Search results for: and healthcare utilization

Authors: Thomas C. Nash

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New Zealand has a small, yet racially diverse, population of only 4.6 million people, consisting of a majority European immigrant population and a large indigenous Maori population. Because disparities in healthcare often exist among minority populations, it could be expected that the White and Maori populations of New Zealand would have unequal access to healthcare. In order to understand the ways these disparities may present themselves, it became important to travel to New Zealand in order to interview both Western and natural healthcare professionals, public health officials, health activists and Maori people. In observing the various mechanisms within the New Zealand healthcare system, some stand out as effective ways of alleviating the racial disparities often seen in healthcare. These include the efficiency of regional District Health Boards, the benefits of individuals making decisions regarding their treatment plans and the importance of cohesion among the Maori and White populations. In forming a conclusion around these observations, it is evident that the integration of Maori culture into contemporary New Zealand has benefited the healthcare system. This unity has generated support for non-Western medical treatments, in turn forming a healthcare system that creates low barriers to entry for non-traditional forms of healthcare. These low barriers allow individuals to allocate available healthcare resources in ways that are most beneficial for them and are consistent with their tastes and preferences, maximizing efficiency.

Keywords: alternative and complementary healthcare, low barriers to entry, Maori populations, racial cohesion

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Authors: Erez Yerushalmi, Sani Ziv

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The rising demand for healthcare services, without a corresponding rise in public supply, led to a debate on whether to increase private healthcare provision - especially in hospital services and second-tier healthcare. Proponents for increasing private healthcare highlight gains in efficiency, while opponents its risk to social welfare. None, however, provide a measure of the social value and its impact on the economy in terms of a monetary value. In this paper, we impute a minimum social value of public healthcare that corresponds to indifference between gains in efficiency, with losses to social welfare. Our approach resembles contingent valuation methods that introduce a hypothetical market for non-commodities, but is different from them because we use numerical simulation techniques to exploit certain market failure conditions. In this paper, we develop a general equilibrium model that distinguishes between public-private healthcare services and public-private financing. Furthermore, the social value is modelled as a by product of healthcare services. The model is then calibrated to our unique health focused Social Accounting Matrix of Israel, and simulates the introduction of a hypothetical health-labour market - given that it is heavily regulated in the baseline (i.e., the true situation in Israel today). For baseline parameters, we estimate the minimum social value at around 18% public healthcare financing. The intuition is that the gain in economic welfare from improved efficiency, is offset by the loss in social welfare due to a reduction in available social value. We furthermore simulate a deregulated healthcare scenario that internalizes the imputed value of social value and searches for the optimal weight of public and private healthcare provision.

Keywords: contingent valuation method (CVM), general equilibrium model, hypothetical market, private-public healthcare, social value of public healthcare

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Authors: Tang Jiacheng, Fang Tianyu, Liu Yicen, Xiang Xingzhou

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The proportion of healthcare services is increasing throughout the globe. The convergence of mobile technology is driving new business opportunities, innovations in healthcare service delivery and the promise of a better life tomorrow for different populations with various healthcare needs. One of the most important phases for the combination of health care and mobile applications is to elicit requirements correctly. In this paper, four articles from different research directions with four topics on healthcare were detailed analyzed and summarized. We identified the underlying problems in guidance to develop mobile applications to provide healthcare service for Older adults, Women in menopause, Patients undergoing covid. These case studies cover several elicitation methods: survey, prototyping, focus group interview and questionnaire. And the effectiveness of these methods was analyzed along with the advantages and limitations of these methods, which is beneficial to adapt the elicitation methods for future software development process.

Keywords: healthcare, software requirement elicitation, mobile applications, prototyping, focus group interview

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Authors: Andrea Knezevic, Padmini Pai, Julaine Allan, Katarzyna Olcoń, Louisa Smith

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Healthcare staff are on the frontline during times of disaster and are required to support the health and wellbeing of communities despite any personal adversity and trauma they are experiencing as a result of the disaster. This study explored the experiences of healthcare staff trained as ‘Wellness Warriors’ following the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires. The findings indicated that healthcare staff developed interpersonal skills around deep listening and connecting with others which allowed them to feel differently about work and restored their faith in healthcare leadership.

