Health & Medical
Informatics
Northern Ireland
Paul McCullagh
Email:pj.mccullagh@ulster.ac.uk
25th April 2006, BCS Health Informatics Forum
Sectors
• Hospital Trusts
– Clinicians, PAM, ICT
• Queen’s University of Belfast
– Medicine
• University of Ulster
– PAM
NI Regional Context
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Review of Public Administration
Reconfiguration of Health Structures
4 Health Authorities  1 SHA
18 Trusts  5 Integrated Trusts
Implications
• Systems/information consolidation
• standardisation
HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
RESEARCH GROUP at QUB
• Digital microscopy and machine
vision in cancer diagnosis and
prognosis
• Signal Processing and
Compression in Medical Imaging
• Surgical Informatics
• Information and Communications
Technology in Primary Care
• Decision Support Systems in
Clinical Decision Making
Telemedicine
MEDICATE Solution
www.medicate-online.org
Medication container
LCD Display
4 Buttons
Simple user interface
Compact size : [W] 142mm x [D] 58mm x [H] 35 mm
Weight : 220g
Prescription Outputs
• Patient Empowerment
• Patient Education &
Training
• Patient ‘Experts’
• Need Education and
Self-Management
Training
Diabetes Education
• Diabetes
– Type I & Type II
innovative
multimedia
patient-centred
education
materials
DI@L-log
Gluconnect.com
DI@L-log Architecture Schematic
Patient Enters Information
At Home Or On The Move
• Weight
• Blood Sugar
• Blood Pressure
VoiceXML
Interpreter
PSTN
Secure Firewall
Primary / Secondary
Care Provider
Intranet
Electronic Patient
Record (EPR)
Data Repository
• Patient Details
• Clinical Targets
• Protocols
PDA
Regular Health Report
Print-Outs Sent To Patient
Clinical
Workstation
Doctor / Nurse
On The Move
DI@L-log
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Data Management
Visualisation
Trend Analysis
Decision Support/
Evidence Based Medicine
• Data Repository
• Patients / HCP
• Feedback
• Communication
• Developed further
Electronic Patient Record (EPR)
Hospital
PAS
Strategic Health
Authority
Eye Screening
Digital Imaging
PDA
Diamond
Foot Screening
Digital Imaging
Pathology
Wards
GP
Web Access / EDI
Clinic
Data managers
Remote clinics / users
Local / Wide Area Network
Meter Uploads
The Top 15 Features
• Age and Diagnosis Duration
• Insulin Treatment, Smoking Status and
Family History
• LabRBG, Diet Treatment and Tablet
Treatment
• Complication Type and Drug Type
• LabCholesterol, LabMicroalbuminuria and
LabTriglycerides
Performing regression using global adaptation
knowledge
Target value
f(x)
C3
C2
C1
Diffs vector (C2, C3) is
most similar to (C1, Q)
Q
Attribute x
5. Use k-NN to find case pairs whose differences
match those between the query and one of its
NNs
Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland
Mr. Tom Holmes of IMS Maxims
plc. presenting the prize for best
paper to Ms. Ann Forde
The prevailing educational and health environment
drives course development
• Fees (who pays for the education?),
• Policy Drivers (from government, NHS),
• Market (is there sufficient demand for more specialised
ICT graduates in HI?),
• Graduate Output (will the graduate contribute?),
• Bologna (harmonisation of course throughout Europe)
The nature of the course
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The Scientific and Engineering Base of Course (is this sufficiently different from
Computer Science to warrant a new degree?),
Models & Philosophy (are they different from existing HI courses?),
Level of Course (is postgraduate the natural level for HI practitioners?), Audience
(existing workers or school leavers?),
Content / Relevance (core material which doesn’t change or the latest tools and
packages?),
Delivery Modes (Learning and Teaching: how flexible should delivery be?),
Progression (will student complete in time, given flexibility of delivery?)
Coherence of Subject (wide ranging or more depth in core discipline of computer
science),
Distinctiveness / Scope, Workplace Support, Teaching Expertise and Staffing Mix (is
this sufficient in one institution or do we need collaborative approach ?),
Educational Viability (will a practical course deliver proper education and knowledge)
Reflect Research (should the course reflect and use the latest HI research?)
The Healthcare Informatics occupation
• Mandatory (should HI professionals require a domain specific
qualification?),
• Career Path (will a qualification enhance their career?)
• Occupational Standards and Contractual Expectations (should these
reflect academic achievement?)
• Knowledge and Skills Framework (is Otley the correct model, do we
need to refine or add to ducks and ponds?)
• Graduate Characteristics (benefit to graduates and, benefits to
Employers),
• General Health (Social / Community) Benefits (will a better educated
workforce in HI deliver this?),
• Ethics
Collaboration between providers
• Ownership at University, Inter-disciplinarity
(this may be a desirable way forward but
requires good working relationships
• Tackling the digital divide by collaborating
on course to third world countries might
provide a way forward).
Acknowledgements
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Roy Harper
Chris Nugent
Juan Carlos Augusto
Maurice Mulvenna
Jonathan Wallace
Medical Informatics Recognised Research
Group
Intelligent Consultant : Interface
• Intelligent computer consultant
• Natural Language Processing
• Virtual Appointments