Josette Jones
Assistant ProfessorHealth Informatics
ude[dot]iupui[at]senojfoj
Integrating Consumer Health Information Needs Extracted from Online Se
The central tenet of the emerging transdisciplinary research is to design and build an innovative knowledge management model and interactive health information system that dynamically adjusts to the users’ (providers and patients) information needs based on contextual triggers in disease prevention and management. The research will capitalize on the availability of online information resources for evidence-based practice including clinical practice guidelines, online clinical data, and other standardized tools from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies and professional organizations. Using data from the mining and analyses of providers’ and consumers’ online information searches, the system will be designed to provide patient-triggered, patient-focused information at the point-of-need. The result of this process will be an interactive Personal Health Record (PHR), a Web-based information portal for health consumers seeking information about their disease and its care. A key feature of the PHR is its ability to deliver patient-specific information based on each individual’s interactions with the system and to create a communication channel with the provider. Analogous to evidence-based practice approaches used in health care delivery, the research seeks to integrate the following: • Current evidence-based resources and clinical practice guidelines • Information captured in electronically captured clinical data such as Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO) Electronic Medical Records (EMR), and Personal Health Records (PHR) • Competencies and expertise of the health care provider • Preferences, characteristics and diseases stage of the consumer Currently, most Web-based health information resources are static, providing only generalized information rather than patient-focused content. From an information management perspective, these systems do not provide providers or patients with access to relevant and comprehensive information Research illustrates the need for patient-centered and staged information and teaching throughout all phases of disease and recovery. For this reasons, the research will build and evaluate knowledge models that merge appropriate information resources in an interactive, web-based, user-friendly format. The system will ultimately provide just-in-time, contextual information for optimizing health care providers and consumers’ interactions, leading to improved satisfaction and health outcomes. Participating in this transdisciplinary research are Malika Mahoui (Informatics), Katherine Schilling (SLIS), Yuni Xia (Computer Sciences), Michael Weiner (Regenstrief), David Haggstrom (VA), George Allen (VA, and Yuni Xia (Computer Science).