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[ES] En el competitivo entorno en el que nos hallamos actualmente, la gestión adecuada de las Tecnologías de la Información (TI) y de los sistemas de información (SI) de las organizaciones, es un aspecto estratégico y fundamental para que estas consigan alcanzar sus objetivos corporativos. En ese entorno, surgen marcos de trabajo para gestionar de la mejor forma los servicios de TI en las organizaciones. La implantación de estos marcos de trabajo, como es el caso de ITIL, resulta compleja, y debe estar soportada por las herramientas adecuadas. Pero no es fácil saber si una herramienta es adecuada, o se ajusta a las necesidades. En este trabajo se presenta un modelo de evaluación de Herramientas para llevar a cabo la gestión de uno de los procesos clave definidos en ITIL, como es el proceso de Gestión de Problemas., [EN] In the competitive environment in which we are, proper management of Information Technology (IT) and information systems (IS) is a strategic and fundamental aspect for organizations to be able to achieve their corporate objectives. In that environment, frameworks emerge to manage in the best way IT services in organizations. The implementation of these frameworks, such ITIL, is complex, and must be supported by appropriate tools. But it is not easy to tell if a tool is appropriate, or is adjusted to the needs. This paper presents an evaluation model of tools to carry out the management of the Problem Management process, one of the key processes defined in ITIL, as is the Problem Management process.

Industrial control systems are used to control and supervise plants and critical infrastructures. They are crucial for operation of many industries and even society at large. However, despite efforts to secure such systems, there are frequent reports of incidents that lead to problems because of human error (e.g., installing unauthorized software on a mission-critical machine) or even cyber attacks. While such incidents should be prevented in the first place, it is not feasible to achieve 100% security; therefore, operators should be prepared to deal with incidents promptly and efficiently if they occur. In this paper, we present a general methodology and framework for investigating incidents in industrial control systems. The methodology is supported by a tool to automate an investigation, especially to efficiently determine the state of files on a device after an incident. This enables faster recovery from incidents by being able to identify suspicious files and focus on the files that have been modified compared to the initially installed files, or a previously taken baseline. An evaluation confirms the applicability of the methodology for an embedded industrial controller and for an industrial control system.

This article describes the data in search results of crawl a crawl Web search engine to build the item repository. These methods make the efficiency of building Q improve and the costs reduce. Examing the questions based on XML storage format also have a very strong compatibility. Introduction The test resources library adapts in large-scale development of the cause of examination and examination work with more scientific, standardized which needs developed. Strictly follow the theory of educational measurement, based on the accurate mathematical model and the educational measurement tool, which belongs to the field of computer-aided teaching (what??). Its basic unit is a single subject and the test database is a test warehouse. Problem management a good question bank can control the quality of the whole system, to achieve a variety of specialized functions, so as to effectively use questions for education and test. Test resource library construction is a complex systems engineering, first to establish the mathematical model of the system, then determine item attribute index and test structure, to organize a large number of outstanding teachers to write papers, in order to ensure the scientificalness and validity of these questions, which should organize a large number of test samples, sampling and testing, the item parameter label is effective for correction. The traditional method of test resources library to establish the need to consume a large amount of manpower and material resources,After decades of development, many fields have accumulated a lot of questions of resources, if these resources for the collection and processing through the network, as the material for the test resources library, the cost of the item bank construction can be greatly reduced cost, construction time can be shortened, ,it is also conducive to the inheritance of test resources and sharing. The network data capture using the technology basically used vertical search engine technology of web spider (or data acquisition robot), word segmentation system, tasks and index system technology of comprehensive and complete. Vertical search engine for a certain industry professional search engine, search object are usually specific website, and test resource on the network is basically evenly distributed in a large number of web servers, and the question involved in the field is various, content is very wide in the pan. The test resources on the network for data capture the full text search engine more suitable; can use the mainstream search massive search engine results were analyzed to obtain the related questions of resources. Basic Function Module A lot of questions of resources must be through the rational organization and management can be easily used by the majority of teachers and students. Therefore, it is necessary to build the test resources library, resource library cannot only store a lot of questions, but also can store the and related test some important information, such as courses, chapters, types, difficulty, solution analysis, and so on, but also 3rd International Conference on Management, Education, Information and Control (MEICI 2015) © 2015. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 1241 must provide quick query and statistical functions and convenient import and export functions. The main functions modules of the test library are shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 Function module chart of test resource library As Fig. 1 shows, test resource library through the test the import function building, also open the question query and statistical analysis function module, the output of the item bank is divided into two parts, the electronic version of the questions through the test module is derived to obtain, the paper version of the test by printing and output module to obtain. At the same time, the cross library transfer of the test resource can be realized through the import and export of the questions based on XML. System Data Flow The source of the data source is the Internet resource, and the output is the format of the paper, and the map is the complete data flow chart of the resource library: Fig. 2 Data flow chart of test resource database