Keywords: Australian bushfires, burnout, health care providers, mental health, occupational trauma, post-disaster, wellbeing, workplace wellness

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Authors: Yousuf N. Al Khamisi, Eduardo M. Hernandez, Khurshid M. Khan

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Purpose: This paper presents a model of a Knowledge-Based (KB) using Lean Six Sigma (L6σ) principles to enhance the performance of healthcare leadership. Design/methodology/approach: Using L6σ principles to enhance healthcare leaders’ performance needs a pre-assessment of the healthcare organisation’s capabilities. The model will be developed using a rule-based approach of KB system. Thus, KB system embeds Gauging Absence of Pre-requisite (GAP) for benchmarking and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for prioritization. A comprehensive literature review will be covered for the main contents of the model with a typical output of GAP analysis and AHP. Findings: The proposed KB system benchmarks the current position of healthcare leadership with the ideal benchmark one (resulting from extensive evaluation by the KB/GAP/AHP system of international leadership concepts in healthcare environments). Research limitations/implications: Future work includes validating the implementation model in healthcare environments around the world. Originality/value: This paper presents a novel application of a hybrid KB combines of GAP and AHP methodology. It implements L6σ principles to enhance healthcare performance. This approach assists healthcare leaders’ decision making to reach performance improvement against a best practice benchmark.

Keywords: Lean Six Sigma (L6σ), Knowledge-Based System (KBS), healthcare leadership, Gauge Absence Prerequisites (GAP), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

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Authors: Tiffany Wicks

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Queer patients can face issues with self-advocating due to the factors of implicit provider bias, lack of tools and resources to self-advocate, and lack of comfortability in self-advocating based on prior experiences. In this study, five participants who identify as queer discussed their interactions with their healthcare providers. This exploratory study revealed that there is a need for healthcare provider education to reduce implicit bias and judgments about queer patients. There is also an important need for peer advocates in order to further inform healthcare promotion and decision-making before and during provider visits in an effort for a better outcome. Through this exploration, queer patients voiced their experiences and concerns to inform a need for change in healthcare collaboration between providers and patients in the queer community.

Keywords: queer, LGBT, patient, self-advocacy, healthcare

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Authors: Safeer Ahmad, Pratheek Sudhakran, M. Arif Kamal, Tarique Anwar

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In Healthcare facility designing, Efficient MEP services are very crucial because the built environment not only affects patients and family but also Healthcare staff and their outcomes. This paper shall cover the basics of Value engineering and its different phases that can be implemented to the MEP Designing stage for Healthcare facility optimization, also VE can improve the product cost the unnecessary costs associated with healthcare services. This paper explores Healthcare facility services and their Value engineering Job plan for the successful application of the VE technique by conducting a Workshop with end-users, designing team and associate experts shall be carried out using certain concepts, tools, methods and mechanism developed to achieve the purpose of selecting what is actually appropriate and ideal among many value engineering processes and tools that have long proven their ability to enhance the value by following the concept of Total quality management while achieving the most efficient resources allocation to satisfy the key functions and requirements of the project without sacrificing the targeted level of service for all design metrics. Detail study has been discussed with analysis been carried out by this process to achieve a better outcome, Various tools are used for the Analysis of the product at different phases used, at the end the results obtained after implementation of techniques are discussed.

Keywords: value engineering, healthcare facility, design, services

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Authors: Mwafak Shakoor

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The purpose of this study was to reduce patient waiting times, improve system throughput and improve resources utilization in radiology department. A discrete event simulation model was developed using Arena simulation software to investigate different alternatives to improve the overall system delivery based on adding resource scenarios due to the linkage between patient waiting times and resource availability. The study revealed that there is no addition investment need to procure additional scanner but hospital management deploy managerial tactics to enhance machine utilization and reduce the long waiting time in the department.

Keywords: discrete event simulation, radiology department, arena, waiting time, healthcare modeling, computed tomography

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Authors: Mahmood Alsaadi, Alexei Lisitsa

