Webicina: Let the discussion begin

“After months of hard work, today we launched Webicina officially, an online service that aims to help medical professionals and patients enter the web 2.0 era.
Please visit our site and register to get access to the free e-courses and to see what kind of services we provide.”
Article
Bertalan Meskó, ScienceRoll, 7 October 2008

Webicina

Privacy & Consumer Education

“There has been more written, commented upon and just general noise around the whole topic of privacy and medical records that it is often difficult to separate what truly is important and reason for concern and what is not.”
Article
John Moore, Chilmark Research, 7 October 2008

Interviews about Medicine 2.0

“Medicine 2.0 is an interesting new field of medicine and focuses on how web 2.0 can change medical education and communication. Two interviews have recently been published about my views on this topic.”
Article
Bertalan Meskó, ScienceRoll, 1 October 2008

Four Challenges in Personalized Medicine

“Personalized medicine has just begun to alter health care in fundamental and profound ways. Genetic tests have already become mainstream practice for some cancers in identifying treatment strategies. And as an indication of what the future might hold, genetic analyses indicate that asthma, hypertension and Alzheimer’s have many genes in common. But before we can take full advantage of available genetic information, there are four factors we need to address: the electronic health record, reimbursement, privacy practices, and provider and patient education. These are in addition to the progress in medical science needed to understand the specifics of the relationships among our genome, the environment and our health.”
Article
John Glaser, HHNMostWired, 1 October 2008

Medical Education Evolution: The Database

“Medical Education Evolution is a community for those who are passionate about changing medical education with web 2.0 tools. We are working on a concept about how to implement web 2.0 tools into medical education. That’s why we started to construct a database of medicine 2.0-related links. If you have suggestions how to improve the database, feel free to drop me an e-mail so I can invite you to edit the page.”
Article
Bertalan Meskó, ScienceRoll, 21 September 2008

New Youtube Channels

“I wanted to share two new, medicine-related Youtube channels with you. The first one is managed by the Detroit Medical Center and focuses on medical animations, educational materials.”
Article
Bertalan Meskó, ScienceRoll, 11 September 2008

Internet-Based Learning in the Health Professions

“Context  The increasing use of Internet-based learning in health professions education may be informed by a timely, comprehensive synthesis of evidence of effectiveness.
Objectives  To summarize the effect of Internet-based instruction for health professions learners compared with no intervention and with non-Internet interventions.
Data Sources  Systematic search of MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, TimeLit, Web of Science, Dissertation Abstracts, and the University of Toronto Research and Development Resource Base from 1990 through 2007.
Study Selection  Studies in any language quantifying the association of Internet-based instruction and educational outcomes for practicing and student physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and other health care professionals compared with a no-intervention or non-Internet control group or a preintervention assessment.
Data Extraction  Two reviewers independently evaluated study quality and abstracted information including characteristics of learners, learning setting, and intervention (including level of interactivity, practice exercises, online discussion, and duration).
Data Synthesis  There were 201 eligible studies. Heterogeneity in results across studies was large (I²  79%) in all analyses. Effect sizes were pooled using a random effects model. The pooled effect size in comparison to no intervention favored Internet-based interventions and was 1.00 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.90-1.10; P < .001; n = 126 studies) for knowledge outcomes, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.49-1.20; P < .001; n = 16) for skills, and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.63-1.02; P < .001; n = 32) for learner behaviors and patient effects. Compared with non-Internet formats, the pooled effect sizes (positive numbers favoring Internet) were 0.10 (95% CI, –0.12 to 0.32; P = .37; n = 43) for satisfaction, 0.12 (95% CI, 0.003 to 0.24; P = .045; n = 63) for knowledge, 0.09 (95% CI, –0.26 to 0.44; P = .61; n = 12) for skills, and 0.51 (95% CI, –0.24 to 1.25; P = .18; n = 6) for behaviors or patient effects. No important treatment-subgroup interactions were identified.
Conclusions  Internet-based learning is associated with large positive effects compared with no intervention. In contrast, effects compared with non-Internet instructional methods are heterogeneous and generally small, suggesting effectiveness similar to traditional methods. Future research should directly compare different Internet-based interventions.”
Abstract
David A. Cook; Anthony J. Levinson; Sarah Garside; Denise M. Dupras; Patricia J. Erwin; Victor M. Montori; JAMA. 2008;300(10):1181-1196

Medicine 2.0

“The Medicine 2.0 Congress was held last week in Toronto, Canada. I attended on my way back from the AMEE 2008 conference in Prague.
My role was to chair the session on medical education on day 1 and to present 2 talks on day 2, one on mobile computing and one on online communities.
The event was a great opportunity to catch up with my health informatics colleagues and meet face-to-face with previously only online acquaintances.”
Article
Chris Paton, Health Informatics Blog, 9 September 2008

Versatile, Immersive, Creative and Dynamic Virtual 3-D Healthcare Learning Environments: A Review of the Literature

