Search results for: integrated medical system

Authors: Mannan Mridha, Mohammad S. Islam

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Innovative medical technologies offer more effective medical care, with less risk to patient and healthcare personnel. Medical technology and devices when properly used provide better data, precise monitoring and less invasive treatments and can be more targeted and often less costly. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipped with patient monitoring, respiratory and cardiac support, pain management, emergency resuscitation and life support devices is particularly prone to medical errors for various reasons. Many people in the developing countries now wonder whether their visit to hospital might harm rather than help them. This is because; clinicians in the developing countries are required to maintain an increasing workload with limited resources and absence of well-functioning safety system. A team of experts from the medical, biomedical and clinical engineering in Sweden and Bangladesh have worked together to study the incidents, adverse events at the ICU in Bangladesh. The study included both public and private hospitals to provide a better understanding for physical structure, organization and practice in operating processes of care, and the occurrence of adverse outcomes the errors, risks and accidents related to medical devices at the ICU, and to develop a ICT based support system in order to reduce hazards and errors and thus improve the quality of performance, care and cost effectiveness at the ICU. Concrete recommendations and guidelines have been made for preparing appropriate ICT related tools and methods for improving the routine for use of medical devices, reporting and analyzing of the incidents at the ICU in order to reduce the number of undetected and unsolved incidents and thus improve the patient safety.

Keywords: intensive care units, medical errors, medical devices, patient care and safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Francis Chinweuba Eboh, Tobias Richards

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In this study, a waste-to-energy combined heat and power plant under construction was modelled and simulated with the Aspen Plus software. The base case process plant was evaluated and compared when integrated with flue gas condensation (FGC) in order to find out the impact of the exergy efficiency and economic feasibility as well as the effect of overall system exergy losses and revenue generated in the investigated plant. The economic evaluations were carried out using the vendor cost data from Aspen process economic analyser. The results indicate that 4 % increase in the exergy efficiency and 29 % reduction in the exergy loss in the flue gas were obtained when the flue gas condensation was incorporated. Furthermore, with the integrated FGC, the net present values (NPV) and income generated in the base process plant were increased by 29 % and 10 % respectively after 20 years of operation.

Keywords: economic feasibility, exergy efficiency, exergy losses, flue gas condensation, waste-to-energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: J. Carlos Frutos Dordelly, M. Coillot, M. El Mankibi, R. Enríquez Miranda, M. José Jimenez, J. Arce Landa

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Natural ventilation systems have increasingly been the subject of research due to rising energetic consumption within the building sector and increased environmental awareness. In the last two decades, the mounting concern of greenhouse gas emissions and the need for an efficient passive ventilation system have driven the development of new alternative passive technologies such as ventilated facades, trombe walls or solar chimneys. The objective of the study is the assessment of PCM panels in an in situ solar chimney for the establishment of a numerical model. The PCM integrated solar chimney shows slight performance improvement in terms of mass flow rate and external temperature and outlet temperature difference. An increase of 11.3659 m³/h can be observed during low wind speed periods. Additionally, the surface temperature across the chimney goes beyond 45 °C and allows the activation of PCM panels.

Keywords: energy storage, natural ventilation, phase changing materials, solar chimney, solar energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Tadesse Anberbir, Felix Bankole, Tomio Takara, Girma Mamo

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In the development of a text-to-speech synthesizer, automatic derivation of correct pronunciation from the grapheme form of a text is a central problem. Particularly deriving phonological features which are not shown in orthography is challenging. In the Amharic language, geminates and epenthetic vowels are very crucial for proper pronunciation but neither is shown in orthography. In this paper, we proposed and integrated a morphological analyzer into an Amharic Text-to-Speech system, mainly to predict geminates and epenthetic vowel positions, and prepared a duration modeling method. Amharic Text-to-Speech system (AmhTTS) is a parametric and rule-based system that adopts a cepstral method and uses a source filter model for speech production and a Log Magnitude Approximation (LMA) filter as the vocal tract filter. The naturalness of the system after employing the duration modeling was evaluated by sentence listening test and we achieved an average Mean Opinion Score (MOS) 3.4 (68%) which is moderate. By modeling the duration of geminates and controlling the locations of epenthetic vowel, we are able to synthesize good quality speech. Our system is mainly suitable to be customized for other Ethiopian languages with limited resources.