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Nowadays, medical devices rely completely on software whether as whole software or as embedded software, therefore, the organization that develops medical device software can benefit from adopting agile practices. Using agile practices in healthcare software development industries would bring benefits such as producing a product of a high-quality with low cost and in short period. However, medical device software development companies faced challenges in adopting agile practices. These due to the gaps that exist between agile practices and the requirements of healthcare regulations such as documentation, traceability, and formality. This research paper will conduct a study to investigate the adoption rate of agile practice in medical device software development, and they will extract and outline the requirements of healthcare regulations such as Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Medical Device Directive (MDD) that affect directly or indirectly on software development life cycle. Moreover, this research paper will evaluate the suitability of using agile practices in healthcare industries by analyzing the most popular agile practices such as eXtream Programming (XP), Scrum, and Feature-Driven Development (FDD) from healthcare industry point of view and in comparison with the requirements of healthcare regulations. Finally, the authors propose an agile mixture model that consists of different practices from different agile methods. As result, the adoption rate of agile practices in healthcare industries still low and agile practices should enhance with regard to requirements of the healthcare regulations in order to be used in healthcare software development organizations. Therefore, the proposed agile mixture model may assist in minimizing the gaps existing between healthcare regulations and agile practices and increase the adoption rate in the healthcare industry. As this research paper part of the ongoing project, an evaluation of agile mixture model will be conducted in the near future.

Keywords: adoption of agile, agile gaps, agile mixture model, agile practices, healthcare regulations

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Authors: Asima Mehaboob Khan, Rizwan Taj

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Purpose: This study aims to estimate the knowledge, attitude and practices of medical ethics among young healthcare professionals. Method: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted among young healthcare professionals from both public and private sector medical institutions. Using the convenience sampling technique, 272 healthcare professionals participated in this study. A pre-structured modified questionnaire was used to collect the data. Descriptive analyses were executed for each variable. Result: About 76.47% of healthcare professional considers the importance of adequate knowledge of medical ethics, and 82.24% declared lecture, seminars and clinical discussion as the source of their medical knowledge of biomedical ethics. About 42.44% of healthcare professionals exhibited a negative attitude toward medical ethics, 57.72% showed a mildly positive attitude, whereas 1.10% and 0.74% indicated a moderately positive attitude and a highly positive attitude towards medical ethics. Similarly, the level of practice according to medical ethics is also very poor among young healthcare professionals. 34.56% of healthcare professionals deviated from medical ethics during their clinical practices, whereas 0.74% showed a good level of medical practice according to medical ethics. Conclusion: It is concluded in this research study that young healthcare professionals have adequate theoretical knowledge of medical ethics but are not properly trained to perform their clinical practices according to the guidelines of medical ethics. Furthermore, their professional attitude is poorly developed to maintain medical ethics during their clinical practices.

Keywords: knowledge, attitude, practices, medical ethics

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Authors: Marybec Griffin

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Purpose: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to get a better understanding of healthcare usage and satisfaction among young adult gay men (YAGM), including the facility used as the usual source of healthcare, preference for coordinated healthcare, and if their primary care provider (PCP) adequately addressed the health needs of gay men. Methods: Interviews were conducted among n=800 YAGM in New York City (NYC). Participants were surveyed about their sociodemographic characteristics and healthcare usage and satisfaction access using multivariable logistic regression models. The surveys were conducted between November 2015 and June 2016. Results: The mean age of the sample was 24.22 years old (SD=4.26). The racial and ethnic background of the participants is as follows: 35.8% (n=286) Black Non-Hispanic, 31.9% (n=225) Hispanic/Latino, 20.5% (n=164) White Non-Hispanic, 4.4% (n=35) Asian/Pacific Islander, and 6.9% (n=55) reporting some other racial or ethnic background. 31.1% (n=249) of the sample had an income below $14,999. 86.7% (n=694) report having either public or private health insurance. For usual source of healthcare, 44.6% (n=357) of the sample reported a private doctor’s office, 16.3% (n=130) reported a community health center, and 7.4% (n=59) reported an urgent care facility, and 7.6% (n=61) reported not having a usual source of healthcare. 56.4% (n=451) of the sample indicated a preference for coordinated healthcare. 54% (n=334) of the sample were very satisfied with their healthcare. Findings from multivariable logistical regression models indicate that participants with higher incomes (AOR=0.54, 95% CI 0.36-0.81, p < 0.01) and participants with a PCP (AOR=0.12, 95% CI 0.07-0.20, p < 0.001) were less likely to use a walk-in facility as their usual source of healthcare. Results from the second multivariable logistic regression model indicated that participants who experienced discrimination in a healthcare setting were less likely to prefer coordinated healthcare (AOR=0.63, 95% CI 0.42-0.96, p < 0.05). In the final multivariable logistic model, results indicated that participants who had disclosed their sexual orientation to their PCP (AOR=2.57, 95% CI 1.25-5.21, p < 0.01) and were comfortable discussing their sexual activity with their PCP (AOR=8.04, 95% CI 4.76-13.58, p < 0.001) were more likely to agree that their PCP adequately addressed the healthcare needs of gay men. Conclusion: Understanding healthcare usage and satisfaction among YAGM is necessary as the healthcare landscape changes, especially given the relatively recent addition of urgent care facilities. The type of healthcare facility used as a usual source of care influences the ability to seek comprehensive and coordinated healthcare services. While coordinated primary and sexual healthcare may be ideal, individual preference for this coordination among YAGM is desired but may be limited due to experiences of discrimination in primary care settings.