“The author provides a critical overview of three-dimensional (3-D) virtual worlds and “serious gaming” that are currently being developed and used in healthcare professional education and medicine. The relevance of this e-learning innovation for teaching students and professionals is debatable and variables influencing adoption, such as increased knowledge, self-directed learning, and peer collaboration, by academics, healthcare professionals, and business executives are examined while looking at various Web 2.0/3.0 applications. There is a need for more empirical research in order to unearth the pedagogical outcomes and advantages associated with this e-learning technology. A brief description of Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Siemens’ Connectivism Theory for today’s learners is presented as potential underlying pedagogical tenets to support the use of virtual 3-D learning environments in higher education and healthcare.”
Article
Margaret M Hansen, J Med Internet Res 2008;10(3):e26, doi:10.2196/jmir.1051

Medicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness

“In a very significant development for eHealth, broad adoption of Web 2.0 technologies and approaches coincides with the more recent emergence of Personal Health Application Platforms and Personally Controlled Health Records such as Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, and Dossia. “Medicine 2.0” applications, services and tools are defined as Web-based services for health care consumers, caregivers, patients, health professionals, and biomedical researchers, that use Web 2.0 technologies and/or semantic web and virtual reality approaches to enable and facilitate specifically 1) social networking, 2) participation, 3) apomediation, 4) openness and 5) collaboration, within and between these user groups. The Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) publishes a Medicine 2.0 theme issue and sponsors a conference on “How Social Networking and Web 2.0 changes Health, Health Care, Medicine and Biomedical Research”, to stimulate and encourage research in these five areas.”
Article
Günther Eysenbach, J Med Internet Res 2008;10(3):e22, doi:10.2196/jmir.1030

Reaching and Teaching Teens: Adolescent Health Literacy and the Internet

“Virtually 100% of American teens have access to the Internet either at home, school, libraries, or elsewhere, and the majority are using it daily. The Internet has become one of the most important vehicles to educate and inform young people about health and medical issues. However, many teens have limited searching skills or problems with literacy and other issues that may make it difficult for them to locate and understand authoritative information. Parents, teachers, school nurses, health professionals, librarians, and Web designers who impact teenagers’ health knowledge and skill development in information seeking, health decision making, and health literacy should be aware of the issues in dealing with this unique group and should also be familiar with quality health resources on the Web.”
Abstract
Elaine N. Skopelja, Elizabeth C. Whipple, Peggy Richwine, Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, Volume: 12, Issue: 2, 105 - 118, DOI: 10.1080/15398280802121406

The use of blogging to support professional learning

“Web 2.0 tools are relatively new, yet fast growing Internet-based tools that have evolved from the websites that we have become familiar with. To be Web 2.0, the tool must support the coming together of people, to create online communities of interest focused on the creation or furthering of knowledge. Engagement in these communities is believed to provide opportunities for deeper learning. With this focus on learning, it is proposed in this article that Web 2.0 tools provides occupational therapists (and other health professionals) with the opportunity to use these tools either as an adjunct to, or replacement for, the traditional learning experiences of conferences, seminars or workshops. One tool, the blog, is discussed in depth, with examples from occupational therapy blogs provided to illustrate the value. Blogging offers the creator/reader with the opportunity to engage in discussion with others, leading to a process of reflection that enables better understanding of oneself and one’s actions, as well as those of others. The advantages of blogging over other professional development mechanisms are described, leading to the view that if academics, researchers, students and practitioners were active creators, readers and contributors to blogs, then the knowledge of the profession could be furthered.”
Article
Merrolee Penman, HealthCare & Informatics Review Online, 30 June 2008

Web 2.0: A Movement Within The Health Community

“Web 2.0 technologies provide members of the health community - health professionals, health consumers, health carers and medical and health science students - with new and innovative ways to create, disseminate and share information both individually and collaboratively. This phenomenon has been termed Health 2.0. However, Health 2.0 is more than the application of these technologies in the health community; it is a movement that is beginning to transform the nature of health care, particularly in the US.
In this paper we present and explain four Web 2.0 technologies - blogs, wikis, podcasts, and social networks - and look at how these technologies are currently being used by health professionals. We consider the use of Web 2.0 technologies by health consumers to find and share information and to form support communities and then we explore a Web 2.0 pedagogical model that would connect medical and health science students - tomorrow’s health care professionals - with today’s health professionals and health consumers in order to enhance student education through providing collaborative learning opportunities together with ready access to multiple sources of information and expertise.
We conclude with some comments on what Web 2.0 might mean for the future of health care.”
Article
Iain Doherty, HealthCare & Informatics Review Online, 30 June 2008

Why Health or Medicine 2.0?

“At The Deloitte Center, you will find even more details about the web usage of health consumers. Yes, there will be much more patients who seek health-related information on the web and who want to communicate with their doctors via e-mail or Skype.”
Article
Bertalan Meskó, ScienceRoll, 14 July 2008

Are you getting through?

