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The global spread of COVID-19 pandemic forced the scientific community to identify new ways of exchanging and transferring the scientific knowledge, also considering that the measures taken to combat the pandemic, such as travel restrictions, closed borders and gathering bans, led to cancellations of many conferences, meetings and workshops. The enhancement of the existing digital platforms and the development of new systems to share scientific knowledge has allowed the scientific community to "meet" again in new virtual environments (e.g., Zoom, Cisco WebEx, Live Stream, Demio, GoToWebinar Seminar, Google Hangouts, Skype, Microsoft Teams, etc.), providing an unprecedented opportunity to reform methods of organizing academic conferences in all disciplines.Starting from the review of the existing literature, this study aimed at investigating the impact of the spreading of virtual conferences on the field of research. The SWOT analysis was used to identify strengths and weaknesses of the scientific conferences organized in the new format, as well as opportunities and threats created by the socio-economic and political context in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Telecommunication assisted forensic assessments of capacity and mistreatment by geriatricians with expertise in elder abuse and self-neglect are helping to meet the demand for such forensic services for Adult Protective Services (APS) clients in remote and underserved areas of Texas. The use of synchronous audiovisual assisted interviews instead of in-person interviews with clients to provide capacity assessments has become more important with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is growing interest in establishing similar programs in other states using geriatrician faculty from medical schools to serve the clients of their state Adult Protective Services agencies. The arrangement between APS and the geriatricians at McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas is novel. The structure of the arrangement is important for the success of the program. Legal, ethical, and practical considerations are discussed in this article, including approaches to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, physician liability, state law, and resource limitations. It is hoped that sharing how one such collaboration has addressed these important issues will suggest approaches for the structuring of similar programs., (© 2021 The American Geriatrics Society.)

Introduction Remote consultation is of growing in importance and gaining popularity in both primary and secondary healthcare settings. Reduced necessity for a physical presence of the patient within the healthcare setting is of particular benefit in the current COVID-19 era. It is also of benefit to a diverse group of patients, for example: those who are geographically distant from the base hospital, those suffering from mobility issues or chronic illness, those who require chaperoning as well as those with limited access to transport. We have developed guidelines for the use of the medical telecommunications platform, Attend Anywhere, which has been utilised across the English and Scottish National Health Services, as well as with the Australian Health service, and is now available in Health Service Executive (HSE) settings. Herein we describe and recommend a process that we have found helpful, and we propose guidelines on how a Health Care Worker (HCW) might consider approaching a virtual consultation when initiating and safely executing a patient encounter on Attend Anywhere, in a secure and efficient manner. The guidelines were created following review of the literature on previous experience by others with this software, as well as recent guidance published by the Irish Medical Council. A proportion of this guidance is transferable to other platforms. Methods We also undertook a short survey of our patients and physicians in Sligo University Hospital, who used Attend Anywhere over a six-week period to gauge their satisfaction levels with the experience., We estimated distance that our patients would have travelled for their appointment had the traditional face-to-face consultation been carried out. We noted whether we considered the medium appropriate for the patient consultations. Results 53 patients took part and satisfaction was rated from satisfied to very satisfied on a 3-point scale for all stakeholders. In addition, we found that remote consultation, when compared to face-to-face consultation, alleviated an average of 144km of unnecessary travel per appointment. Remote consultation was deemed appropriate in all cases and no rescheduled face-to-face appointments were required due to failure of the consultation due to difficulties encountered. Conclusion The authors recommend the implementation of the described guidance, with suggested Checklist, Information leaflet and Consent form, as a means of ensuring the confidentiality of the consultation and to ensure that processes are adhered to that optimise protection for both the patient and the clinician, while reducing the burden of attendance to the healthcare location., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: The COVID crisis hit during the interview season for the Complex General Surgical Oncology (CGSO) fellowship. With minimal time to adapt, all programs transitioned to virtual interviews. Here we describe the experience of both program directors (PDs) and candidates with virtual interviews, and provide guidelines for implementation based on the results., Methods: Surveys regarding interview day specifics and perceptions were created for CGSO fellowship PDs and candidates. They were distributed at the conclusion of the season, prior to match., Results: Thirty (94%) PDs and 64 (79%) candidates responded. Eighty-three% of PDs and 79% of candidates agreed or strongly agreed that they felt comfortable creating a rank list. If given the choice, 60% of PDs and 45% of candidates would choose virtual interviews over in-person interviews. The majority of candidates found PD overviews, fellows only sessions and pre-interview materials helpful., Conclusion: Overall, the majority of PDs and candidates felt comfortable creating a rank list; however, more PDs preferred virtual interviews for the future. Our results also confirm key components of a virtual interview day., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: AG is an Unpaid Director/Chair of the non-profit organisation 'King’s John Price Paediatric Respiratory Conference' and 'Paediatric Respiratory Academy CIC'.