Fluctuation of sales over time is one of the major problems faced by most of the industries. To alleviate this problem management tries to base their plans on forecast of sales pattern, which are mostly adhoc and rarely provides solid foundation for the plans. This study makes an attempt to solve this problem by taking a neural network approach, at the process of sales of footwear, and arriving at an optimum neural network model. The algorithms used for developing such model through neural network are both feedforward and recurrent Elman network. The data used in this work are the weekly sales of footwear and the information about the seasonality of sales process. While solving the problem, the focus is on forecasting of weekly retail sales as per the requirement of management. This work would reduce the uncertainty existing in the short-term/middle term planning of sales and distribution logistics of footwear over different time horizons across the entire supply chain of footwear business.

Austin Peay State University's Department of Physics and Astronomy has reinvigorated its physics program by adding a required computational methods class and small computational components to classes across its curriculum. A front-to-back problem management approach has required a change in the way the department assesses students' performance

This paper describes four human error incidents in chemical process plants which I have personally observed, and discusses specific lessons from each of them. As often stated by Trevor Kletz, people respond to stories and examples, and hopefully these incidents will be useful in preventing similar incidents in the future. Fortunately none of the incidents resulted in serious safety consequences, although all cost some money and productivity. And, under other circumstances, similar errors in a more hazardous operation could have had serious safety consequences.

This article reports on a multimedia television course taught jointly at two universities and focusing on foreign policy problem management in the administration of George H. W. Bush. The course centered on appearances by President Bush and his major foreign policy team members, discussing in a case study format, the major foreign policy challenges of the administration. The theoretical framework of the course is outlined, the technological aspects are discussed, some evaluative comments are presented, and some future-oriented ideas are offered for building on this experience.

Intermittent failures of healthcare delivery culminating in patient safety incidents are an international problem. Collecting information on incidents and where necessary analysing causes allows problems to be identified which, when resolved, can prevent future errors and incidents. To support incident reporting, it is vital to have an effective data collecting system and, in addition, an open and fair culture where those who report are supported and not punished. Where this has been introduced, large numbers of incidents are identified and solutions that improve patient safety can be implemented.

A key mission of the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is to determine the root causes of incidents, report the findings, and issue recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring. CSB investigators respond to a variety of events occurring in a wide range of workplaces, from chemical plants and refineries to food-flavoring factories and steel mills. The details of each investigation are unique and the root causes are pertinent to each specific case. However, a common thread that emerges in CSB investigations is the inadequacy of management systems that might have prevented the incident from occurring. Examples of the systemic issues identified in CSB reports are: Lack of hazard review to predict and prevent incidents Insufficient investigation and follow-up after previous incidents Inadequate training of staff Failure to implement effective mechanical integrity programs These issues are well recognized as elements of a process safety management (PSM) program, although many incidents investigated by the CSB occurred at facilities that are not regulated by OSHA's process safety management rule.1 Indeed, a number of these incidents occurred at facilities that are well outside society's definition of “chemical plants.” Please note that the opinions and conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2004