Keywords: healthcare policy, gay men, healthcare access, Affordable Care Act

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Authors: Mohit Kumar, Mayur Betharia

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Healthcare domain, with the emergence of Electronic Medical Record (EMR), collects a lot of data which have been attracting Data Mining expert’s interest. In the past, doctors have relied on their intuition while making critical clinical decisions. This paper presents the means to analyze the Medical workflows to get business insights out of huge dumped medical databases. Market Basket Analysis (MBA) which is a special data mining technique, has been widely used in marketing and e-commerce field to discover the association between products bought together by customers. It helps businesses in increasing their sales by analyzing the purchasing behavior of customers and pitching the right customer with the right product. This paper is an attempt to demonstrate Market Basket Analysis applications in healthcare. In particular, it discusses the Market Basket Analysis Algorithm ‘Apriori’ applications within healthcare in major areas such as analyzing the workflow of diagnostic procedures, Up-selling and Cross-selling of Healthcare Systems, designing healthcare systems more user-friendly. In the paper, we have demonstrated the MBA applications using Angiography Systems, but can be extrapolated to other modalities as well.

Keywords: data mining, market basket analysis, healthcare applications, knowledge discovery in healthcare databases, customer relationship management, healthcare systems

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Authors: Ganesh Nivrutti Akhade

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This paper attempts to develop a reliable and valid instrument of measuring Healthcare service quality in India, and also analyses the impact of demographic factor of respondent on healthcare service quality. In this research paper , extant literature survey, discussion with stakeholder of healthcare system such as patients, patients relative, administrators of hospitals, clinics, professionals and expert interviews were used to develop a attributes of healthcare service quality dimensions. A pilot study was conducted with a sample of 31 healthcare patients of private sector, public sector ,trust hospital ,primary health care centers and clinics was surveyed in the Nagpur Metropolitan Area. At the end fifteen dimensions—reliability, assurance, responsiveness, tangibility, empathy, affordability, respect, and caring, Attitude of staff, Technical competence, Appropriateness, Safety, continuity, Effectiveness, Availability, Financial support. This fifteen-dimensional model was validated through a content validity and construct validity. The proposed research model shows acceptable fit indices. Impact of these dimensions on the Overall Healthcare Service Quality and customer satisfaction are analyzed using multiple regression technique. Findings indicate that all dimensions carry significant impact on the Overall Healthcare Service Quality perceptions and customer satisfaction. However, availability and effectiveness dimensions carry the maximum impact on the Overall healthcare Service Quality .

Keywords: healthcare, service quality, factor analysis (CFA), india, service quality dimensions

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Authors: Jonny, T. Yuri M. Zagloel

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This paper is made to present an Indonesian Healthcare model. Currently, there are nine TQM (Total Quality Management) practices in healthcare industry. However, these practices are not integrated yet. Therefore, this paper aims to integrate these practices as a model by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). After administering about 210 questionnaires to various stakeholders of this industry, a LISREL program was used to evaluate the model's fitness. The result confirmed that the model is fit because the p-value was about 0.45 or above required 0.05. This has signified that previously mentioned of nine TQM practices are able to be integrated as an Indonesian healthcare model.

