223390 Using information technology to organize and provide access to information for health professionals in less developed countries

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Ruwaida Salem, MPH , Center for Communication Programs, Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Debra Dickson , Center for Communication Programs, Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Guy Chalk Jr., BA , Center for Communication Programs, Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Tanda Moyer, BA , Center for Communication Programs, Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Sean Stewart, MLIS , Center for Communication Programs, Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Philippe LeMay, MBA , Center for Communication Programs, Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Background: Limited access to information remains a barrier to evidence-based health care in developing countries. The INFO Project at Johns Hopkins and partner organizations developed online collections of essential information for health professionals. These toolkits required considerable resources due to the collaborative work flow and programming for the interface. The follow-on project, Knowledge for Health, endeavored to use information technology to improve efficiency in the work flow. Objective: Develop a technological solution to quickly and easily organize and deliver online collections of essential information to health professionals. Methods: An inter-disciplinary team worked together to develop a web-based tool. Subject matter experts (SMEs) and information scientists identified goals, tasks, and work-flow patterns that drove the interface design. Software developers identified open-source software that could automate and support the work flow and defined the scope of possibilities for the interface design. Through an iterative process, software developers adapted the open-source software to meet the defined goals while SMEs and information scientists evaluated prototypes. Results: The team developed and released in October 2009 an innovative application that expedites toolkit development. The Toolkit Application: Enables SMEs to create the toolkit interface navigation and upload resources using simple drop-down menus and forms. Facilitates the collaborative process through commenting and virtual conference features. Streamlines the work flow into one platform so that toolkits move from conceptualization to publication more quickly. Only four months after its deployment, 31 organizations are collaborating on 25 toolkits. Conclusions: Innovative use of technology helps support efficient work flows to produce online information products. These products have the potential to reach large audiences of health professionals with up-to-date knowledge. To ensure this information reaches the “last mile,” toolkits will be made available on CD-ROM and flash drives in settings where Internet connectivity is not widespread.

Learning Areas:
Communication and informatics

Learning Objectives:
1. Define a technological solution to reaching large audiences of health professionals with essential health information. 2. Describe an inter-disciplinary approach to developing new software. 3. Name three features of a collaborative web-based tool that supports efficient work flow in organizing collections of health information resources.

Keywords: Information Technology, Health Information

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I oversee development of information technology tools and applications from a usability and technical perspective.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2063.1: Communications in Technology