Relevance Research shows that the expectations a patient brings to treatment have important influences on the clinical relationship, experiences of treatment, the treatment process, outcomes and satisfaction with care. This influence means that patients’ expectations are important for physiotherapists, service providers and researchers to take into account in approaches to care and treatment evaluations. Research highlights the need for a better understanding of expectations of physiotherapy treatment for Msk problems to enable more effective, high quality and cost-beneficial care. Purpose The aim of this qualitative study was to explore prospective responses to an open comment item on patients’ expectations of their physiotherapy treatment that was nested within a larger research project developing and validating the Brighton musculoskeletal Patient Reported Outcome Measure (BmPROM). Methods/Analysis The BmPROM is a generic patient self-report outcome measure developed to evaluate the effectiveness of physiotherapy treatment for musculoskeletal conditions. A validity and reliability study was undertaken with patients newly referred into five NHS physiotherapy outpatient departments in SE England. The outcome tool has open-comment items, which included a pre-treatment invitation to provide expectations of their physiotherapy treatment. A thematic analysis was undertaken of the expectations expressed to gain insights for physiotherapy practice and patient care. Results Analysis was undertaken of 563 expectations of physiotherapy treatment expressed from 224 participants (mean 50.7yrs [17-88yrs]; 60% female) experiencing a range of Msk conditions (Lower limb:30%, Upper limb:25%, Spine:28%, Other/multiple sites:17%). Five key themes were identified. Three themes were outcome-related and desired effects of treatment; Relieving symptoms, predominately pain relief; Regaining and maintaining physical abilities and function; and Improving psychological well-being by enabling coping, confidence and control. Theme four was process-related; Explanation, advice and education, where physiotherapy was seen as a resource to acquire better knowledge, skills and strategies to support resolution, management or prevention. The final theme involved recovery expectations conveyed within responses; Problem resolution and responsibility, where responses implied an expectation of a cure or one of problem management and control. Discussion and conclusions The findings provide an understanding of domains considered important or appropriate by patients when seeking care for Msk problems. The themes show overlap with studies using retrospective explorations and surveys of treatment expectations, and research on outcomes considered important to evaluate within Msk PROMs. The study has also shown that a written method of eliciting expectations can be a valuable clinical tool for use to support discussions concerning treatment aims, strategies, desired outcomes and responsibilities. These communication processes are also likely to be integral to achieving the qualities in the therapist and clinical encounters considered important to patients, of feeling listened to, consulted with and respected, and associated with satisfaction with physiotherapy and features of patient-centred care. Impact and implications Healthcare is changing as evidence-informed practice and cost-benefit drivers influence what and how care is provided. Shifts from traditional understandings about Msk problems and their management makes exploring and addressing patients’ expectations particularly important. Developing ways to support appropriate expectations of physiotherapy treatment remains an important endeavour that is integral to its effectiveness and demonstrating its value.

Summary Background: Pharmaceutical care was a concept initially defined in the early 1990s. It had its roots within clinical pharmacy, in the USA. In Denmark, pharmaceutical care has been part of the professional standards of practice for community pharmacy since 1995. Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the provision of pharmaceutical care in community practice in Denmark. A focus of the study was the estimation of the frequency of medicine-related problem identification and the process of problem management in the Danish pharmacies. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey of all Danish community pharmacies was conducted (n = 288). The variables included: detection and identification of medicine-related problems, goal-setting for solving medicine-related problems, and documentation of efforts to solve these. The response rate was 75·7%. A non-respondent analysis was performed. Results: On average three medicine-related problems per pharmacy were found within the working week prior to the survey. For two-thirds of those cases the type of problem involved was identified. For the other third, goals had been set to resolve the problem. Minimal documentation of these activities was reported. The primary collaborators in problem management were general practitioners and patients. Conclusion: Pharmaceutical care, in its fullest sense, as defined in policy documents in Denmark, was not evident in practice. While some aspects of pharmaceutical care were being performed, almost no documentation of efforts was taking place in community pharmacy.

This study researched an enterprise resources planning (ERP) implementation project at a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer. In depth research was achieved by participating and observing in an implementation project at an actual PCB manufacturer. It is hoped that this study will contribute a valuable reference resource for future PCB manufacturers that wish to select or implement ERP systems. The first step in implementing ERP software is to set a clear target. At the same time, the tasks of each department and the system of cooperation between departments must be clearly defined. In this way, the cycle time of each flow and the accuracy of data will both be improved. In order to ensure smooth implementation of an ERP project, the followings are key factors: (1) an ERP system that suits the PCB industry; (2) effective project management; (3) effective project cost/budget control; (4) project problem management system; (5) comprehensive implementation method and information technology (IT), etc. By keeping to these principals, Company A achieved rapid transactions, and lower total cycle times and inventory levels, and other such benefits that had been predicted.

More rehabilitative care takes place in nursing homes than in any other setting. Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) face increasing challenges in delivering stroke rehabilitation care. The Domain Management Model (DMM) organizes care of stroke survivors by identifying four critical domains that include all problems patients and families may face. Problems identified through the Minimum Data Set and Resident Assessment Protocols can be organized by the domains as well. In the SNF setting, the DMM can help organize rehabilitation care by assisting in the identification of all relevant clinical problems and by serving as a structured format for team meetings, problem management, and discharge summaries.