Keywords: Amharic, gemination, speech synthesis, morphology, epenthesis

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Teerapong Chaisen, Pornpan Puttaraksa, Chayanit Chitchai, Peeraya Somsak, Rinyaphat Kecharananta

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This paper aims to study integrated marketing communication (IMC) of department store in Chiang Mai with the object to understand how department stores manage communication in order to inform customer and how customers react to the received information. We study the example of 300 customers both Thai and foreigners who received the given information from the department stores and the reactions of these customers. This paper shows Central festival is the top destination to visit for Thai customers. On the other hand, Central Plaza is favored by foreign customers. However, all department stores need to use more IMC to make awareness for customer.

Keywords: integrated marketing communication, satisfaction, department store, consumer

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: S. Cheng, C. Catallo

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Introduction: Canada's healthcare and social services systems are failing high risk, vulnerable older adults. Care for vulnerable older Canadians (65 and older) is not optimal in Canada. It does not address the care needs of vulnerable, high risk adults using a holistic approach. Given the growing aging population, and the care needs for seniors with complex conditions is one of the highest in Canada's health care system, there is a sense of urgency to optimize care. Integration of health and social services is an emerging trend in Canada when compared to European countries. There is no common and universal understanding of healthcare and social services integration within the country. Consequently, a clear understanding and definition of integrated health and social services are absent in Canada. Objectives: A study was undertaken to develop a case definition for integrated health and social care initiatives that serve older adults, which was then tested against three Canadian integrated initiatives. Methodology: A limited literature review was undertaken to identify common characteristics of integrated health and social care initiatives that serve older adults, and comprised both scientific and grey literature, in order to develop a case definition. Three Canadian integrated initiatives that are located in the province of Ontario, were identified using an online search and a screening process. They were surveyed to determine if the literature-based integration definition applied to them. Results: The literature showed that there were 24 common healthcare and social services integration characteristics that could be categorized into ten themes: 1) patient-care approach; 2) program goals; 3) measurement; 4) service and care quality; 5) accountability and responsibility; 6) information sharing; 7) Decision-making and problem-solving; 8) culture; 9) leadership; and 10) staff and professional interaction. The three initiatives showed agreement on all the integration characteristics except for those characteristics associated with healthcare and social care professional interaction, collaborative leadership and shared culture. This disagreement may be due to several reasons, including the existing governance divide between the healthcare and social services sectors within the province of Ontario that has created a ripple effect in how professions in the two different sectors interact. In addition, the three initiatives may be at maturing levels of integration, which may explain disagreement on the characteristics associated with leadership and culture. Conclusions: The development of a case definition for healthcare and social services integration that incorporates common integration characteristics can act as a useful instrument in identifying integrated healthcare and social services, particularly given the emerging and evolutionary state of this phenomenon within Canada.

Keywords: Canada, case definition, healthcare and social services integration, integration, seniors health, services delivery

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: M. Hilmi Ozdemir, Gokhan Ozkan

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Performance Based Logistics (PBL) is a strategic approach that enables creating long-term and win-win relations among stakeholders in the acquisition. Contrary to the traditional single transactions, the expected value is created by the performance of the service pertaining to the strategic relationships in this approach. PBL motivates all relevant stakeholders to focus on their core competencies to produce the desired outcome in a collective way. The desired outcome can only be assured with a cost effective way as long as it is periodically measured with the right performance parameters. Thus, defining these parameters is a crucial step for the PBL contracts. In performance parameter determination, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is a multi-criteria decision making methodology for complex cases, was used within this study for a complex system. AHP has been extensively applied in various areas including supply chain, inventory management, outsourcing, and logistics. This methodology made it possible to convert end-user’s main operation and maintenance requirements to sub criteria contained by a single performance parameter. Those requirements were categorized and assigned weights by the relevant stakeholders. Single performance parameter capable of measuring the overall performance of a complex system is the major outcome of this study. The parameter deals with the integrated assessment of different functions spanning from training, operation, maintenance, reporting, and documentation that are implemented within a complex system. The aim of this study is to show the methodology and processes implemented to identify a single performance parameter for measuring the whole performance of a complex system within a PBL contract. AHP methodology is recommended as an option for the researches and the practitioners who seek for a lean and integrated approach for performance assessment within PBL contracts. The implementation of AHP methodology in this study may help PBL practitioners from methodological perception and add value to AHP in becoming prevalent.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, performance based logistics, performance measurement, performance parameters

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Liqiang Duan, Ma Jingkai, Lv Zhipeng, Haifan Cai

