We currently live in an information-rich world, and the domain of health care is, perhaps more than any other, one where information needs are highest. Observational research has demonstrated that health care providers have specific information needs in relation to their health care decision making more than 50 times daily. For complex reasons, however, they only act on those information needs a minority of the time, and when they do they tend to turn to suboptimal sources of data for answers. Patients and families in health care settings are similiarily stakeholders who are often in need of information. Yet, again, they often operate in a mode where their information needs go unmet.
These points highlight an important challenge to health care systems - the need to find better ways to get 'the right information to the right person at the right time'. Recognizing this general challenge, the W21C team will build on a growing body of international literature to evaluate a variety of 'point of care' technologies for enhancing the flow of information to providers, patients, and families. In planned W21C research, those technologies will include a combination of fixed terminals ( thin client terminals to be acquired as new infrastructure and mobile technologies ( personal digital assistants that already exist on the existing clinical W21C), and these will be used to target the information needs of not only providers ( the traditional focus of many research initiatives on 'point of care' information technologies), but also patients and families. An initial wave of research will assess: 1) optimal models and software tools for the implementation of personal digital assistants in evidence-based clinical decision making ( i.e a provider focused 'point of care' application) and 2) the development, implementation and evaluation of in-room electronic 'resource libraries' that patients and family members can review during quiet moments of their hospital stay ( i.e. a patient-focused 'point of care' application).
A strong group of researchers leads this program of work, with national and international leaders in the domain of evidence-based medicine ( McAlister, Straus, Majumdar, Ghali), and experts in the domain of information flow and data management ( Barker, Yergens, Denzinger).