1. Thinking in Hammers and Nails: Problem-Based Approaches to Healthcare IT Implementation
Paul Biondich, MD, MS
Asst. Professor of Pediatrics / Informatics
Regenstrief Institute… Indianapolis

2. Current State of Affairs?
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail..”
- Abraham Maslow, Cognitive Psychologist

3. Hammers and Nails
Full personal disclosure: infatuated with computers and information technology
Taking a leap: some of you are as well, or else you wouldn’t be here..
As a result, we are proactive “technology users” .. and we understand how these technologies likely have positive impact on healthcare

4. Hammers and Nails
As a result, its easy to appreciate (become enamored with) the latest and greatest “hammers”:
Smart Cards
Wireless communication
Speech Recognition
PDAs / Cell Phone Hybrids
Portable Computing (Tablets, Wearable Computing)

5. The Problem with Hammers
Also easy to fall into trap of thinking that the technology itself that can improve healthcare provision
Current “HIT euphoria” has further exacerbated these myopic perspectives..
“PDAs could give pocket access to a patient’s medical record!”

6. Looking for nails..

8. Clinical Results via PDA

9. Gopher on Real Wireless PDA

10. Yet another Gopher PDA

11. The Popcorn Woman

12. What’s next?!

13. Problem-based frameworks
Health IT is a tool no different than a tongue depressor or an otoscope
Identifying healthcare problems allows one to consider tailored solutions
HIT might not be best answer?
Stating the specific problem -> harder than it sounds… typically an iterative process

14. Identifying your nails..
“In the correct formulation of the question, lies the key to the answer.”
- Nobelist Max Planck

15. Iterative Problem Identification
High level problem: need to improve patient safety
Focused on a topic: medication safety
Focused on a clinical problem: adverse drug events
Focused on a specific clinical problem: severe drug interactions
Atomic problem: digoxin and cyclosporine drug interaction

16. Next questions.. Who elicits the problem?
What is the prevalence of the problem?
Where is the problem occurring?
When does the problem occur within clinical workflows?
How can I “manually” fix the problem?

17. Typical Results Process often leads to surprising solutions
Information gathered during the process significantly informs how the solution can be customized
Specified tons more problems than you immediately imagined.. how does one prioritize?

18. Prioritization Factors
P= Impact on individual patients’ care (e.g. quality, safety, cost)
O= Organizational impact (e.g. regulatory compliance, resource use)
C= Clinician impact (e.g. enhanced workflow)
N= Number of patients positively affected
G= Gap between ideal and actual behavior pertinent to the intervention
D= Difficulty associated with implementing intervention
C= Cost of intervention

19. Setting – “Enterprise” Pediatric Outpatient Clinic
High patient volume (~200 patients/day)
“Digital Divide” within patient population
Diverse, large, and ever changing clinician population
Urban setting not amenable to electronics in rooms
Limited support staff to assist in data acquisition

20. The Problem / Motivation
Need to capture data prior to physician encounters from both patients/parents and support staff to inform a new preventive care DSS.
They move all over the clinic (waiting room, patient room, vitals area, etc)
There were resource constraints ($)
Management technology-phobic

21. Our 21st Century Technology Choice – Paper

22. Paper as a Computer Interface?
Familiar
Easy to work with
Fully enabled
Portable
Cheap
Computer can reliably read information off of paper when it is structured

23. Adaptive Turnaround Documents
Data-driven, dynamically generated, computer interpretable paper forms
Pre-Screening Form: Collects 20 most relevant risk factor observations from family, and also collects vital sign assessments from nursing

24. Sample Screening Form (PSF)

25. Nursing Observations / Vitals
Real-time calculations:
Body Mass Index (BMI), Growth Percentiles, Blood Pressure abnormalities, Abrupt changes between visits
Nurse / Aide prompting:
Better indication of when to do Screening Tests
Reminder of previously abnormal values that need to be retaken

26. Parental Screening Questionnaire
Forms are custom tailored to patient
Questions are age specific
Logic is sensitive to questions that are previously answered
Questions are all prioritized.. Most clinically relevant and high-risk questions are asked first

27. Parental Screening Questionnaire
Patients identify their own risk factors – physicians no longer spend time on “fishing expeditions”
Parents are “activated” into thinking about relevant or misunderstood topics
Triggers many decision support “tools”:
“Extra Specific” reminders
Just-in-Time Handouts
Automated Orders

28. Sample Physician Worksheet Form

29. Vital Sign Calculations
Screening Form (PSF)
Doctor’s Worksheet
(PWS)

30. Physician Preventive Care Reminders

31. Identifying Risk Factors
Screening
Form (PSF)
Physician Form Reminder

32. Thinking Out of the Box…
The London Times in 1834
“That it will ever come into general use, notwithstanding its value, is extremely doubtful because its beneficial application requires much time and gives a good bit of trouble, both to the patient and to the practitioner because its hue and character are foreign and opposed to all our habits and associations.”