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The integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) system has a series of advantages such as increasing the system power generation, reducing the cost of solar power generation, less pollutant and CO₂ emission. In this paper, the parabolic trough collectors with direct steam generation (DSG) technology are considered to replace the heat load of heating surfaces in heat regenerator steam generation (HRSG) of a conventional natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) system containing a PG9351FA gas turbine and a triple pressure HRSG with reheat. The detailed model of the NGCC system is built in ASPEN PLUS software and the parabolic trough collectors with DSG technology is modeled in EBSILON software. ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of single, two, three and four heating surfaces are studied in this paper. Results show that: (1) the ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement heat load of HPB, HPB+LPE, HPE2+HPB+HPS, HPE1+HPE2+ HPB+HPS are the best integration schemes when single, two, three and four stages of heating surfaces are partly replaced by the parabolic trough solar energy collectors with DSG technology. (2) Both the changes of feed water flow and the heat load of the heating surfaces in ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of multi-stage heating surfaces are smaller than those in ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of single heating surface. (3) ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of HPB+LPE heating surfaces can increase the solar power output significantly. (4) The ISCC-DSG systems with the replacement of HPB heating surfaces has the highest solar-thermal-to-electricity efficiency (47.45%) and the solar radiation energy-to-electricity efficiency (30.37%), as well as the highest exergy efficiency of solar field (33.61%).

Keywords: HRSG, integration scheme, parabolic trough collectors with DSG technology, solar power generation

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Achim Kampker, Heiner Hans Heimes, Mathias Ordung, Jan-Philip Ganser

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In the past years, the automotive industry has changed significantly. Innovative mobility concepts have become more important, and electric vehicles see a chance of replacing vehicles with combustion engines in the long term. However, the coming years will be characterized by coexistence. In this context, there are two possible production scenarios: One the one hand, electric vehicles could be manufactured in bespoke assembly lines. Concerning the uncertainty regarding sales figures development, this alternative boasts a high investment risk. Therefore, an integrated assembly building upon existing structures also seems a feasible solution. This empirical study aims at validating hypotheses concerning theoretical and practical challenges of the integrated production in the final assembly. In order to take a test of approaches of the research by analyzing censored feedback of professionals, these hypotheses are validated in the framework of an expert study. For this purpose, hypotheses have been generated on the basis of a requirements analysis and a concept specification. Thereupon, a list of question has been implemented and deduced from the hypotheses to execute an online- and written-survey and interviews with professionals. The interpretation and evaluation of the findings includes an inter-component comparison for the electric drivetrain. Furthermore, key drivers for a sufficient integrated product and process design are presented.

Keywords: automotive industry, final assembly, integrated manufacturing, product and process development

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Authors: Emmanuel Chibuogu Asogwa, Tochukwu Sunday Belonwu

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An urgent demand for creative solutions has been created by the rapid expansion of medical knowledge, the complexity of patient care, and the requirement for more precise decision-making. As a solution to this problem, the creation of a Medical Intelligent Process Model (MIPM) utilizing ontology-based appears as a promising way to overcome this obstacle and unleash the full potential of healthcare systems. The development of a Medical Intelligent Process Model (MIPM) using ontology-based techniques is motivated by a lack of quick access to relevant medical information and advanced tools for treatment planning and clinical decision-making, which ontology-based techniques can provide. The aim of this work is to develop a structured and knowledge-driven framework that leverages ontology, a formal representation of domain knowledge, to enhance various aspects of healthcare. Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology (OOADM) were adopted in the design of the system as we desired to build a usable and evolvable application. For effective implementation of this work, we used the following materials/methods/tools: the medical dataset for the test of our model in this work was obtained from Kaggle. The ontology-based technique was used with Confusion Matrix, MySQL, Python, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Cascaded Style Sheet (CSS), JavaScript, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks. According to test results on the new system using Confusion Matrix, both the accuracy and overall effectiveness of the medical intelligent process significantly improved by 20% compared to the previous system. Therefore, using the model is recommended for healthcare professionals.

Keywords: ontology-based, model, database, OOADM, healthcare

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Constant Akama, Frank Kulor, Frederick Agyemang

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All over the world, due to increasing population, electric power distribution companies are looking for more efficient ways of reading electricity meters. In Ghana, the prepaid metering system was introduced in 2007 to replace the manual system of reading which was fraught with inefficiencies. However, the prepaid system in Ghana is not capable of integration with online systems such as e-commerce platforms and remote monitoring systems. In this paper, we present a design framework for an automatic metering system that can be integrated with e-commerce platforms and remote monitoring systems. The meter was designed using ADE 7755 which reads the energy consumption and the reading is processed by a microcontroller connected to Sim900 General Packet Radio Service module containing a GSM chip provisioned with an Access Point Name. The system also has a billing server and a management server located at the premises of the utility company which communicate with the meter over a Virtual Private Network and GPRS. With this system, customers can buy credit online and the credit will be transferred securely to the meter. Also, when a fault is reported, the utility company can log into the meter remotely through the management server to troubleshoot the problem.