Objective: The clinical teaching of psychiatry to medical students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has presented opportunities for support, engagement and learning above and beyond usual practice. Like other teaching faculties, we needed to quickly adapt the course material to an online platform. However, for psychiatric teaching, it was also essential to find alternatives to patient interviewing, and to provide support and containment in uncertain times. We aim to describe our philosophical stance and framework for the delivery of our online course., Conclusions: Key components in the delivery of our modified course were the transition to online learning and assessment, developing a suite of surrogate clinical learning experiences, using simulated patients for online interviewing, and attention to student well-being whilst providing a supportive and contained environment for student learning. Supportive leadership and good communication assisted the teaching staff to deliver the course during COVID-19.

In 2009, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the 16 German federal state public health authorities (PHAs) established a weekly epidemiological teleconference (EpiLag) to discuss infectious disease (ID) events and foster horizontal and vertical information exchange. We present the procedure, discussed ID topics and evaluation results of EpiLag after 10 years. We analysed attendance, duration of EpiLag and the frequency of reported events. Participants (RKI and state PHA) were surveyed regarding their satisfaction with logistics, contents and usefulness of EpiLag (Likert scales). Between 2009 and 2018, RKI hosted 484 EpiLag conferences with a mean duration of 25 min (range: 4-60) and high participation (range: 9-16; mean: 15 PHAs). Overall, 2975 ID events (39% international, 9% national and 52% subnational) were presented (mean: 6.1 per EpiLag), most frequently on measles (18%), salmonellosis (8%) and influenza (5%). All responding participants (14/16 PHAs and 9/9 at RKI) were satisfied with the EpiLag's organization and minutes and deemed EpiLag useful for an overview and information distribution on ID events relevant to Germany. EpiLag is time efficient, easily applicable and useful for a low-threshold event communication. It supports PHAs in crises and strengthens the network of surveillance stakeholders. We recommend its implementation to other countries or sectors.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 84 th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS) was held in a web-based format for the first time in its history as "The Week for JCS 2020" from Monday, July 27 to Sunday, August 2, 2020. All sessions, including general abstracts, were streamed live or on-demand. The main theme of the meeting was "Change Practice!" and the aim was to organize the latest findings in the field of cardiovascular medicine and discuss how to change practice. The total number of registered attendees was over 16,800, far exceeding our expectations, and many of the sessions were viewed by far more people than at conventional face-to-face scientific meetings. At this conference, the power of online information dissemination was fully demonstrated, and the evolution of online academic meetings will be a direction that cannot be reversed in the future. The meeting was completed with great success, and we express our heartfelt gratitude to all affiliates for their enormous amount of work, cooperation, and support.