Problem: The NHS is perceived to have a poor record of learning from incidents. Despite efforts of the Medical Devices Agency, which issues safety warnings, adverse incidents with medical devices continue to occur, some of which result in serious injury or death through device failures, user errors, and organisational problems. Design: Introduction of feedback notes on a supportive investigation that seeks to determine latent factors, immediate triggers, causes, and positive actions taken by staff that minimised adverse consequences. Background and setting: Medical physics department providing equipment management services in a major NHS teaching trust. Key measures for improvement: Reduction in repetitions of adverse incidents and improved staff competency in using devices. Strategy for change: A feedback note was developed to describe the incident and generic details of the equipment, summarise the investigation (focusing on latent causes and immediate triggers), and describe lessons to be learnt and positive actions by staff. Effects of change: Feedback notes have been used in teaching sessions and given to ward link nurses. Despite being new, the positive supportive approach has encouraged an open reporting culture. Lessons learnt: Adverse incidents are typically caused by alignment of different factors, but good practice can prevent errors becoming incidents. Careful analysis of incidents reveals both the multifactorial causes and the good practices that can help minimise repetitions.

Gerard Egan's problem management and opportunity development model is currently in use training prospective counsellors, social workers, nurses, managers, etc. the skills of helping. This essay attempts, experimentally, to depict in three different ways Egan's work and its relationship to operations of power: (1) from a relatively uncritical stance, (2) from a personal experience stance, and (3) from a social constructionist perspective. The whole piece, taken together, attempts to tackle the issue of theory as practice — to ground/unmask/make present the ways in which we are socialised into a profession and the problems inherent in that process. Two themes run through the work: the double bind created for a student on a counselling course which makes some claim to train around Rogers' core conditions, and which is also assessed/accredited; the connections between theory, training and practices.

CM3: Problem Management is a first detailed descriptive problem management process model to be utilized within corrective maintenance. It is the result of a long-term empirical study of industrial corrective maintenance processes. It has been developed at ABB and evaluated for its industrial relevance within 17 non-ABB organizations.Playing the role of a descriptive model, CM3: Problem Management specifies what a problem management process should look like. It also structures it into three maturity levels, Initial, Defined, and Optimal, where each level offers a different grainedness of process visibility.In this paper, we present the CM3 levels of problem management process maturity within corrective maintenance and match them against the industrial state of practice. Our goal is to establish the current status of problem management maturity using CM3: Problem Management as an evaluation model. Our evaluation results show that the industrial processes today suffice to attend to software problems within corrective maintenance. Very few of them, however, do learn from the past in order to prevent future problems and to improve development or maintenance processes.

Introduction and objectives. Cardiac care is one of the most important and rapidly rising costs in the healthcare system. Therefore, any improvement can produce significant savings. We analyze the evolution of classical clinical effectiveness indexes in a cardiac unit after a change in clinical management. Methods. We reviewed overall clinical effectiveness indexes and the most significant DRGs of a cardiac unit and general hospital between 1992 and 2000. A change in management (optimization of time for studies, responsibility of professionals for tasks, close follow-up, and preventive problem management) was introduced in September 1995 by team members without a parallel change in the hospital. Clinical effectiveness indexes were compared before and after the organizational change and compared with the rest of the hospital. Results. There was a progressive improvement in clinical effectiveness indexes in the hospital (reduction of 22% in length of stay). On the other hand, a significant improvement was also noted in the cardiac unit starting the month after implementing the new management strategy (reduction of 54% in the duration of the hospital stay; 9.74 days preintervention vs 4.97 days postintervention; p < 0.001). Improvement has been progressive throughout the years of follow-up. Overall indexes and specific DRG indicators improved. Conclusions. A change in management strategy can have a significant impact on cardiac care and improve clinical effectiveness. Therefore, the attitude of a small team can have a significant impact on healthcare.