Keywords: access point name, general packet radio service, GSM, virtual private network

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Authors: Chun-Chuan Yang, Jeng-Yueng Chen, Yi-Ting Mai, Chen-Ming Yang

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In this paper, the design of integrated sleep scheduling for relay nodes and user equipments under a Donor eNB (DeNB) in the mode of Time Division Duplex (TDD) in LTE-A is presented. The idea of virtual time is proposed to deal with the discontinuous pattern of the available radio resource in TDD, and based on the estimation of the traffic load, three power saving schemes in the top-down strategy are presented. Associated mechanisms in each scheme including calculation of the virtual subframe capacity, the algorithm of integrated sleep scheduling, and the mapping mechanisms for the backhaul link and the access link are presented in the paper. Simulation study shows the advantage of the proposed schemes in energy saving over the standard DRX scheme.

Keywords: LTE-A, relay, TDD, power saving

Procedia PDF Downloads 503

Authors: Angen May T. Fabro

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This study analyzed how the form and content in Adonis Durado’s select poems revealed universal realities for a proposed integrated teaching guide. The study employed discourse analysis that generates verbal interpretation of data to answer the variables under study in order to satisfy the main problem. This method used analyses and interpretations of discourse texts of the literary work under study. This research made use of studies and research investigations relevant to the present investigation. Findings of the study showed that form and content play a significant role in identifying the universal realities found in the select poems of Adonis Durado.

Keywords: poems, poesy, integrated teaching guide, Adonis Durado’s poesy

Procedia PDF Downloads 303

Authors: They Shao Peng

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Machine vision system for inspection is an automated technology that is normally utilized to analyze items on the production line for quality control purposes, it also can be known as an automated visual inspection (AVI) system. By applying automated visual inspection, the existence of items, defects, contaminants, flaws, and other irregularities in manufactured products can be easily detected in a short time and accurately. However, AVI systems are still inflexible and expensive due to their uniqueness for a specific task and consuming a lot of set-up time and space. With the rapid development of mobile devices, smartphones can be an alternative device for the visual system to solve the existing problems of AVI. Since the smartphone-based AVI system is still at a nascent stage, this led to the motivation to investigate the smartphone-based AVI system. This study is aimed to provide a low-cost AVI system with high efficiency and flexibility. In this project, the object detection models, which are You Only Look Once (YOLO) model and Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD) model, are trained, evaluated, and integrated with the smartphone and webcam devices. The performance of the smartphone-based AVI is compared with the webcam-based AVI according to the precision and inference time in this study. Additionally, a mobile application is developed which allows users to implement real-time object detection and object detection from image storage.

Keywords: automated visual inspection, deep learning, machine vision, mobile application

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: A. Buruzs, M. F. Hatwágner, L. T. Kóczy

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The aim of the present paper is to develop an integrated method that may provide assistance to decision makers during system planning, design, operation and evaluation. In order to support the realization of Circular Economy (CE), it is essential to evaluate local needs and conditions which help to select the most appropriate system components and resource needs. Each of these activities requires careful planning, however, the model of CE offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework. The aim of this research was to develop and to introduce a practical methodology for evaluation of local and regional opportunities to promote CE.

Keywords: circular economy, factors, fuzzy cognitive map, model reduction, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Ronald Blough

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Hospitals, clinics, and medical facilities are the core of the Health Services sector providing 24/7 medical care to those in need. Any disruption of these important medical services highlights the vulnerabilities in the medical system. An internal or external event can create a catastrophic incident paralyzing the medical services causing the facility to shift into emergency operations with the possibility of evacuation. The hospital administrator and government officials must decide in a very short amount of time whether to shelter in place or evacuate. This presentation will identify best practice recommendations regarding the hospital evacuation decision and response analyzing previous hospital evacuations to encourage hospitals in the region to review or develop their own emergency evacuation plans.

Keywords: disaster preparedness, hospital evacuation, shelter-in-place, incident containment, health services vulnerability, hospital resources

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Prateek Rastogi

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Medical teaching in present era concentrates not only on teaching but on effective teaching. For effective teaching a combination of effective carefully designed curriculum, an educated educator, competent learner and fool proof evaluation system is required. Keeping these parameters in mind and study was undertaken at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore among medical students. In this study, evaluation of Forensic Medicine syllabus along with its teaching and evaluation methodology was done using 20 different parameters. This questionnaire based study was done over a period of two years i.e. 2013 and 2014. Batch of students who just passed the forensic medicine subject was included for study. Carefully designed questionnaire contained questions related to course content, teaching methodology and evaluation system along with provisions to mention merits and demerits of subject. The feedbacks in first round were analyzed and suggestions were implemented before conducting the second round of study. Overall evaluation of course was done as well as it was compared with other subjects of second MBBS. It was noted that Scores improved in 2nd survey thus stressing the importance of course evaluation and student feedback in teaching improvement.

