software enables the creators or managersto identify the errors and allows mid-coursecorrection in minimal time. The instances ofdata entry error/missing data can be avoidedby applying checks at the data entry point. Thedata are transferred to a central server near –instantaneously; therefore, the data are storedand backed up securely, and the risk of dataloss is minimal. Epicollect5 is available for bothAndroid (4.4+) and iOS (8+)-based mobile phonesin play store and app store, respectively. There arevarious resources for mobile phone-based datacollection solutions (6).As the students are familiar with the smart phones, training requirements were almostminimal. The students grasped it in almost realtime.It would be right to say the technology hasimbibed the younger generation more, than beinglearnt by them.Use of mobile phones was so convenient,feasible and user-friendly to capture data(data collection as well as data entry). By theend of day 5 of data collection by a group of40 undergraduate students, the total numbersof households covered were 963 and 3527individuals. During the survey period, a batchof 150 undergraduate students collected the dataof around 15575 individuals by using this mobileapp. This actually reduced the time and costsinvolved in acquiring or maintaining dedicatedtools for data capture. The app also gives anopportunity to collect audios, videos and GPSco-ordinates. As compared to previous years'ROME posting which were done in a similarsetting with paper-based questionnaire; the totalnumber of participants interviewed by a group of30-35 students were around 2200 to 2600 over aperiod of 10 days of data collection which wasfollowed by another 5 days of data entry in MSExcel/ EpiData software.Appropriate use of technology in researchhelped the students to minimize the hours spentin data collection and entry and provoked theirinterest in research since the app-based datacollection was more interesting as compared topaper-based approach for them.

Food logging: an information literacy perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of information literacy (IL) in food logging, the activity of recording food intake and monitoring weight and other health conditions that may be affected by diet, using applications (apps) accessed through mobile devices and personal computers.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from a small group of food logging app users through a focus group and interviews. Analysis was informed by practice theory and the growing interest in IL outside educational settings.FindingsFood logging revolves around the epistemic modality of information, but it is the user who creates information and it is not textual. Food logging is associated with a discourse of focussing on data and downplaying the corporeal information associated with eating and its effect on the body. Social information was an important source for choosing an app, but data were rarely shared with others. Food loggers are very concerned with data quality at the point of data entry. They have a strong sense of learning about healthy eating. They were not well informed about the data privacy and access issues.Practical implicationsFood loggers need to be better informed about data risks around food logging.Originality/valueThis is the first study of food logging from an IL perspective.

Systematic Pedagogy to Line Balancing with EXCEL

Over the past ten years, simple and inexpensive operations research software that is user friendly to the mentor, student, and instructor has become difficult to obtain. This is especially true since Emmons, Flowers, Khot, and Mathur’s STORM 4.0 for Windows is obsolete for current 32 and 64 bit operating systems and no longer in print. After a diligent product and literature search, it appears there is no adequate inexpensive software that is easily available. Assembly line balancing algorithms are heuristic methods used for balancing operations or production lines. However, most methods employ complex calculations that are challenging to the mentor and mentee. This paper presents a pedagogy from a systems approach using Microsoft EXCEL. The object is to prepare a spreadsheet file with four separate worksheets that are linked to the first worksheet. The step-by-step systematic approach allows the entry on the main worksheet of data such as an annual demand, annual time available, and process times. When the user changes these data entry points, the efficiencies of each operating or production line are automatically re-computed for all three shifts. Worksheets use one of the several available heuristics to compute cycle times (required time between process activities) and transfers it to one, two, or three shifts (worksheets two, three, or four). Once the spreadsheet and accompanying worksheets were completed, the results were compared to several different heuristic algorithms. When authors were satisfied that the results were accurate and not significantly different from other examined algorithms, the final step was to develop a working pedagogy to efficiently describe the process. This allows the user an efficient analytical tool to illustrate and explain interactions within a given process. A local manufacturing facility used this method as a part of a monthly effort to increase line efficiency for individual workstations. The project’s results were satisfactorily tested in a production operations class. The major advantage to the practitioner, engineer, instructor, and student is that EXCEL is readily available on all personal computers, easily understood, and is very practical. Students with very little exposure to line balancing were able to master the method within the first hour of exposure.

Hip arthroscopy: a patient education and clinical research tool.

Many mobile medical applications are available for the practicing surgeon, but few offer simultaneous clinical utility and hip specificity for the hip preservationist. The application, Hip Arthroscopy (Free on the AppStore for iPAD iOS), was developed by Alberto Sanchez, MD, PhD to meet the need for mobile software that comprises patient education and outcomes tools. This application provides point of care learning and clinical outcomes resources- primarily on femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). The application is available in English and Spanish, and may be downloaded by both patients and practitioners. The diagnosis of FAI is explained in a detailed patient brochure accessible from the application’s home screen. The brochure contains simple but informative diagrams of hip anatomy and the pathomechanics of FAI. The language is concise and accessible to the lay audience. A basic description of the pathology is followed by expectations for the clinical exam and possible treatment options. Treatment options include both non-operative and operative management plans. A video demonstrating the mechanics FAI aids in patient understanding. The application may be accessed by patients from home or recommended for review after a clinic appointment. Clinical utility of the application is enhanced by the pre-loaded outcomes questionnaires. These include the following: iHOT-12 (International Hip Outcome Tool, short version) and iHOT-33 (long version), HOS (Hip Outcome Score), HOSS (Hip Outcome Score Sports), NAHS (Non Arthritic Hip Score), mHHS (Modified Harris Hip Score) and WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index). The Visual Analog Score for pain is also available. The user interface is simple and rapid; e.g. the iHOT-33 can be completed in <3 min. These outcomes questionnaires can be emailed from the device to print, transfer into a database, or upload into an electronic medical record. The application has the capacity to reduce research costs and increase outcomes reporting by permitting data collection in the clinic or from any iOS device running the software. Although the application has great potential for a hip preservation practice, there are several limitations. First, integration across the clinical and research data entry points is limited. Second, the user interface for surgical documentation is not immediately intuitive and does not flow to other aspects of the program. Next, the utility of special functions such as radiographic measurement is unique, but requires several steps beyond a typical digital radiology interface. Finally, there is no security or encryption function that restricts transfer of private health information across unsecure networks. In summary, practitioners and researchers will find value in this application for recording both subjective outcome scores and objective clinical data. Further, the educational component of the program offers patients a simple and responsive interface on hip arthroscopy and FAI. Despite certain limitations, Hip Arthroscopy has the advantage of efficiency in data collection and mobility.