Radiological and nuclear incidents are low probability but very high risk events. Measures can be, and have been, implemented to limit or prevent the impact on the public. Preparedness, however, remains the key to minimizing morbidity and mortality. Incidents may be related to hospital-based misadministration of radiation in interventional radiology or nuclear medicine, industrial or nuclear power plant accidents. Safety and security measures are in place to prevent or mitigate such events. Despite efforts to prevent them, terrorist-perpetrated incidents with, for example, a radiological dispersal device (RDD) are also possible. Due to a misunderstanding of, or lack of, formal education regarding things in this realm, there can be considerable anxiety, even fear, about radiation-related incidents. Multiple studies evaluating healthcare provider willingness to report to work rank radiation as the hazard that will keep the largest number of workers at home. Even incidents that do not constitute a disaster can spiral out of control quite rapidly, placing considerable demands on community resources. Our communities will face these threats in the future and it is the responsibility of physicians and allied healthcare personnel to be trained and ready to care for those affected. The scope of resources needed to prepare for and respond to such incidents is indeed vast. It encompasses the coordinated effort of first responders and physicians, the preparedness of national agencies involved in responding to such events, and individual community cooperation and solidarity. This article reviews the approach to the short- and long-term effects of a radiological or nuclear incident on an affected population, with a specific focus on the medical and public health issues. It also summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of our current ability to respond effectively and makes recommendations to improve these capabilities.

Proposals for changes to the management of global problems can be roughly divided into two categories: first, approaches that are outlined against a development background. They include various contributions that can be subsumed under the term “beyond aid”. They are at pains to improve the development cooperation system further and to integrate it into other development efforts. Second, it is possible to identify conceptual designs relating to new models of international cooperation. This category includes, in particular, global governance research. For problem management, debates on global public goods have proved particularly fruitful in this context.

Nowadays, ITIL represents intensely extended methodology for managing ICT services in the corporate services. This whole methodology contains 26 processes in a total of 5 books covering the life cycle of ICT services. One of the processes is also a problem management which is arranged in the book of Service operation. The goal of this dissertation is to design a complex model for the problem management at Vodafone Czech Republic a.s. In the opening of this thesis, the context of the ICT services in the corporate environment is defined. The following part presents basic information which provides the methodology in general. However, it is obvious that this information is insufficient for the real usage in the corporate environment. By combinig the knowledge gained from the methodology with knowledge about other ICT corporate services and business environment, the model itself has been established. Firstly, the chosen corporation was briefly introduced and the key aspects of ICT services were defined. Secondly, the weaknesses of the current state were identified. These inputs were applied in the design of the model. The first element of the model contains a vision and strategy of problem management. Subsequently, an analysis of the interested parties from the perspective of a problem manager was presented. The tools to support the work of a problem manager were briefly outlined and also the responsibilities of each roles -- what is a problem and what is not -- were determined. This model prevents possible misunderstandings and reduces friction surfaces. The main part of the entire model is the proces itself in which were identified 4 basic phases. For the purpose of information transmission in and out of the process was designed a method of communication and escalation matrix. Draft of the model is enclosed by showing key performance indicators. The last part of this thesis contains a design of database of known errors and a discussion of current challenges in the area of the problem management. The author of this thesis is a problem manager in previously described company and therefore he was able to insert his own recommendation from practise in every model supported by casual explanation.

The thesis deals with the possibilities of the quality information system assessment. The theoretical part of the thesis describes the information systems, explains the term quality in information systems and describes the methods of the IT processes maturity assessment. The implementation of selected methods of the IT process maturity assessment is the content of the practical part of the thesis. A questionnaire survey based on the selected methods was conducted in the SAINT-GOBAIN ADFORS CZ s.r.o. company. The survey was analyzed, the level of the Problem Management process maturity was defined and possible improvements of this process were suggested.

В статті наведено результати використання багатоагентних систем, в яких реалізуються методи розподіленого управління та процедури координації для підсистем технологічного комплексу неперервного типу. Наведено дві структури, які реалізуються в нейромережевих структурах. The paper presents the results of the use of multisystems are implemented in distributed control methods and procedures for coordinating subsystems of continuous technological complex type. Shows two structures , which are implemented in neural structures.

For the third time, the Business Process Intelligence workshop hosted the Business Process Intelligence Challenge. The goal of this challenge is twofold. On the one hand, the challenge allows researchers and practitioners in the field to show their analytical capabilities to a broader audience. On the other hand, the challenge (and it’s data) allows for researchers to prove that their techniques work on real-life data sets.

Despite precautions taken to ensure food safety, it can happen that contaminated products reach the market and/or consumers. A swift and responsible management of incidents is important to protect consumers and minimize damage to the reputation of the company. While incidents should be prevented, when they occur they should be analyzed and the fundamental factors leading to the incidents must be investigated and addressed to prevent their recurrence. Communication of the root cause of incidents, both internally and externally, is key for effectively improving food safety at the society level.