Keywords: teaching methodology, system of evaluation, course content, bioinformatics, biomedicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 340

Authors: Achim Kampker, Heiner Hans Heimes, Mathias Ordung, Nemanja Sarovic

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A key component of the drive train of electric vehicles is the lithium-ion battery system. Among various other components, such as the battery management system or the thermal management system, the battery system mostly consists of several cells which are integrated mechanically as well as electrically. Due to different vehicle concepts with regards to space, energy and power specifications, there is a variety of different battery systems. The corresponding assembly lines are specially designed for each battery concept. Minor changes to certain characteristics of the battery have a disproportionally high effect on the set-up effort in the form of high change-related costs. This paper will focus on battery systems which are made out of battery cells with a prismatic format. The product architecture and the assembly process will be analyzed in detail based on battery concepts of existing electric cars and key variety-causing drivers will be identified. On this basis, several measures will be presented and discussed on how to change the product architecture and the assembly process in order to reduce change-related costs.

Keywords: assembly, automotive industry, battery system, battery concept

Procedia PDF Downloads 291

Authors: Badryah Alshehri, Kevin Gormley, Gillian Prue, Karen McCutcheon

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In a disaster event, sharing patient information between the pre-hospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Department (ED) hospitals is a complex process during which important information may be altered or lost due to poor communication. The aim of this study was to critically discuss the current evidence base in relation to communication between pre- EMS hospital and ED hospital professionals by the use of Information and Communication Systems (ICT). This study followed the systematic approach; six electronic databases were searched: CINAHL, Medline, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore Digital Library were comprehensively searched in January 2018 and a second search was completed in April 2020 to capture more recent publications. The study selection process was undertaken independently by the study authors. Both qualitative and quantitative studies were chosen that focused on factors that are positively or negatively associated with coordinated communication between pre-hospital EMS and ED teams in a disaster event. These studies were assessed for quality, and the data were analyzed according to the key screening themes which emerged from the literature search. Twenty-two studies were included. Eleven studies employed quantitative methods, seven studies used qualitative methods, and four studies used mixed methods. Four themes emerged on communication between EMTs (pre-hospital EMS and ED staff) in a disaster event using the ICT. (1) Disaster preparedness plans and coordination. This theme reported that disaster plans are in place in hospitals, and in some cases, there are interagency agreements with pre-hospital and relevant stakeholders. However, the findings showed that the disaster plans highlighted in these studies lacked information regarding coordinated communications within and between the pre-hospital and hospital. (2) Communication systems used in the disaster. This theme highlighted that although various communication systems are used between and within hospitals and pre-hospitals, technical issues have influenced communication between teams during disasters. (3) Integrated information management systems. This theme suggested the need for an integrated health information system that can help pre-hospital and hospital staff to record patient data and ensure the data is shared. (4) Disaster training and drills. While some studies analyzed disaster drills and training, the majority of these studies were focused on hospital departments other than EMTs. These studies suggest the need for simulation disaster training and drills, including EMTs. This review demonstrates that considerable gaps remain in the understanding of the communication between the EMS and ED hospital staff in relation to response in disasters. The review shows that although different types of ICTs are used, various issues remain which affect coordinated communication among the relevant professionals.

Keywords: emergency medical teams, communication, information and communication technologies, disaster