Keywords: healthcare, total quality management (TQM), structural equation modeling (SEM), linear structural relations (LISREL)

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Authors: Mubarak Saadu Nabunkari, Abdullahi Abdu Ibrahim, Muhammad Ilyas

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This study looks at how Internet of Things (IoT) devices are used in healthcare to monitor and treat patients better. However, using these devices in healthcare comes with security problems. The research explores using Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems with healthcare IoT devices to solve these security challenges. Reviewing existing literature shows the current state of IoT security and emphasizes the need for better protection. The main worry is that healthcare IoT devices can be easily hacked, putting patient data and device functionality at risk. To address this, the research suggests a detailed security framework designed for these devices. This framework, based on literature and best practices, includes important security measures like authentication, data encryption, access controls, and anomaly detection. Adding SIEM systems to this framework helps detect threats in real time and respond quickly to incidents, making healthcare IoT devices more secure. The study highlights the importance of this integration and offers guidance for implementing healthcare IoT securely, efficiently, and effectively.

Keywords: cyber security, threat intelligence, forensics, heath care

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Authors: Lateefat Amao, Misagh Faezipour

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Implementing electronic health records (EHR) in healthcare is a pivotal transition aimed at digitizing and optimizing patient health information management. The expectations associated with this transition are high, even towards other health information systems (HIS) and health technology. This multifaceted process involves careful planning and execution to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care, especially as healthcare technology is a sensitive niche. Key considerations include a thorough needs assessment, judicious vendor selection, robust infrastructure development, and training and adaptation of healthcare professionals. Comprehensive training programs, data migration from legacy systems and models, interoperability, as well as security and regulatory compliance are imperative for healthcare staff to navigate EHR systems adeptly. The purpose of this work is to offer a comprehensive review of the literature on EHR implementation. It explores the impact of this health technology on health practices, highlights challenges and barriers to its successful utility, and offers practical strategies that can impact its success in healthcare. This paper provides a thorough review of studies on the adoption of EHRs, emphasizing the wide range of experiences and results connected to EHR use in the medical field, especially across different types of healthcare organizations.

Keywords: healthcare, electronic health records, EHR implementation, patient care, interoperability

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Authors: Lethola Tshikose, Munyaradzi Katurura

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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a critical role in improving daily healthcare processes. The South African healthcare organizations have adopted Information Systems to integrate their patient records. This has made it much easier for healthcare organizations because patient information can now be accessible at any time. The primary purpose of this research study was to investigate the best practices that can be applied to enhance patient security and confidentiality when using e-health systems in South Africa. Security and confidentiality are critical in healthcare organizations as they ensure safety in EHRs. The research study used an inductive research approach that included a thorough literature review; therefore, no data was collected. The research paper’s scope included patient data and possible security threats associated with healthcare systems. According to the study, South African healthcare organizations discovered various patient data security and confidentiality issues. The study also revealed that when it comes to handling patient data, health professionals sometimes make mistakes. Some may not be computer literate, which posed issues and caused data to be tempered with. The research paper recommends that healthcare organizations ensure that security measures are adequately supported and promoted by their IT department. This will ensure that adequate resources are distributed to keep patient data secure and confidential. Healthcare organizations must correctly use standards set up by IT specialists to solve patient data security and confidentiality issues. Healthcare organizations must make sure that their organizational structures are adaptable to improve security and confidentiality.

Keywords: E-health, EHR, security, confidentiality, healthcare

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Authors: Manal Sultan Alhussein, Xiang Michelle Liu

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Telehealth is an advanced technology using digital information and telecommunication facilities that provide access to health services from a distance. It slows the transmission factor of COVID-19, especially for elderly patients and patients with chronic diseases during the pandemic. Therefore, understanding patient perspectives on telehealth services and the factors impacting their option of telehealth service will shed light on the measures that healthcare providers can take to improve the quality of telehealth services. This study aimed to evaluate perceptions of telehealth services among different patient groups and explore various aspects of telehealth utilization in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey distributed via social media platforms was used to collect research data. In addition to the descriptive statistics, both correlation and regression analyses were conducted to test research hypotheses. The empirical results highlighted that the factors such as accessibility to telehealth services and the type of specialty clinics that the patients required play important roles in the effectiveness of telehealth services they received. However, the results found that patients’ waiting time to receive telehealth services and their annual income did not significantly influence their desire to select receiving healthcare services via telehealth. The limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: telehealth, patient satisfaction, pandemic, healthcare, survey

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Authors: Orogun Daniel Oghenekevhwe