This article describes the main elements of incident investigation from the perspective of a food manufacturer. This includes a description of the key elements that need to be considered, including ‘signals’ indicating that an incident has or may have occurred, key steps in incident investigation, gathering of relevant information, and identification of direct and underlying (root) cause(s). The situations considered focus mostly on incidents caused by biological hazards that may be present in products arising from failures in raw materials sourcing/supply, manufacturing, transport, and distribution. The main purpose of this article is to provide guidance on the principles that should be applied in incident investigation that will aid in the preparedness for such incidents should they occur.

Despite precautions taken to ensure food safety, contaminated products may reach the market and/or consumers. Over and above a swift management of incidents, the management is responsible for ensuring that incidents are thoroughly and objectively investigated and that appropriate corrective actions are taken to prevent their recurrence. To this end, a root cause analysis of incidents, aiming at identifying their underlying causes needs to be carried out. This article explains these causal factors and describes tools and approaches for root cause analysis.

The future growth and success of psychology and counselling depend, to a large extent, on their application in Asia. It is paradoxical, then, that information about Chinese psychology has been hidd...

The guideline "Joint Swelling" is addressed to primary care physicians--general practitioners, internists or orthopedists without special experience in rheumatology. It provides a framework for interviewing patients, as well as for physical, laboratory and imaging examinations and for selection of treatment appropriate to the level of primary care. Situations which call for urgent evaluation and criteria for referral to rheumatologists are described. The appendix contains comments on signs and symptoms to differentiate arthralgia from joint swelling and on the diagnostic value of a history of joint swelling without confirmation by the physician. Further recommendations for the evaluation of patient history and physical and technical examinations are given in a tabular form. The significance of laboratory and imaging procedures is discussed.

We report on the development of a new coping inventory. Findings demonstrate factorial invariance for 3 factors across 3 groups of caregivers. From a 19-item summative inventory, we derived a 3-factor model including direct problem management. positive outlook, and reality-based coping. The model, inclusive of 9 items. appears to have consistent factor structure across groups. Results offer evidence that the 3-factor structure is robust and may be generalized across other groups of caregivers. The model provides an acceptable fit with coping concepts of direct problem management, cognitive, and perceptual management of meaning. Findings suggest that caregivers are similar in these 3 dimensions of coping; that domain-specific caregiving experiences are responsible for selection of coping efforts comprising these coping dimensions.

There is an increasing interest in how managers describe and respond to what they regard as moral versus nonmoral problems in organizations. In this study, forty managers described a moral problem and a nonmoral problem that they had encountered in their organization, each of which had been resolved. Analyses indicated that: (1) the two types of problems could be significantly differentiated using four of Jones' (1991) components of moral intensity; (2) the labels managers used to describe problems varied systematically between the two types of problems and according to the problem's moral intensity; and (3) problem management processes varied according to the problem's type and moral intensity.

Clinical incidents, which occur during the provision of health care, can be costly and deadly. Over three-quarter of these incidents is preventable according to the studies in general practice in Australia ( Bhasale, A., Miller, G., Reid, S., & Britt, H., (1998). Analysing potential harm in Australian general practice: an incident-monitoring study. MJA, 169, 73–76 ). It is important that we learn as much as possible from these incidents to prevent them in the future and improve quality of care. This paper introduces a holistic system, which amalgamates case-based reasoning, rule-based reasoning, causal-based reasoning and an ontological knowledge base for managing clinical incidents in general practice. Clinical incident management includes incident analysis, incident case browsing, statistics and explanation. The system enables health professionals to share the medical incident information, which has caused harm and can cause potential harm. The re-use of such information may prevent or mitigate human or medical errors. Such a hybrid approach provides an effective management of adverse clinical incidents for quality improvement in General Practice.

Soft systems methodology (SSM) is a leading interpretive approach to real-world problem management and the idea of comparison is one of its core concepts. However, it is argued in this paper that the concept of comparison could be usefully enriched and made easier to operationalise since it has received very little attention in the research literature. The paper explores comparison as a problem area and proposes a framework consisting of expectation, desirability and importance as a basis for extending and clarifying the notion of comparison.

Requirements work all started as a dialogue between a vendor and an end user. Nowadays this dialogue has been complicated through introduction of marketing and acquisition personnel. This has led to introduction of requirements specifications, but the need for a basic dialogue is still there since a specification cannot capture the increase of knowledge that will always take place during development. An efficient dialogue must not only include requirements, but also stated missions, problem management and understandable formalism for the system's structure and behavior. Further study of the dialogue shows that requirements management must be managed as a process in parallel with processes for development and verification.