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Junqi Zou

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As one of the world’s most tech-ready countries, Singapore has initiated the Smart Nation plan to harness the full power and potential of digital technologies to transform the way people live and work, through the more efficient government and business processes, to make the economy more productive. The key evolutions of digital technology transformation in healthcare and the increasing deployment of Internet of Things (IoTs), Big Data, AI/cognitive, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Electronic Health Record Systems (EHR), Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMR), Warehouse Management System (WMS in the most recent decade have significantly stepped up the move towards an information-driven healthcare ecosystem. The advances in information technology not only bring benefits to patients but also act as a key force in changing management accounting in healthcare sector. The aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of digital technology transformation on Singapore’s healthcare sector from a management accounting perspective. Adopting a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) analysis approach, this paper conducted an exploratory case study of a newly launched Singapore public hospital, which has been recognized as amongst the most digitally advanced healthcare facilities in Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, this study gains insights on how the new technology is changing healthcare organizations’ management accounting from four perspectives under the Balanced Scorecard approach, 1) Financial Perspective, 2) Customer (Patient) Perspective, 3) Internal Processes Perspective, and 4) Learning and Growth Perspective. Based on a thorough review of archival records from the government and public, and the interview reports with the hospital’s CIO, this study finds the improvements from all the four perspectives under the Balanced Scorecard framework as follows: 1) Learning and Growth Perspective: The Government (Ministry of Health) works with the hospital to open up multiple training pathways to health professionals that upgrade and develops new IT skills among the healthcare workforce to support the transformation of healthcare services. 2) Internal Process Perspective: The hospital achieved digital transformation through Project OneCare to integrate clinical, operational, and administrative information systems (e.g., EHR, EMR, WMS, EPIB, RTLS) that enable the seamless flow of data and the implementation of JIT system to help the hospital operate more effectively and efficiently. 3) Customer Perspective: The fully integrated EMR suite enhances the patient’s experiences by achieving the 5 Rights (Right Patient, Right Data, Right Device, Right Entry and Right Time). 4) Financial Perspective: Cost savings are achieved from improved inventory management and effective supply chain management. The use of process automation also results in a reduction of manpower costs and logistics cost. To summarize, these improvements identified under the Balanced Scorecard framework confirm the success of utilizing the integration of advanced ICT to enhance healthcare organization’s customer service, productivity efficiency, and cost savings. Moreover, the Big Data generated from this integrated EMR system can be particularly useful in aiding management control system to optimize decision making and strategic planning. To conclude, the new digital technology transformation has moved the usefulness of management accounting to both financial and non-financial dimensions with new heights in the area of healthcare management.

Keywords: balanced scorecard, digital technology transformation, healthcare ecosystem, integrated information system

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Authors: Onder Yakut, Serdar Solak, Emine Dogru Bolat

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Measuring the Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is an essential process for the diagnosis of the heart diseases. The ECG signal has the information of the degree of how much the heart performs its functions. In medical diagnosis and treatment systems, Decision Support Systems processing the ECG signal are being developed for the use of clinicians while medical examination. In this study, a modular wireless ECG (WECG) measuring and recording system using a single board computer and e-Health sensor platform is developed. In this designed modular system, after the ECG signal is taken from the body surface by the electrodes first, it is filtered and converted to digital form. Then, it is recorded to the health database using Wi-Fi communication technology. The real time access of the ECG data is provided through the internet utilizing the developed web interface.

Keywords: ECG, e-health sensor shield, Raspberry Pi, wiFi technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Anita D. Adamu, Winston M. W. Shakantu

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Maintenance management is no longer a stand-alone activity. It has now assumed a strategic position in many organisations that have recognised its importance in achieving primary goals and a key aspect of effective management of facilities. This paper aims at providing an understanding of the role and function of strategic management in creating and sustaining an effective maintenance management system in an organisation. The background provides an articulated concept and principles of strategic management. The theoretical concepts paved way for a conceptual framework for which strategic management can be integrated into the maintenance management system of an organisation to improve effectiveness in the maintenance of facilities.

Keywords: facilities, maintenance management, organisations, strategic management

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Oyebade K. Oyedotun

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The cardiotocogram is a technical recording of the heartbeat rate and uterine contractions of a fetus during pregnancy. During pregnancy, several complications can occur to both the mother and the fetus; hence it is very crucial that medical experts are able to find technical means to check the healthiness of the mother and especially the fetus. It is very important that the fetus develops as expected in stages during the pregnancy period; however, the task of monitoring the health status of the fetus is not that which is easily achieved as the fetus is not wholly physically available to medical experts for inspection. Hence, doctors have to resort to some other tests that can give an indication of the status of the fetus. One of such diagnostic test is to obtain cardiotocograms of the fetus. From the analysis of the cardiotocograms, medical experts can determine the status of the fetus, and therefore necessary medical interventions. Generally, medical experts classify examined cardiotocograms into ‘normal’, ‘suspect’, or ‘pathological’. This work presents an artificial neural network based decision support system which can filter cardiotocograms data, producing the corresponding statuses of the fetuses. The capability of artificial neural network to explore the cardiotocogram data and learn features that distinguish one class from the others has been exploited in this research. In this research, feedforward and radial basis neural networks were trained on a publicly available database to classify the processed cardiotocogram data into one of the three classes: ‘normal’, ‘suspect’, or ‘pathological’. Classification accuracies of 87.8% and 89.2% were achieved during the test phase of the trained network for the feedforward and radial basis neural networks respectively. It is the hope that while the system described in this work may not be a complete replacement for a medical expert in fetus status evaluation, it can significantly reinforce the confidence in medical diagnosis reached by experts.