Objective: To describe the design and implementation of a virtual network event at the American Neurological Association (ANA) annual meeting led by the Junior and Early Career Member (JECM) Committee., Methods: We designed a one-hour virtual networking session featuring three 15-minute small group meetings preceded and followed by general remarks. Each small group session consisted of one senior mentor, a junior/early career faculty moderator, and three to four junior/early career mentees. All participants completed an exit survey to evaluate perceived benefit of this event., Results: We recruited 103 mentees, 26 moderators, and 26 mentors for the event. Mentees were primarily at the resident training level or above (17% students). 56% of registered mentees, 100% of moderators and 96% of mentors attended the event for a total of 110 participants. Due to mentee attrition, each room contained 2-3 mentees. 90% of respondents felt the session met their goals very well or extremely well. Further, 99% felt this session was at least comparable to in-person networking at conferences and 60% felt this session was better than in-person networking., Interpretation: Virtual networking sessions between junior and senior academic neurologists are feasible and are at least comparable to, if not better than, in-person conference networking. Future events should consider nuanced mechanisms of matching mentors and mentees, inclusion of ad hoc small groups to foster organic networking, and measures to safeguard against mentee attrition. Future studies should evaluate the long-term benefits of this event to determine if virtual networking should be utilized moving forward., (© 2020 The Authors. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Neurological Association.)

Objective: The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted instructional activity in neuropsychology training programs. In response, the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN) launched a multisite didactic initiative (MDI). This manuscript describes the development and implementation of the MDI and presents findings from a recently conducted online survey concerning MDI participation. Methods: Faculty and trainees at APPCN member programs were recruited to complete the MDI survey, administered using the Qualtrics platform, through email announcements and via website link and on-screen quick response code shared at online didactic sessions. The MDI survey instrument was designed to capture basic demographics and professional role; information regarding level of site participation, benefits of participation, barriers to participation, online conference platform(s) used, and interest in continued participation; as well as anxiety and work engagement ratings. Results: The response rate was estimated to be 21-29%. Transition to videoconferencing for didactics was noted by 80% due to Covid-19, with 17% of respondents experiencing cancellation or reduction in didactic activities. About 79% endorsed that participation in MDI activities was always or nearly always beneficial. Barriers to participation included not having time, difficulty accessing didactic information, and not knowing about the MDI. Interestingly, trainees at nonparticipating sites reported greater anxiety than trainees at participating sites. Conclusion: It is hoped that these findings will inform future efforts to develop and implement online training activities. The benefits reported by respondents suggest that this work is warranted, while reported barriers to participation identify areas for improvement.

Recently, academic health professionals have been increasing collaboration with peers at a distance for activities such as research, scholarship, and faculty development. Novel virtual technologies enable academic professional teams to overcome time and distance barriers to facilitate collaboration, but little research is available to guide academicians on how to effectively organize and manage virtual collaborative teams using these technologies. Based upon a literature review and six years of experience as a virtual collaborative team, the authors use Boyer's Scholarship of Integration paradigm to identify and critique four models for virtual collaboration. The literature search devised from the four identified models found references that had a theoretical foundation for peer virtual collaboration and have been adopted in some professional context. The authors present a review of this literature, describe the benefits for adapting these models to academic health profession contexts, and provide a reflective critique about the challenges for their adaptation in these contexts. They also provide a hypothetical scenario to exemplify the application of these models for health-care professionals along with important considerations and tips when forming new virtual peer collaborative teams or problem-solving teams who are not optimally functioning.