The umbilicus serves no useful purpose other than to remind us where we came from. The sleeve of a man’s jacket still carries the buttons once placed there to discourage the owner from wiping his nose. The diabetes specialist physician is seen by some health service planners in much the same light. When diabetes was rare, the specialist was badly needed. He was seen as a valued repository of unshared knowledge and took personal responsibility for a high proportion of those affected. His expertise went unchallenged, and other health professionals would seek his advice when treating a patient on insulin. The old-school diabetologist was a general physician who would, as I once did, think nothing of passing a sigmoidoscope or injecting a joint in the diabetic clinic. But times have changed, and those days are just a memory. The most obvious change has been the increasing prevalence of diabetes. In the UK, for example, we have roughly one diabetes specialist physician for every 100,000 people, about 15% of whom will be expected to develop diabetes in the course of a normal lifespan. Since only a small minority of those affected will ever be able to consult a specialist, primary care has expanded to meet the need. General practitioners no longer fear diabetes, and (at least in the UK) are well remunerated for ticking all the treatment boxes in their patient registers. The physician, meanwhile, now works in a team and sees many of his former tasks performed, rather more effectively, by others. Diabetes networks have evolved, treatment pathways have been automated, and patient care has become more streamlined, more evidence-based and more devolved. The emphasis has swung from problem management to prevention, and from the individual to the population. All this, as people tend to forget, arose on the foundation laid by generations of diabetes physicians—but have they rendered themselves obsolete in the process? The diabetes physician has never enjoyed high standing within the hierarchy of medical specialities, for specialists still derive their status from the organ they serve. A tradition stretching back to the Middle Ages has decreed that the noble organs are situated above the diaphragm, and the greatest public respect (and private fees) are reserved for those who pronounce upon them. The sub-diaphragmatic specialities, diabetes included, are assigned to a lower caste, in keeping with the digestive and excretory functions with which they deal. Nor, in the current climate, is it easy for a diabetologist to justify his (or her) existence. Anyone can diagnose diabetes, and there are no expensive and invasive procedures that only the specialist can perform. Diabetes can be managed with negligent ease by those inclined to do so. The expertise of the physician may be wide-ranging, but he typically knows less about the workings of glucose meters and infusion pumps than his specialist nurse, less about diet than his dietitian, less about feet than the podiatrist, less about eyes, hearts, nerves, kidneys and flaccid penises than his colleagues in the corresponding specialities, and (in one or two instances known to the author) less about people than the clinic receptionist. Nearly a century ago, a frustrated physician bemoaned the fact that a raised blood glucose level produces no pain. Life would be so much easier if it did, for affected individuals would beat a path to your door. Those who consult a venereologist have a burning desire to be there, but the Diabetologia (2008) 51:700–702 DOI 10.1007/s00125-008-0960-9

This paper describes a method of clinical supervision that engages a Macmillan home care nurse in an existential-phenomenological exchange. A synthesis of Egan's method of problem management and phenomenological interviewing, is offered as an approach to clinical supervision considered appropriate for palliative care nursing. Through a case study approach the author affords glimpses into the life world of palliative care nursing. It is suggested that conflicts experienced in the field both manifest themselves in the supervisory encounter and parallel the nurse's and supervisor's own existential struggles. The discussion as such throws light on what is, frequently, the heart rending nature of palliative care nurses' chosen area of work and illuminates the mutual profundity of the experience of palliative care.

The management of an operating and maintenance contractor for a large government-owned facility recognized that, despite having an overall good safety program, the number of electrical safety incidents at the facility was on the increase. The severity of these incidents had also been increasing, as indicated by a serious shock and burn injury to a young, but trained and qualified, employee. Management decided that a serious effort was needed to significantly reduce (and, ideally, eliminate) electrical safety-related incidents. This paper describes comprehensive management/employee involvement in identifying the real problem areas, implementing improvement, and continually measuring performance. Although this effort was undertaken at a large facility with many people involved, the paper provides ideas that can be considered on both a large and small scale for those companies where similar electrical safety concerns exist.

Considering a decision support system as a tool where executive's judgment can be included along with the mathematical tool kit of the management scientist, this paper shows the need to include problem management as an integral component of the decision support system for scheduling problems. A methodology based on the resolution of conflicts among various constraints in scheduling problems is proposed to implement the problem management system in a decision support system for these problems. The paper concludes with some guidelines to create a workable framework for providing effective decision support to solve scheduling problems and the identification of some fruitful directions for future research.