Keywords: decision support, cardiotocogram, classification, neural networks

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Authors: Geraldine O’Neill

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Work-integrated learning is a valuable learning experience for students in higher education. However, the fairness of the assessment process has been identified as a challenge. This study explored solutions to this challenge through interviews with expert authors in the field and workshops across nine different disciplines in Ireland. In keeping with the use of a participatory and action research methodology, the key stakeholders in the process, the students, educators, and practitioners, identified some solutions. The solutions included the need to: clarify the assessments’ expectations; enhance the flexibility of the competencies, reduce the number of competencies; use grading scales with lower specificity; support practitioner training, and empower students in the assessment process. The results are discussed as they relate to interactional, procedural, and distributive fairness.

Keywords: competencies, fairness, grading scales, work-integrated learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Zeplin Jiwa Husada Tarigan, Sautma Ronni Basana, Widjojo Suprapto

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Manufacturing companies in East Java develop their own ERP system or alter the ERP system which is developed by other companies to suit their needs. To make their own system, the companies mostly assign several employees from various departments to create a project team, and the employees are from the departments that are going to utilize the ERP system as the integrated data. The project team decides the making of the ERP system from the preparation stage until the going live implementation process. In designing the business process, the top management is working together with the project team until the project is accomplished. The completion of the ERP projects depends on the project to be undertaken itself, the strategy chosen to complete the project, the work method selection, the measurement system to monitor the project, the evaluation system of the project, and, in the end, the declaration of 'going live' of the ERP project. There is an increase in the business performance for the companies that have implemented the information technology or ERP as they manage to integrate all management functions within their companies. To investigate, some questionnaires are distributed to 100 manufacturing companies, and 90 questionnaires are returned; however, there are only 46 companies that develop their own ERP system, so the response rate is 46%. The result of data analysis using PLS shows that the management competency brings impacts to the project team and the process design. The process design is adjusted to the real process in order to implement the ERP, but it does not bring direct impacts to the business performance. The implementation of ERP brings positive impacts to the company business performance.

Keywords: management competency, project team, process design, ERP implementation, business performance

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Authors: Haftu Hailu Berhe, Hailekiros Sibhato Gebremichael, Kinfe Tsegay Beyene, Haileselassie Mehari

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The purpose of the study is to develop and validate integrated literature-based JIT, TQM, TPM, SCM and LSS framework through a combination of the PDCA cycle and DMAIC methodology. The study adopted a mixed research approach. Accordingly, the qualitative study employed to develop the framework is based on identifying the uniqueness and common practices of JIT, TQM, TPM, SCM and LSS initiatives, the existing practice of the integration, identifying the existing gaps in the framework and practices, developing new integrated JIT, TQM, TPM, SCM and LSS practice framework. Previous very few studies of the uniqueness and common practices of the five initiatives are preserved. Whereas the quantitative study working to validate the framework is based on empirical analysis of the self-administered questionnaire using a statistical package for social science. A combination of the PDCA cycle and DMAIC methodology stand integrated CI framework is developed. The proposed framework is constructed as a project-based framework with five detailed implementation phases. Besides, the empirical analysis demonstrated that the proposed framework is valuable if adopted and implemented correctly. So far, there is no study proposed & validated the integrated CI framework within the scope of the study. Therefore, this is the earliest study that proposed and validated the framework for manufacturing industries. The proposed framework is applicable to manufacturing industries and can assist in achieving competitive advantages when the manufacturing industries, institutions and government offer unconditional efforts in implementing the full contents of the framework.

Keywords: integrated continuous improvement framework, just in time, total quality management, total productive maintenance, supply chain management, lean six sigma

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Authors: Radmila Hajkova, Jiri Palecek, Hana Malachova, Alena Oulehlova

Abstract:

Ensuring of continuity of business is the basic strategy of every company. Continuity of organization activities includes comprehensive procedures that help in solving unexpected situations of natural and anthropogenic character (for example flood, blaze, economic situations). Planning of continuity operations is a process that helps identify critical processes and implement plans for the security and recovery of key processes. The aim of this article demonstrates application of system approach to managing business continuity called business continuity management systems in military issues. This article describes the life cycle of business continuity management which is based on the established cycle PDCA (plan-do-check-act). After this is carried out by activities which are making by the University of Defence during activation of forces and means of the Integrated rescue system in case of emergencies - accidents at a nuclear power plant in Czech republic. Activities of various stages of deployment earmarked forces and resources are managed and evaluated by using MCMS application (military continuity management system).

