Transcript Use of Online Resources While Using a Clinical Information

The Columbia University Experience:
Infobuttons and the Infobutton Manager
James J. Cimino, M.D.
Department of Biomedical Informatics
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
[email protected]
Columbia Experience
• Medline Button
– Translated ICD9-CM to MeSH to search Medline
– Hard to build
– Did not satisfy users’ needs
• Infobuttons
– Web-based
– Easy to build
– Require custom programming
– Used preferentially in some settings
Columbia Experience
• Medline Button
– Translated ICD9-CM to MeSH to search Medline
– Hard to build
– Did not satisfy users’ needs
• Infobuttons
– Web-based
– Easy to build
– Used preferentially in some settings
– Require custom programming
• Infobutton Manager
– Standard set of context variables
– Matches context to frequently-asked questions
– Each question has corresponding solution
– Table-driven
<a href=“flux.cpmc.columbia.edu/webcisdev13/
wc_infomanage.cgi?9info_institute=NYPH&
info_age=5& info_sex=F&info_usertype=MD&
info_med=28743&info_context=InPatientDrugs”>
<img info.gif\"> </a>
Infobutton Manager
Context Table
Institute
Age
Sex
User
Task
Concept
Infobutton
NYPH
Adult
Any
Any
InPatient
Drugs
Drug
Level
33
NYPH
Child
Any
Any
InPatient
Drugs
Drug
Level
34
Infobutton Table
Infobutton
URL
Question
33
http://www.crlonline.com/crlsql
/leaflets-english/…
Give me patient
information for…
34
http://www.crlonline.com/crlsql
/pleaflets/…
Give me pediatric
information for…
Columbia Experience to Date
• Questions determined by empiric observation
• Resources found to answer questions
• Infobutton Manager links added to WebCIS
Columbia Experience – Next Steps
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Currently carrying out heuristic evaluation
Usability study is next
Roll-out to 4000 WebCIS users planned
Follow-up observational study to determine:
– Usefulness
– Impact
Institution-Independent Solutions
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Contexts are common across institutions
Information needs may be common
Infobutton Manager is institution-independent
“Institute” is a parameter
– Questions can be customized by institution
– Resources can differ by institution
• Questions and resources can be shared
• Terminology is the limiting factor
www.dmi.columbia.edu/homepages/ciminoj/Infobuttons.html