A community-based child mental health service was established for families of preschool children with emotional and behavioural problems in the children, psychosocial problems in the family or parenting difficulties. The intervention was home-based and conducted by health visitors and paediatric community medical officers trained in parent counselling, parenting issues and child behavioural management. The approach was based upon frameworks derived from counselling theory, with the intervention dependent upon the development of a trusting and respectful partnership with the parents. The aims were to promote and support the parents' own exploration of the identified problems, and to help them establish clear aims and effective problem management strategies. Ongoing supervision was provided by a clinical psychologist. The evidence indicated that the training course was acceptable to non-mental health professionals and effective in preparing them to work with psychosocial problems. The service was a feasible option for work at the community level; it was acceptable to both referrers and parents and beneficial for families living in a very deprived inner-city community.

Limiting the impact on traffic of nonrecurring events such as crashes, traffic stops, or disabled vehicles through effective incident management should be one objective for emergency response professionals. Moreover, such management is an integral part of Intelligent Transportation Systems planning. The Arterial Incident Management Study, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation and conducted by Northwestern University, examined the impact and management of arterial street incidents to determine what steps could be taken to improve the handling of such events. Several approaches were used to accomplish this, including (a) analysis of incident data from police and fire agencies, (b) debriefings of responders about specific incidents, (c) observation and videotaping of incidents, and (d) an incident management simulation workshop involving police, fire, emergency medicine, tow operator, public works, insurance, and media professionals who have responsibilities for incident management. A series of incidents were simulated in a workshop and consensus was sought on specific and general management tactics. This paper describes study methods and summarizes the important issues and recommendations to improve incident management. Among the key needs identified are (a) response in a manner and with adequate resources to minimize the time an incident affects a scene, (b) rapid removal of vehicles and debris, (c) effective traffic control at and around the incident, (d) communication with motorists who may be affected by long-duration incidents, and (e) advanced, intra- and interagency planning for incident management. Recommended changes include education of drivers and professionals, legislation, communications, use of new technologies for communications and data collection, and advanced planning and coordination of on-site procedures, responsibilities, and priorities.

In the course of chemical process and plant design, engineers identify potential hazardous incidents. These potential incidents may be identified through special hazard analysis reviews and procedures, or by the design team in the course of design activities. To manage and control those hazards, the team will modify the initial design, often by adding on additional protective devices and systems—alarms, interlocks or active protective systems. However, any change in a system, even a change intended to prevent or mitigate a potential hazardous incident, also has the potential to introduce new hazards, or new mechanisms by which existing hazards can result in an incident. A number of case studies illustrating this point are reviewed. The examples illustrate the importance of a management of change program, which must consider all changes including the addition of safety devices and systems, and which must throughly consider all potential effects on the system.

We have been discussing the management process for information security incidents. While we have emphasized that these incidents may, often, be prevented by taking a series of proactive steps such as risk management, inevitably those steps will fail and there will be an incident. When that happens, your proactive measures as well as solid preparation should help minimize the severity of the incident. It is axiomatic that our preparatory measures must be planned and executed to minimize the number and severity of such incidents.

In tech support, the customer is rarely right. Customers have a tendency to approach problem resolution by coming to their support staff with a solution rather than just discussing the visible issues and letting the professionals do the rest. Customers don't necessarily know what they need, but they can be extremely vocal about what they don't know, and it is up to the support staff member to hear one thing and understand what it means down the line. In the 2012 SIGUCCS closing keynote, Brian Janz likened this to a patient demanding a type of surgery before the doctor has even heard the symptoms. This paper and presentation will discuss the dying art of translation and discuss methods for communication, rapport, and technical association that will empower front-line staff to hear what customers are saying and translate it into useful information for problem resolution.

Clients in the ICT industry tend to rate a provider's performance by the absence of disruptions or — if they occur — the time taken to respond to and resolve such incidents. This chapter explores how disruptions can be prevented effectively and systematically, and how incidents can be resolved quickly and efficiently.

IT organizations often start improving IT service management from the processes that are closely related to customer interface, such as incident management, service request management and problem management. These processes belong to the service operation phase in IT service management. However, many IT organizations encounter difficulties while adopting service operation practices. The research problem in this study is: How service operation processes are performed in IT service provider companies and what types of challenges exist in these companies regarding service operation?