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Africa being an agrarian continent has an abundance of fruits that are both nutritional and medicinal. Regardless of the abundance of these healing elements, Africa leads the statistics of poor healthcare globally. Among others, there are two noticeable challenges in the healthcare system which are ‘Poor access and high cost of medical healthcare’. The effects of both the access and economic implications are (1) Low responsiveness and (2) High mortality rate. While the United Nations and the global health community continue to work towards reduced mortality rates and poor responsiveness to healthcare and wellness, this paper investigates how some Africans use the spiritual symbols of African fruits as responsive catalysts to embrace naturopathy thereby reducing the effects and impacts of poor healthcare challenges in Africa. The main argument is whether there are links between spiritual symbols and fruits that influence Africans' response to naturopathy and low-cost healthcare. Following that is the question of how medical healthcare responds to such development. Bitter Kola (Garcinia) is the case study fruit, and Sunnyside in Pretoria, South Africa, has been spotted as one of the high-traffic selling points of herbal fruits. A mixed research method is applicable with an expected 20 Quantitative data respondents among sellers and nutritionists and 50 Qualitative Data respondents among consumers. Based on the results, it should be clear how spirituality contributes to alternative healthcare and how it can be further encouraged to bridge the gap between the high demand and low supply of healthcare in Africa and beyond.

Keywords: spiritual symbols, naturopathy, African fruits, spirituality, healthcare

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Authors: Erika Ruiz, Nestor Ortiz

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Lean philosophy has evolved over time and has been implemented both in manufacturing and services, more recently lean has been integrated in the companies of the health sector. Currently it is important to understand the successful way to implement this philosophy and try to identify barriers and enablers to the sustainability of lean healthcare. The main purpose of this research is to identify the barriers and enablers in the implementation of Lean Healthcare based on case studies of Colombian healthcare centers. In order to do so, we conducted semi-structured interviews based on a maturity model. The main results indicate that the success of Lean implementation depends on its adaptation to contextual factors. In addition, in the Colombian context were identified new factors such as organizational culture, management models, integration of the care and administrative departments and triple helix relationship.

Keywords: barriers, enablers, implementation, lean healthcare, sustainability

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Authors: Julaine Allan, Katarzyna Olcon, Padmini Pai, Lynne Keevers, Mim Fox, Maria Mackay, Ruth Everingham

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Effective local responses to community needs are grounded in contextual knowledge and build on existing resources. The Stability, Encompassing, Endurance & Direction (SEED) Wellbeing Program was created in 2020 in response to cumulative disasters, bushfires, floods and COVID, experienced by healthcare staff in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, NSW Australia. SEED used a participatory action methodology to bring healthcare staff teams together to engage in restorative activities in the workplace. Guided by Practice Theory, this study identified the practices that supported the recovery of healthcare staff.

Keywords: mental health and wellbeing, workplace wellness, healthcare providers, natural disasters, COVID-19, burnout, occupational trauma

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Authors: Khamis Al-Gharbi, Said M. Gattoufi, Ali H. Al-Badi, Ali Al-Hashmi

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The case study presents the progression of a project management of Al-Shifa, a healthcare information system in Oman. The case study describes the evolution of the implementation of a healthcare information system tailored to meet the needs of the healthcare units under the supervision of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Oman. A focus group methodology was used for collecting the relevant information from the main project's stakeholders. In addition reports about the project made available for the researchers. The case analysis is made based on the Project Management approach developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The main finding that there was no formal project management approach adopted by the MOH for the development and implementation of the herewith mentioned healthcare information system project. Furthermore, the project had suffered a scope creep in terms of features, cost and time-schedule. The recommendations of the authors, for the rescue of the project from its current dilemma, consist of technological, administrative and human resources development actions.

Keywords: project management, information system, healthcare, Al-Shifa, Oman

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Authors: Chellammal Surianarayanan

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Healthcare industry is generating large amounts of data driven by various needs such as record keeping, physician’s prescription, medical imaging, sensor data, Electronic Patient Record(EPR), laboratory, pharmacy, etc. Healthcare data is so big and complex that they cannot be managed by conventional hardware and software. The complexity of healthcare big data arises from large volume of data, the velocity with which the data is accumulated and different varieties such as structured, semi-structured and unstructured nature of data. Despite the complexity of big data, if the trends and patterns that exist within the big data are uncovered and analyzed, higher quality healthcare at lower cost can be provided. Hadoop is an open source software framework for distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of commodity hardware using a simple programming model. The core components of Hadoop include Hadoop Distributed File System which offers way to store large amount of data across multiple machines and MapReduce which offers way to process large data sets with a parallel, distributed algorithm on a cluster. Hadoop ecosystem also includes various other tools such as Hive (a SQL-like query language), Pig (a higher level query language for MapReduce), Hbase(a columnar data store), etc. In this paper an analysis has been done as how healthcare big data can be processed and analyzed using Hadoop ecosystem.

