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Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada

BACKGROUND: The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a data-rich environment where information technology (IT) may enhance patient care. We surveyed ICUs in the province of Ontario, Canada, to determine the availability, implementation and variability of information systems. METHODS: A self-administered int...

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Autores principales: Lapinsky, Stephen E, Holt, David, Hallett, David, Abdolell, Mohamed, Adhikari, Neill KJ
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2233621/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18218117
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6947-8-5
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author Lapinsky, Stephen E
Holt, David
Hallett, David
Abdolell, Mohamed
Adhikari, Neill KJ
author_facet Lapinsky, Stephen E
Holt, David
Hallett, David
Abdolell, Mohamed
Adhikari, Neill KJ
author_sort Lapinsky, Stephen E
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a data-rich environment where information technology (IT) may enhance patient care. We surveyed ICUs in the province of Ontario, Canada, to determine the availability, implementation and variability of information systems. METHODS: A self-administered internet-based survey was completed by ICU directors between May and October 2006. We measured the spectrum of ICU clinical data accessible electronically, the availability of decision support tools, the availability of electronic imaging systems for radiology, the use of electronic order entry and medication administration systems, and the availability of hardware and wireless or mobile systems. We used Fisher's Exact tests to compare IT availability and Classification and Regression Trees (CART) to estimate the optimal cut-point for the number of computers per ICU bed. RESULTS: We obtained responses from 50 hospitals (68.5% of institutions with level 3 ICUs), of which 21 (42%) were university-affiliated. The majority electronically accessed laboratory data and imaging reports (92%) and used picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) (76%). Other computing functions were less prevalent (medication administration records 46%, physician or nursing notes 26%; medication order entry 22%). No association was noted between IT availability and ICU size or university affiliation. Sites used clinical information systems from15 different vendors and 8 different PACS systems were in use. Half of the respondents described the number of computers available as insufficient. Wireless networks and mobile computing systems were used in 23 ICUs (46%). CONCLUSION: Ontario ICUs demontrate a high prevalence of the use of basic information technology systems. However, implementation of the more complex and potentially more beneficial applications is low. The wide variation in vendors utilized may impair information exchange, interoperability and uniform data collection.
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spelling pubmed-22336212008-02-07 Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada Lapinsky, Stephen E Holt, David Hallett, David Abdolell, Mohamed Adhikari, Neill KJ BMC Med Inform Decis Mak Research Article BACKGROUND: The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a data-rich environment where information technology (IT) may enhance patient care. We surveyed ICUs in the province of Ontario, Canada, to determine the availability, implementation and variability of information systems. METHODS: A self-administered internet-based survey was completed by ICU directors between May and October 2006. We measured the spectrum of ICU clinical data accessible electronically, the availability of decision support tools, the availability of electronic imaging systems for radiology, the use of electronic order entry and medication administration systems, and the availability of hardware and wireless or mobile systems. We used Fisher's Exact tests to compare IT availability and Classification and Regression Trees (CART) to estimate the optimal cut-point for the number of computers per ICU bed. RESULTS: We obtained responses from 50 hospitals (68.5% of institutions with level 3 ICUs), of which 21 (42%) were university-affiliated. The majority electronically accessed laboratory data and imaging reports (92%) and used picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) (76%). Other computing functions were less prevalent (medication administration records 46%, physician or nursing notes 26%; medication order entry 22%). No association was noted between IT availability and ICU size or university affiliation. Sites used clinical information systems from15 different vendors and 8 different PACS systems were in use. Half of the respondents described the number of computers available as insufficient. Wireless networks and mobile computing systems were used in 23 ICUs (46%). CONCLUSION: Ontario ICUs demontrate a high prevalence of the use of basic information technology systems. However, implementation of the more complex and potentially more beneficial applications is low. The wide variation in vendors utilized may impair information exchange, interoperability and uniform data collection. BioMed Central 2008-01-24 /pmc/articles/PMC2233621/ /pubmed/18218117 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6947-8-5 Text en Copyright © 2008 Lapinsky et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Lapinsky, Stephen E
Holt, David
Hallett, David
Abdolell, Mohamed
Adhikari, Neill KJ
Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada
title Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada
title_full Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada
title_fullStr Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada
title_full_unstemmed Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada
title_short Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada
title_sort survey of information technology in intensive care units in ontario, canada
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2233621/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18218117
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6947-8-5
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