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many industries, including pharmacy, rapidly expanded the use of telecommuting workers to assure business continuity and address social distancing needs. Advances in electronic health records and telepharmacy over the past 2 decades enabled pharmacy leaders to easily adapt their practice models to allow for telecommuting alternatives during the pandemic. While these changes were generally intended to be part of the short-term response, the sustained expansion of telecommuting within the pharmacy profession merits further exploration. Documented experience with telepharmacy and telehealth indicate a wide array of clinical and operational pharmacist activities that could be conducted by telecommuters. In addition, experience with telecommuters in other industries suggests potential benefits ranging from improving pharmacists' work-life balance to mitigating postpandemic financial burden. Health care organizations should consider integrating part-time telecommuter pharmacists into contemporary practice models to address other frontline issues and facilitate ongoing expansion of clinical pharmacy services to meet emerging patient needs., (Copyright © 2020 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background COVID-19 presented significant challenges to healthcare organisations, which needed to rapidly remodel their services but were unable to allow staff to meet face to face to minimise infection risk. During this communication predicament, National Health Service (NHS) Digital announced the provision of Microsoft Teams, a digital communication and collaboration tool, which was implemented at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust within 2 weeks. Method Given the need to deploy at scale, rapidly and with minimal resource, an agile decentralised innovation management approach was used, empowering staff to be local implementors. Results Resulting use cases were highly original and varied, ranging from a COVID-19 Education Programme to coordination of oxygen demand. Analytics showed rapid and persistent adoption, surpassing 500 daily active users within 11 days. Usage continues to increase, consistent with a direct network effect. Conclusion These findings suggest a high demand for this format of communication and high willingness to adopt it. Further qualitative research into staff perceptions would be valuable to confirm this, and to assess the user experience.Overall, this has been a radical approach to digital implementation in healthcare, and has so far proved effective in delivering a cost minimal, rapid communication tool at scale in the midst of a global pandemic., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: To reduce the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many substance use disorder treatment programs have transitioned to telemedicine. Emergency regulatory changes allow buprenorphine initiation without an in-person visit. We describe the use of videoconferencing for buprenorphine initiation combined with street outreach to engage 2 patients experiencing homelessness with severe opioid use disorder (OUD)., Case Presentation: Patient 1 was a 30-year-old man with severe OUD who had relapsed to injection heroin/fentanyl after incarceration. A community drop-in center outreach harm reduction specialist facilitated a videoconference with an addiction specialist at an OUD bridge clinic. The patient completed a community buprenorphine/naloxone initiation and self-titrated to his prior dose, 8/2 mg twice daily. One week later, he reconnected with the outreach team for a follow-up videoconference visit. Patient 2, a 36-year-old man with severe OUD, connected to the addiction specialist via a syringe service program harm reduction specialist. He had been trying to connect to a community buprenorphine/naloxone provider, but access was limited due to COVID-19, so he was using diverted buprenorphine/naloxone to reduce opioid use. He was restarted on his previous dose of 12/3 mg daily which was continued via phone follow-up 16 days later., Conclusions: COVID-19-related regulatory changes allow buprenorphine initiation via telemedicine. We describe 2 cases where telemedicine was combined with street outreach to connect patients experiencing homelessness with OUD to treatment. These cases highlight an important opportunity to provide access to life-saving OUD treatment for vulnerable patients in the setting of a pandemic that mandates reduced face-to-face clinical interactions.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique challenge to surgical residency programs. Due to the restrictions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other organizations, the educational landscape for surgical residents is rapidly changing. In addition, the time course of these changes is undefined., Methods: We attempt to define the scope of the problem of maintaining surgical resident education while maintaining the safety of residents, educators, and patients. Within the basic framework of limiting in-person gatherings, postponing or canceling elective operations in hospitals, and limiting rotations between sites, we propose innovative solutions to maintain rigorous education., Results: We propose several innovative solutions including the flipped classroom model, online practice questions, teleconferencing in place of in-person lectures, involving residents in telemedicine clinics, procedural simulation, and the facilitated use of surgical videos. Although there is no substitute for hands-on learning through operative experience and direct patient care, these may be ways to mitigate the loss of learning exposure during this time., Conclusions: These innovative solutions utilizing technology may help to bridge the educational gap for surgical residents during this unprecedented circumstance. The support of national organizations may be beneficial in maintaining rigorous surgical education., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Problem: The COVID-19 pandemic is an evolving crisis with widespread impact upon our medical system, including senior trainee travel for fellowship interviews. Numerous institutions have conscientiously deferred in-person interviews or virtual formats. Given the competitive nature of fellowship interviews, candidates may express concern that they are at a disadvantage in engaging in online meetings versus live, on-site interviews, and similarly may feel ill prepared to perform optimally during online interviews., Approach: We draw upon our experience with online interview platforms in this guide for fellowship candidates who are rapidly adapting to new technology and styles associated with videoconference interviews so that they can best promote themselves for competitive positions., (Copyright © 2020 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that emerged in late 2019, and later become a global pandemic, has unleashed an almost unprecedented global public health and economic crisis., Objective: In this perspective, we examine the effects of COVID-19 and identify a likely 'new normal' in terms of challenges and opportunities within the fields of disability, telework, and rehabilitation., Methods: We use a systems thinking lens informed by recent empirical evidence and peer-reviewed qualitative accounts regarding the pandemic to identify emerging challenges, and pinpoint opportunities related to health and changing employment infrastructure of people with disabilities and rehabilitation professionals., Results: From our interpretation, the key leverage points or opportunities include: (1) developing disability-inclusive public health responses and emergency preparedness; (2) enabling employment and telework opportunities for people with disabilities; (3) addressing the new requirements in rehabilitation service provision, including participating as essential team members in the care of people with infectious diseases such as COVID-19; (4) embracing the added emphasis on, and capacity for, telehealth; and (5) developing greater resilience, distance learning, and employability among the rehabilitation workforce., Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has become increasingly challenging to the lives of people with disabilities and rehabilitation professionals; however, key challenges can be minimized and opportunities can be capitalized upon in order to 'build back better' after COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 is a highly contagious acute respiratory syndrome and has been declared a pandemic in more than 209 countries worldwide. At the time of writing, no preventive vaccine has been developed and tested in the community. This study was conducted to review studies aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus worldwide., Methods: This study was a review of the evidence-based literature and was conducted by searching databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect, until April 2020. The search was performed based on keywords including "coronavirus", "COVID-19", and "prevention". The list of references in the final studies has also been re-reviewed to find articles that might not have been obtained through the search. The guidelines published by trustworthy organizations such as the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control have been used in this study., Conclusion: So far, no vaccine or definitive treatment for COVID-19 has been invented, and the disease has become a pandemic. Therefore, observation of hand hygiene, disinfection of high-touch surfaces, observation of social distance, and lack of presence in public places are recommended as preventive measures. Moreover, to control the situation and to reduce the incidence of the virus, some of the measures taken by the decision-making bodies and the guidelines of the deterrent institutions to strengthen telecommuting of employees and reduce the presence of people in the community and prevent unnecessary activities, are very important.