Keywords: big data analytics, Hadoop, healthcare data, towards quality healthcare

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Authors: Ankur Chauhan, Amol Singh

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The increasing human resource has led to the rapid increment in the generation of healthcare waste across the world. Since, this waste consists of the infectious and hazardous components emerged from the patient care activities in different healthcare facilities; therefore, its proper management becomes vital for mitigating its negative impact on society and environment. The present research work focuses on the identification of the key success factors for developing a successful healthcare waste management plan. In addition, the key success factors have been studied by developing a causal diagram with the help of a decision making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL) approach. The findings of the study would help in the filtration of dominant key success factors which would further help in making a comparative assessment of the waste management plan of different hospitals.

Keywords: healthcare waste disposal, environment and society, multi-criteria decision making, DEMATEL

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Authors: Julaine Allan, Katarzyna Olcon, Padmini Pai, Lynne Keevers, Mim Fox, Maria Mackay, Ruth Everingham, Sue Cutmore, Chris Degeling, Kristine Falzon, Summer Finlay

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Effective local responses to community needs are grounded in contextual knowledge and built on existing resources. The SEED Wellbeing Program was created in 2020 in response to cumulative disasters, bushfires, floods and COVID experienced by healthcare staff in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, NSW, Australia. SEED used a participatory action methodology to bring healthcare staff teams together to engage in restorative activities in the workplace. Guided by Practice Theory, this study identified the practices that supported the recovery of healthcare staff.

Keywords: mental health and wellbeing, workplace wellness, healthcare providers, natural disasters, COVID-19, burnout, occupational trauma

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Che Zarrina Sa'ari, Sheriza Izwa Zainuddin, Hasimah Chik, Sharifah Basirah Syed Muhsin

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Palliative care is holistic care for patients with serious illnesses and for the family as well by interdisciplinary specialties to optimize quality of life by preventing, treating, and comforting the suffering and struggling. Palliative care is not a curative treatment but a comprehensive care to ensure the well-being of patients. This study was to identify the perceptions of patients and carers on healthcare needs and any factors related to the needs of palliative patients. Validated questionnaires survey of 254 patients and carers were analysed using a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The findings were processed with Cronbach Alpha analysis, frequency, and descriptive to compare the important of each element in healthcare. Open-ended responses were analysed using thematic framework approach. The findings proved that all the items in healthcare needs elements were important because the frequency shown higher values, which were physical needs (5.91), mental needs (6.10), spiritual needs (6.34), emotional needs (6.05), social needs (5.88) and logistics needs (5.05). The total score of Cronbach’s alpha (α) for this study is 0.958, which is suggesting very good internal consistency reliability for the elements for healthcare needs. Professionals and healthcare providers need to ensure healthcare planning is individualised by tailoring it to the values, priorities, and ethnic/cultural/religious context of each person.

Keywords: healthcare, need, holistic, palliative, multi speciality

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Authors: Nilgün Katrancı, Pınar Göv

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The privatization of public services has intensified and extended the delivery of healthcare services at hospitals, which leads to an increase in health and safety risks for healthcare professionals. More efficient and effective delivery of healthcare services can be realized through the provision of occupational safety of healthcare professionals. However, healthcare professionals are exposed to more dangers, accidents, and diseases because of such reasons as present working conditions, hospital infections, lack of ergonomic design, medication, wastes, excessive work load, negligent attitudes of workers, violence, psychological risks, etc. Unsafe working conditions cause fear, injury and wearing impacts in healthcare professionals in many countries. Thus, it is emphasized that the protection of the health of healthcare professionals is important to have educated, healthy workers and adequate workforce. Occupational health and safety measures applied in health facilities are aimed at protecting workers and providing the safety of services and facilities. All activities to be undertaken at hospitals with regard to occupational safety in accordance with these goals will help to reduce costs and provide continuous services. At the same time, a safe working environment will increase worker satisfaction and motivation, sense of institutional belonging and indirectly patient safety and satisfaction. In addition, the control and correction of occupational safety activities are also as important as the implementation. Occupational health and safety practices in the facilities will also lead to positive developments for national economy and society. This study emphasizes that approaching occupational safety practices for healthcare professionals in a sensitive manner is important for enabling healthcare professionals to do more productive works in terms of physical, social and psychological aspects, maintaining the continuity of healthcare services and social and economic contributions.