Keywords: business continuity management system, emergency management, military, nuclear safety

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Authors: Raymond C. Hawkins II, Catherine A. Hawkins

Abstract:

The System Contextual Integrated Model (SCIM), developed as a trans-theoretical framework for selecting measures for psychotherapy process and outcome, is reformulated for behavioral health applications. The SCIM “healing cycle” is an allostatic hedonic affective-cognitive right-hemisphere–left-hemisphere coordinated process involving positive alliesthesia that mitigates traumatic pain and generates psychological flexibility. The SCIM “trauma cycle” is an allostatic overload alliesthesia opponent process with long-lasting pathology sequelae. The social ecological context moderates the “healing cycle” and the “trauma cycle.” Repeated evocation of the “healing cycle” in a therapeutic relationship can gradually relieve trauma sequelae. The SCIM is applied to pain, obese binge eating, and substance use disorders.

Keywords: allostasis, alliesthesia, opponent process, behavioral health, assessment

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Authors: Chang Liu, Hanwen Zhang, Vikash Sharma, Don Eliseo Lucerno-Prisno III, Emmanuel Yujuico, Maulik Chokshi, Prashanthi Krishnakumar, Bach Xuan Tran, Giang Thu Vu, Kamilla Anna Pinter, Shenglan Tang

Abstract:

Background and Aims: Globally, many health systems focus on hospital-based healthcare models targeting acute care and disease treatment, which are not effective in addressing the challenges of ageing populations, chronic conditions, multi-morbidities, and increasingly unhealthy lifestyles. Recently, integrated care programs on chronic diseases have been developed, piloted, and implemented to meet such challenges. However, integrated care programs in the Asia-Pacific region vary in the levels of integration from linkage to coordination to full integration. This study aims to identify and analyze existing cases of integrated care in the Asia-Pacific region and identify the facilitators and barriers in order to improve existing cases and inform future cases. Methods: The study is a comparative study, with a combination approach of desk-based research and key informant interviews. The selected countries included in this study represent a good mix of lower-middle income countries (the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and Fiji), upper-middle income country (China), and high-income country (Singapore) in the Asia-Pacific region. Existing integrated care programs were identified through the scoping review approach. Trigger, history, general design, beneficiaries, and objectors were summarized with barriers and facilitators of integrated care based on key informant interviews. Representative case(s) in each country were selected and comprehensively analyzed through deep-dive case studies. Results: A total of 87 existing integrated care programs on chronic diseases were found in all countries, with 44 in China, 21 in Singapore, 12 in India, 5 in Vietnam, 4 in the Philippines, and 1 in Fiji. 9 representative cases of integrated care were selected for in-depth description and analysis, with 2 in China, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and 1 in Singapore, India, and Fiji. Population aging and the rising chronic disease burden have been identified as key drivers for almost all the six countries. Among the six countries, Singapore has the longest history of integrated care, followed by Fiji, the Philippines, and China, while India and Vietnam have a shorter history of integrated care. Incentives, technologies, education, and performance evaluation would be crucial for developing strategies for implementing future programs and improve already existing programs. Conclusion: Integrated care is important for addressing challenges surrounding the delivery of long-term care. To date, there is an increasing trend of integrated care programs on chronic diseases in the Asia-Pacific region, and all six countries in our study set integrated care as a direction for their health systems transformation.

Keywords: integrated healthcare, integrated care delivery, chronic diseases, Asia-Pacific region

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Authors: Purnomo Yustianto, Robin Doss, Suhardi, Novianto Budi Kurniawan

Abstract:

As a term for characterizing a process of devising a service system, the term ‘service engineering’ is still regarded as an ‘open’ research challenge due to unspecified details and conflicting perspectives. This paper presents consolidated service engineering ontologies in collecting, specifying and defining relationship between components pertinent within the context of service engineering. The ontologies are built by way of literature surveys from the collected conceptual works by collating various concepts into an integrated ontology. Two ontologies are produced: general service ontology and software service ontology. The software-service ontology is drawn from the informatics domain, while the generalized ontology of a service system is built from both a business management and the information system perspective. The produced ontologies are verified by exercising conceptual operationalizations of the ontologies in adopting several service orientation features and service system patterns. The proposed ontologies are demonstrated to be sufficient to serve as a basis for a service engineering framework.

Keywords: engineering, ontology, service, SoaML

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