This article is a history of the privatization of British Telecom. BT's privatization occupies a central position in histories of Thatcherism as a pivotal moment in Thatcherism's ideological focus on popular capitalism. These histories, however, overlook the important intersection of financial institutions and information technology policy in shaping BT's privatization. Financial institutions in the City of London formed a lobbying group, the City Telecommunications Committee, that pressured for BT's privatization and secured preferential treatment for the City from BT, ending a decades-long policy of uniform telecommunications services across Britain. Margaret Thatcher's government positioned BT's privatization as central to the success of two of Britain's information industries, electronics manufacturing and the City of London. Her government also cast BT's privatization as essential to an 'information revolution' that, through personal, networked computing, would further personal freedom and free markets. BT's privatization thus performed two important and related functions. First, it oriented Britain's telecommunications network to the City of London's needs, and secondly, it enacted an 'information revolution' that was portrayed as essential to the success of the City of London and British electronics. I label this fusion of City finance, neoliberal politics, and British telecommunications the 'London ideology', and this ideology shaped the broadly-held assumption that privatizing telecommunications was essential to reaching the 'information age'., (© The Author(s) [2019]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Interest in the use of telehealth interventions to increase access to healthcare services is growing. Group-based interventions have the potential to increase patient access to highly needed services. The aim of this study was to systematically review the available literature on group-based video teleconference services., Methods: The English-language literature was searched using Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO and CINAHL for terms related to telehealth, group therapy and support groups. Abstracts were reviewed for relevance based on inclusion criteria. Multiple study types were reviewed, including open-label, qualitative and randomised controlled trial study designs. Data were compiled regarding participants, study intervention and outcomes. Specific areas of interest were the feasibility of and satisfaction with telehealth technology, as well as the effect of video teleconference delivery on group dynamics, including therapeutic alliance., Results: Forty published studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Six were randomised controlled trials. Among the studies, there was a broad range of study designs, participants, group interventions and outcome measures. Video teleconference groups were found to be feasible and resulted in similar treatment outcomes to in-person groups. However, few studies were designed to demonstrate noninferiority of video teleconference groups compared with in-person groups. Studies that examined group process factors showed small decreases in therapeutic alliance in the video teleconference participants., Conclusions: Video teleconference groups are feasible and produce outcomes similar to in-person treatment, with high participant satisfaction despite technical challenges. Additional research is needed to identify optimal methods of video teleconference group delivery to maximise clinical benefit and treatment outcomes.

