Transcript O HOSPITAL VIRTUAL

The Virtual Hospital and
Continuing Education in
Medicine
Information Resources on the
World Wide Web
Renato M.E. Sabbatini, PhD
Director, Center for Biomedical Informatics
State University of Campinas
Director for Informatics, Brazilian Medical
Association
The State University of Campinas
UNICAMP
19,000 students (42% grad)
2,000 faculty
Research university
Hi-tech R&D
Campinas
850,000 inhabitants
60 miles north of São Paulo
12% of Brazil´s GIP
Brazil´s Silicon Valley
The Internet Revolution
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Global access
Widely available, inexpensive
Large volume of information
Easy to use
Interactivity
Many forms of access and of media types
Email, mailing lists, newsgroups,
multimedia, file transfer, webcasting, etc.
Benefits of Telehealth
• Expands coverage to remote and
underserved populations, particularly in the
rural sector
• Increases the quality of health care by
providing monitoring, consultation,
screening and education
• Decreases the costs of hospitalization, error,
transportation, excessive use of specialized
resources, etc.
Crucial Points Concerning
Internet Usage in Health Care
• Increase high quality content
• Increase content which is useful at the point
of care
• Improve the access mechanisms (keyword
and concept search, semantics, content
rating, authoritative sources, easy and quick
navigation)
• Training the end user
What is the Brazilian Virtual
Hospital
• An architectural metaphor for providing access to
medical information on the Internet;
• A standardized platform for the electronic
interchange of information and for interaction in a
virtual community of users;
• A resource for the continued education of
professionals and consumers;
• A testbed for the experimentation and evaluation
of new communication technologies in medicine.
Virtual Hospitals in the World
• Virtual Hospital - University of Iowa December 1994
• Cyberhospital - National University of
Singapore - February 1995
• Brazilian Virtual Hospital - May 1996
• Argentinian Virtual Hospital - May 1997
Types of Users
• General public: patients, lay persons
• Health care professionals and students
Each type of user may access the Virtual
Hospital using different entry points or
interfaces, according to the adequacy of
language and depth of information
http://www.hospvirt.org.br
Health & Life On-Line
http://www.nib.unicamp.br/svol
Services and Departments of the
Brazilian Virtual Hospital
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Access Lobby
Physician´s Room
Medical Archives
Library
Virtual Medical School
Conventions Center
Students Union
Hospital Management
Clinical Engineering
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Publishing House
Computing Center
Virtual Pharmacy
Basic Science
Departments
• Clinical and surgical
departments
• Research groups and labs
• Special projects
The Virtual Pharmacy
www.hospvirt.org.br/farmaciavirtual
Basic Organizational Principles
• Each department is coordinated by a respected
specialist in the area, aided by a group of
collaborators;
• Whenever possible, a learned society of noted
university center supports the specialty;
• All information made available is selected
according to quality, timeliness and accuracy and
is peer-reviewed;
• There is a uniform user interface and hierarchy of
information.
Basic Organizational Principles
• The Brazilian Virtual Hospital is built and
maintained by a “knowledge cooperative”,
i.e., a network of collaborators from many
location;
• It is a national initiative, officially endorsed
by the Brazilian Medical Association and
the Interministerial Committee for Internet
Coordination (Internet/BR) Health Working
Group
Information Resources
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Electronic books, journals and newsletters (virtual library)
Information for patients
On-line courses and tutorials
Image, video and sound databases
Clinical algorithms for decision support
Clinical case descriptions (“virtual patients”)
Medical databases
Information about conferences and courses
Mailing lists, discussion forums (medical chat rooms), bulletin boards
and newsgroups
• Dowloadable free software
• Links to Internet resources
Links to Internet Resources
• Home pages of medical schools, hospitals,
clinics, physicians, university departments,
research centers, etc.
• Specialized information sites
• Medical and health care societies and
associations
• Patient support groups, mailing lists
• etc.
Health & Life On-Line
“Ask the Doctor”
Health & Life On-Line
“Ask the Doctor”
The e*pub Project
Group for Electronic Publications in
Medicine and Biology
http://www.epub.org.br
The e*pub Aims
• Development and deployment of periodical
publications in Medicine and Health (digital
library) on the Internet and other electronic
media;
• Research of new technologies and
methodologies of electronic publishing and
the evaluation of its impact on scientific
communication and education
E*pub Publications
• Intermedic: A Journal on Internet and
Medicine
• Informedica/Informatica Medica: A
Magazine on Informatics for Physicians
• Health & Life On-Line
• Brain & Mind Magazine
• OdontOnLine Magazine
e*pub
External Supported Periodicals
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Brazilian Archives of Cardiology
Newsletter of the São Paulo Cardiological Society
Journal of the São Paulo Cardiological Society
Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological
Research
• Contemporary Gastroenterology
• Review of Psychological Studies
• OnLine Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery
A paper
in HTML
The same paper in PDF Format (Acrobat)
Boosting Internet Usage by
Health Care Professionals
• Promoting basic awareness of available
resources, usefulness, know-how
• Short hands-on courses
• Presence at medical conferences
(cooperation with pharmaceutical labs)
• Publications slanted towards the end user
(Intermedic magazine)
• Special package deals for physicians
(Brazilian Medical Association)
http://www.epub.org.br/intermedic
Other Virtual Communities
• The Brazilian Virtual Veterinary Hospital
http://www.nib.unicamp.br/hvvb
• The Virtual Dental Center
http://www.nib.unicamp.br/cov
• The Virtual Physical Education Center
http://www.cev.org.br
Funding the Virtual Hospital
• University salaries and infrastructure
• Private donations (fiscal exemption law)
– Pharmaceutical companies
– Computer hardware and software companies
• Public research grants
• International organizations (WHO, IDB...)
• Aproximate total of US$ 1,500,000 in three years,
US$ 3,000,000 for the next three years
Future Projects
• The Medical News On-Line Agency
• The Virtual Continued Medical Education
Center
• International Health Information
Technology Institute
• Brazilian Telemedicine Initiative
Continued Medical Education
Courses
• Short, modular, highly specialized updating
for the clinician
• CME credit granting
• Wide range of specialties and subspecialties, large number of courses
• Simple, easy-to-use WWW-based
technology
• Backing by AMB, towards periodical
reaccreditation of physicians
Structure of a Course Module
• Web-based narrated and/or annotated slide
show
• On-line reference text(s)
• Further bibliography, on-line resources
• On-line interactive quiz
• Limited tutoring by email
• Chat room with assigned date and time
On-Line Papers and Articles
Narrated Slide Shows and Videoclips
RealAudio Player
Interactive Chat Rooms
Interactive On-Line Quiz
Contact Information
Renato M.E. Sabbatini
[email protected]
http://www.nib.unicamp.br