Keywords: health facilities, healthcare professional, occupational health, occupational safety

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Authors: M. Emmanouilidou

Abstract:

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a disruptive technological paradigm that is at the center of the digital evolution by integrating physical and virtual worlds leading to the creation of extended interconnected ecosystems that are characterized as smart environments. The concept of the IoT has a broad range of applications in different industries including the healthcare sector. The Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT), a branch of the IoT, is expected to bring promising benefits to all involved stakeholders and accelerate the revolution of the healthcare sector through a transition towards preventive and personalized medicine. The socio-economic challenges that the healthcare sector is facing further emphasize the need for a radical transformation of healthcare systems in both developed and developing countries with the role of pervasive technological innovations, such as IoHT, recognized as key to counteract the relevant challenges. Besides the number of potential opportunities that IoHT presents, there are fundamental ethical concerns that need to be considered and addressed in relation to the application of IoHT. This paper contributes to the discussion of the emerging topic of IoHT by providing an overview of the role and potential of IoHT, highlighting the characteristics of the current and future healthcare landscape, reporting on the up-to-date status of IoHT in Europe and reflecting upon existing research in the ethics of IoHT by incorporating additional ethical dimensions that have been ignored which can provide pathways for future research in the field.

Keywords: ethics, Europe, healthcare, Internet of Things

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Authors: Gagandeep Kaur

Abstract:

Cloud computing uses various computing resources such as CPU, memory, processor etc. which is used to deliver service over the network and is one of the emerging fields for large scale distributed computing. In cloud computing, execution of large number of tasks with available resources to achieve high performance, minimal total time for completion, minimum response time, effective utilization of resources etc. are the major research areas. In the proposed research, an algorithm has been proposed to achieve high performance in load balancing and resource utilization. The proposed algorithm is used to reduce the makespan, increase the resource utilization and performance cost for independent tasks. Further scheduling metrics based on algorithm in cloud computing has been proposed.

Keywords: resource utilization, response time, load balancing, performance cost

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Authors: Pariya Sheykhmaleki, Debajyoti Pati

Abstract:

Rural areas in the United States face numerous challenges in providing quality and assessable primary healthcare services, especially during emergencies such as natural disasters or pandemics. This study showcases a cutting-edge flexible module that aims to overcome these challenges by offering adaptable healthcare facilities capable of providing comprehensive health services in remote and disaster-prone regions. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), approximately 62 million Americans, or 1 in 5 individuals, live in areas designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) for primary care. These areas are characterized by limited access to healthcare facilities, shortage of healthcare professionals, transportation barriers, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, higher rates of chronic diseases, mental health disparities, and limited availability of specialized care, including urgent circumstances like pandemics that can exacerbate this issue. To address these challenges, the literature study began by examining primary health solutions in very remote areas, e.g., spaceships, to identify the state-of-the-art technologies and the methods used to facilitate primary care needs. The literature study on flexibility in architecture and interior design was also adapted to develop a conceptual design for rural areas. The designed flexible module provides an innovative solution. This module can be prefabricated as all parts are standardized. The flexibility of the module allows the structure to be modified based on local and geographical requirements as well as the ability to expand as required. It has been designed to stand either by itself or work in tandem with public buildings. By utilizing sustainable approaches and flexible spatial configurations, the module optimizes the utilization of limited resources while ensuring efficient and effective healthcare delivery. Furthermore, the poster highlights the key features of this flexible module, including its ability to support telemedicine and telehealth services for all five levels of urgent care conditions, i.e., from facilitating fast tracks to supporting emergency room services, in two divided zones. The module's versatility enables its deployment in rural areas located far from urban centers and disaster-stricken regions, ensuring access to critical healthcare services in times of need. This module is also capable of responding in urban areas when the need for primary health becomes vastly urgent, e.g., during a pandemic. It emphasizes the module's potential to bridge the healthcare gap between rural and urban areas and mitigate the impact of rural health challenges.

Keywords: rural health, healthcare challenges, flexible modular design, telemedicine, telehealth

Procedia PDF Downloads 77