Doctors are duty bound to assist the delivery of justice by providing expert opinion/evidence in a court of law. However, the time spent in doing so comes at the cost of patient care. The healthcare sector and the judiciary are seized of the matter, and the use of technology as an avenue to ease the process is desirable. Tele-evidence or testimony through video conference can be that breakthrough. The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, has institutionalized the mechanism of tele-evidence with the concurrence of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. This was made possible after many permutations and combinations were tried, because the existing information technology infrastructure of the stakeholders was not compatible. The desired solution was achieved, and other institutions working to establish similar facilities can learn from the experience of PGIMER to achieve faster results., Competing Interests: None

There is a synergistic relationship between analog field testing and the deep space telecommunication capabilities necessary for future human exploration. The BASALT (Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains) research project developed and implemented a telecommunications architecture that serves as a high-fidelity analog of future telecommunication capabilities for Mars. This paper presents the architecture and its constituent elements. The rationale for the various protocols and radio frequency (RF) link types required to enable an interdisciplinary field mission are discussed, and the performance results from the BASALT field tests are provided. Extravehicular Informatics Backpacks (EVIB) designed for BASALT and tested by human subjects are also discussed, and the proceeding sections show how these prototype extravehicular activity (EVA) information systems can augment future human exploration. The paper concludes with an aggregate analysis of the data product types and data volumes generated, transferred, and utilized by the ground team and explorers over the course of the field deployments.

Background: Nutrition medical education training programs that are focused on home cooking are emerging., Objective: This short communication describes the first synchronous tele-nutrition medical education training program using a novel Culinary Coaching (CC) model., Design: Seven health coaches were trained and each coach delivered CC programs to four patients (28 total). Evaluations included:1) two questionnaires before, immediately after, and six months post training program; and 2) one questionnaire after each patient program., Results: CC training significantly improved coaches' attitudes about and confidence to deliver CC from pre-program means of 3.61 and 3.65 (out of 5), respectively, to post-program means, 3.77 (p<0.01) and 3.86 (p<0.05), respectively, and remained higher 6 months after the training program (3.93, p<0.01; 3.93, p<0.05). Health coaches described a high usage of CC principles and tools through the patient programs., Conclusions: This early evidence suggests that the CC model can be successfully expanded to health coaches, thus improving nutritional care.

