Information and Knowledge Management

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Information and Knowledge Management

Business of Medicine
Author Credentials 

Mathew T. Brigger, MD
Division Chief, Pediatric Otolaryngology
Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego
Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery
University of California San Diego
San Diego, CA

Module Summary

After completing this module, the physician will be able to:

  1. Locate, appraise, and assimilate evidence from scientific studies related to patients’ health problems.
  2. Use information technology to manage information, access online medical information, and support his/her own education. 
  3. Use information technology to support patient care decisions and patient education.
Objective 1

Locate, appraise, and assimilate evidence from scientific studies related to patients’ health problems.

Assessment

  • Perform a literature search regarding a patient’s medical treatment to obtain information about the diagnosis, treatment, etiology, and research of the condition.

Evaluation

  • Not applicable

Portfolio Items

  • Create a personal database of articles for conditions commonly treated or that represent controversy.
  • Be aware of resources for guidelines and evidence based reviews.

References

  1. Rosenfeld RM. How to systematically review the medical literature. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1996 Jul;115(1):53-63. (A classic article that provides resources on how to read and interpret the medical literature.)
  2. PubMed® Online Training. (Detailed training on how to utilize the National Library of Medicine online resources.)
  3. Centre for Evidence Based Medicine. (Detailed resource that provides both general and specific training on understanding and applying evidence to clinical practice.)
  4. Cochrane. (Detailed resource with the largest catalog of high quality systematic reviews and skill building educational resources.)
  5. Guidelines International Network. (Central repository for clinical guidelines and how to apply to clinical medicine.) 
  6. Evidence Based Medicine in Otolaryngology Series in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. (Series of invited articles that chronicle evidence based medicine in otolaryngology and provide a primer for understanding the various aspects that change practice.)
Objective 2

Use information technology to manage information, access online medical information, and support his/her own education.

Assessment

  • Understand the importance of lifelong learning, recertification, and continuing medical education and the role of various education modalities in these efforts.  

Evaluation

  • Recognize the differences in learning methods and identify individual needs.   

Portfolio Items

  • Maintain Continuing Medical Education and Maintenance of Certification documentation.
  • Maintain access to educational materials available from the AAO-HNS, American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, journals, and publishers. 
  • Make use of the National Library of Medicine My NCBI feature which allows users to customize their use of the database allowing the user to maintain search histories and bibliographies.

References

  1. American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Surgery AcademyU. (Starting point for a large database of educational materials that are appropriate for all levels of learning including residency, fellowship and maintenance of certification.)
  2. Otolaryngology Lifelong Learning Manual . (Textbook that provides updated information on a comprehensive curriculum of otolaryngology topics.) 
  3. National Library of Medicine My NCBI tutorial. (Video describing advantages and how to use My NCBI features.)
     

 

Objective 3

Use information technology to support patient care decisions and patient education.

Assessment

  • Become familiar with clinical decision support systems within one’s environment. Often such systems are integrated into electronic medical records and may exist as educational resources, order sets and flagged responses.
  • Develop a strategy to provide adequate, but not burdensome patient access to providers including the use of secure messaging/email.
  • Be aware of the various forums and medical knowledge websites frequently accessed by patients with commonly seen conditions within one’s own practice.

Evaluation

  • Not applicable

Portfolio Items

  • Training in using one’s EMR or available clinical decision support tools.
  • A plan for managing patient access in a secure manner through patient portals or secure messaging.
  • List of commonly accessed patient information sites and forums that are specific to one’s practice.  

References

  1. Health Information Exchange. (Describes the role of Health IT and how health information exchange occurs. Provides overview as well as case studies.)
  2. Wright A, Sittig DF, Ash JS, et al. Lessons learned from implementing service-oriented clinical decision support at four sites: A qualitative study. Int J Med Inform. 2015 Nov;84(11):901-11. (Describes lessons learned from implementing clinical decision support tools and provides a nice overview of the benefits and problems with such systems.)
  3. Irizarry T, DeVito Dabbs A, Curran CR. Patient Portals and Patient Engagement: A State of the Science Review. J Med Internet Res. 2015 Jun 23;17(6). (Describes the history and role of patient portals in medicine.) 
  4. Health on Net. (Website promoting transparent and reliable health information online including a description of HONcode certification.)
     
Resources 

Learner must Sign In or Create account to access AAO-HNSF education activities.

  1. Annual Meeting Webcast (AMW):
  2. Faculty Development Series (Fac):