Improving information management in primary care: the proof is in the pudding

Abstract

BackgroundIn 2002, Haux and his colleagues 2 described a vision of health care in 2013 in which health information systems would be crucial for documentation, communication, medical knowledge, decision support, research and reporting. Well before 2013, information and communication technologies have become important in ABSTRACT Generalists in both the USA and UK have been at the forefront of improving information management skills, defined here as the abilities required to locate and utilise synthesised information for patient care that is accessible, current, relevant and valid.

IT‐based clinical knowledge management in primary health care: A conceptual framework

“…FIGURE 1 Conceptual framework for information technology (IT)-enabled knowledge management in primary health care medical practices Lichtenthaler, 2009). For primary health care medical practices, the added clinical value obtained from an enhanced organizational learning capability mainly translates into improved clinical performance (Kothari et al, 2011;Reardon & Davidson, 2007;Reed et al, 2008). In such health care settings, clinical effectiveness refers to the quality of care provided by physicians and registered nurses (e.g., Crosson et al, 2007) as well as the quality of their clinical decision making (e.g., McGinn et al, 2013).…”

“…These systems are meant to support patient‐centered care, the coordination of such care, and the exchange of clinical information to improve the quality of care (Holroyd‐Leduc, Lorenzetti, Straus, Sykes, & Quan, ; Lau et al, ). For their part, e‐health care applications such as clinical knowledge management system and clinical decision support system are meant to improve physicians' knowledge management skills (Reed, Schifferdecker, & Homa, ) and support their decision making, allowing them to make clinical decisions that are more consistent, sound, and evidence‐based (Lobach et al, ). Yet there are remaining problems with regard to the extent to with which EMR systems and e‐health care applications are used in an effective and mindful manner in primary care settings, and with the attainment of clinical value or benefits from such use (Paré et al, ; Venkatesh, Zhang, & Sykes, ).…”

“…These systems are meant to support patient-centered care, the coordination of such care, and the exchange of clinical information to improve the quality of care (Holroyd-Leduc, Lorenzetti, Straus, Sykes, & Quan, 2011;Lau et al, 2012). For their part, e-health care applications such as clinical knowledge management system and clinical decision support system are meant to improve physicians 0 knowledge management skills (Reed, Schifferdecker, & Homa, 2008) and support their decision making, allowing them to make clinical decisions that are more by family physicians (Raymond et al, 2015). But it may also be attributed to governments, medical associations, and software vendors that emphasize the automational effects of health care IT solutions (Mooney, Gurbaxani, & Kraemer, 1996), seeking the "paperless" medical practice (Price, Singer, & Kim, 2013) rather than the informational and transformational effects that enable the "smart" medical practice (Gianchandani, 2011;OECD, 2013).…”

Evidence‐Based Medicine and Primary Care: Keeping Up Is Hard to Do

“…Tutorials and workshops can improve searching strategies to locate best evidence and provide effective training in critical appraisal skills 45. A study of workshops for training PCPs in the use of electronic evidence‐based resources demonstrated both short‐ and long‐term (37‐month) impact on knowledge, skills, frequency of resource use, and incorporation of resource use into clinical practice 46. A multifaceted EBM educational intervention had a significant impact on PCPs' attitudes and knowledge 47.…”

Autumn issue of Informatics in Primary Care: extending our understanding and the case for greater research capacity and capability in informatics

“…Reed et al describe how learning from information systems training persists; 12 Beiter et al, how demonstrations of computerised medical record systems are helpful in improving understanding and take-up of systems. 13 Finally, in the scientific papers section Adaji et al set out how IT improves diabetic care.…”