“If you think patient literacy isn’t a problem in your practice, think again. A 2004 Institute of Medicine report found that one out of two adults has problems understanding patient education literature, forms they’re asked to complete, medication instructions, and information the doctor tells them about their health conditions and treatments.”
Article
Neil Chesanow, Medical Economics, 7 July 2008

Las nuevas tecnologías de la información en Medicina revolucionarán la formación

“Los profesionales de la Medicina aún no están explotando el potencial que ofrecen las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) tanto en la práctica clínica como en el campo de la formación, según José Luis Fresquet, profesor de historia de la ciencia de la Universidad de Valencia.”
Article (Spanish)
Karla Islas Pieck, Diario Médico, 3 July 2008

Cigna rolls-out virtual world program pilot for healthcare

“Cigna is rolling-out a pilot project of its virtual world for the healthcare industry, a computer simulated community that aims at positively changing healthcare behaviors.
The program is called GET (go, experience and thrive) and is based on the Second Life platform.”
Article
Molly Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 30 June 2008

Medical Education Evolution

A new forum started 27 June 2008.
Medical Education Evolution is a community for those passionate about innovation within the medical curriculum based on the belief that “renovating” medical education is a necessary component of moving towards patient-directed, consumer-centric care - “what’s next” in health and wellness.
Forum

AHIP adopts principles on patient-centered medical home

“The board of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the trade group for health insurers, has adopted core principles on the development of a patient-centered medical home, including payment realignments.”
Article
Rebecca Vesely, Modern Healthcare Online, 26 June 2008

Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet

Table of Contents for Volume: 12 Issue: 1

Article: The Refugee Health Information Network: A Source of Multilingual and Multicultural Health Information
Gale A. Dutcher; Page Range: 1 - 12; DOI: 10.1080/15398280802081402
The Refugee Health Information Network is an electronic resource designed to make accessible culturally and linguistically appropriate health and medical information in order to improve health services for refugees and asylees. Much of this information will clearly be of value to immigrants as well. This is also a network designed to facilitate collaboration and sharing among state refugee health coordinators and clinics providing services to refugee and immigrant communities.

Article: My HealtheVet: Fighting for Health with Information
Janet Schneider; Page Range: 13 - 21; DOI: 10.1080/15398280802081410
Patients are increasingly demanding access to health information and their own medical records. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recognized this desire in its patient population, and developed My HealtheVet as a national Web site that serves as an authoritative portal for veterans and their families to find health and benefits information, as well as refill VA-issued prescriptions, log personal medical information, and enter daily health metrics. The site has logged over 11 million visits since its national debut in November 2003 and has proven its value to veterans.

Article: Transforming Diabetes Self-Management or Not
Catherine M. Boss, Colleen Wolfe, Yen-Hong Kuo; Page Range: 23 - 36; DOI: 10.1080/15398280802081428
Funding from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) in the fall of 2004 assisted in the establishment of the Health-e Learning Project by the librarians of Meridian Health, a health system in southeastern New Jersey. Health-e Learning’s project goal was to establish a self-sustaining educational initiative to steer older adults toward the reputable medical Web site MedlinePlus and to train them to navigate this site to self-manage a chronic condition. The Health-e Learning Project was not successful in transforming diabetes self-management as originally planned, with only a handful of older adults trained, too small a number to be statistically significant.

Article: Consumer Health Web Sites for Parents of Children with Autism
Robin M. Sabo, Julie M. Lorenzen; Page Range: 37 - 49; DOI: 10.1080/15398280802081436
Many parents of children with autism search the Internet to learn more about the condition. Unfortunately, variability in Web site quality, low literacy levels, and language barriers may prevent them from finding reliable information. To assist parents in locating high quality resources, this article provides an annotated list of Web sites on health aspects of autism. Both a health sciences librarian and a parent of a child with autism present their perspectives and discuss the broader is sue about how parents of children with medical conditions use the Internet.

Article: Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN)
Donna MacLeod; Page Range: 51 - 56; DOI: 10.1080/15398280802081444
Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) provides its Web site to educate, advocate, and make available research information about food allergies to the public. Many helpful features include downloadable forms, brochures, and guidelines; support groups; further medical contact information; and the Kids/Teens Web sites. This resource is reviewed for scientific accuracy by a medical advisory board. There is also a Teen Advisory Group which contributes and reviews the Teen Web site’s content and style.

Experts want IT to play role in Philippine health care

“While the public and private sectors currently use information and communications technology (ICT) in contrasting levels, both agree that innovative technologies could serve as a tool for bridging the country’s yawning health gap.”
Article
Computerworld Philippines, 5 May 2008

U-M to offer free online health professions educational materials

“The University of Michigan has launched a pilot project to make comprehensive pre-clinical health curricula available worldwide via the Internet.
The project addresses the education of healthcare providers in developing countries in Africa and other parts of the globe.
It also enhances the access for health science schools around the world to materials that can be used to help educate health professionals.”
Article
Richard Pizzi, Healthcare IT News, 29 April 2008

BCS launches new NHS IT qualification

“A new qualification, NHS ELITE (NHS eLearning IT Essentials), has been launched by the British Computer Society and Department of Health IT agency Connecting for Health.
Officially launched at last week’s Healthcare Computing 2008 conference, the new qualification, accredited by the BCS, helps to consolidate the IT skills of NHS staff by offering valuable hands-on IT training from using a keyboard and mouse, through to email, web and file management skills.”
Article
eHealth Insider, 29 April 2008