Introduction: Increased publication of clinician-led health research is important for improving patient care and health outcomes. The aim of this retrospective cohort study conducted in rural Australia was to determine the impact of a writing for publication (WFP) program delivered by teleconference on the publication rates and skill acquisition of novice researchers who have graduated from the New South Wales (NSW) Health Education and Training Institute Rural Research Capacity Building Program (RRCBP)., Methods: Between 2012 and 2015, eight WFP 'bootcamp' programs were offered by the New South Wales Health Education and Training Institute to 112 RRCBP graduates, resulting in 50 participants completing at least one bootcamp. Participants completed a once-weekly WFP group teleconference for six consecutive weeks, and were expected to complete homework activities between sessions and participate in two follow-up teleconferences within 3 months of program conclusion. The primary outcome measure was manuscript publication resulting from participation in bootcamp, with secondary measures being changes in skills, knowledge and confidence in WFP, publication rate and cost per publication., Results: Twenty-one participants (42%) published their bootcamp paper or a related paper that directly resulted from bootcamp WFP skills. Five other participants submitted their bootcamp manuscript for publication, but had not yet had it accepted for publication. The overall publication rate of RRCBP graduates who completed bootcamp was 0.80 compared to 0.23 who did not complete bootcamp. On a 1 to 5 scale, mean scores increased for writing (knowledge, experience, confidence) from 2.0 to 3.5 (p<0.01) and for publishing from 1.1 to 3.4 (p<0.01). The estimated cost incurred by the RRCBP to deliver the program was $230 per publication., Conclusion: WFP workshops delivered by teleconference support rural clinician researchers to improve their skills in writing and publishing. A remotely conducted WFP program was effective in increasing publication rates among novice researchers who had conducted a clinically based research project. This shows that novice researchers respond to similar intervention features as experienced researchers do when engaging with WFP, and that WFP outcomes can be increased substantially with modest investment of funding and resources by the host organisation.

Background: Telemental health interventions have empirical support from clinical trials and structured demonstration projects. However, their implementation and sustainability under less structured clinical conditions are not well demonstrated., Introduction: We conducted a follow-up analysis of the implementation and sustainability of a clinical video teleconference-based collaborative care model for individuals with bipolar disorder treated in the Department of Veterans Affairs to (a) characterize the extent of implementation and sustainability of the program after its establishment and (b) identify barriers and facilitators to implementation and sustainability., Materials and Methods: We conducted a mixed methods program evaluation, assessing quantitative aspects of implementation according to the Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance implementation framework. We conducted qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews with 16 of the providers who submitted consults, utilizing the Integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in the Health Services implementation framework., Results: The program demonstrated linear growth in sites (n = 35) and consults (n = 915) from late 2011 through mid-2016. Site-based analysis indicated statistically significant sustainability beyond the first year of operation. Qualitative analysis identified key facilitators, including consult content, ease of use via electronic health record, and national infrastructure. Barriers included availability of telehealth space, equipment, and staff at the sites, as well as the labor-intensive nature of scheduling., Discussion: The program achieved continuous growth over almost 5 years due to (1) successfully filling a need perceived by providers, (2) developing in a supportive context, and (3) receiving effective facilitation by national and local infrastructure., Conclusion: Clinical video teleconference-based interventions, even multicomponent collaborative care interventions for individuals with complex mental health conditions, can grow vigorously under appropriate conditions.

The skills of adult versus pediatric neuro-oncologists are not completely similar though additive. Because the tumors and their protocols are different and the tolerance and expected sequelae are specific. Multidisciplinary meetings including adult and pediatric neuro-oncologists are warranted to share expertise. Since 2008, a weekly national web based conference was held in France. Any patient with the following criteria could be discussed: Adolescent and Young Adults aged between 15 and 25 years, and any adult with a pediatric type pathology, including medulloblastoma, germ cell tumors, embryonic tumors, ependymoma, pilocytic astrocytoma., Results: Attendance during the year 2015 was as follows: 42 meetings were held; the median number of cases discussed at each meeting was 4 (1 to 8); the mean number of attendants was 7 (2 to 12). One hundred and sixty-eight cases concerning 121 patients were discussed. Mean age was 30 years old (7 to 67). Forty-eight percent were discussed at diagnosis. The patients had mostly medulloblastomas (40%), germ cell tumors (11%), ependymomas (11%), pineal tumors (7%) and embryonal tumors (8%). The rate of inclusion in protocols was increased since the opening of this web conference, especially for the germ cell tumor SIOP protocol that is opened without age restriction, and in RSMA standard risk or MEVITEM relapse adult medulloblastoma protocols., Conclusion: Multidisciplinary Web conference for AYAs is feasible and increases the inclusion rate in protocols. It should be developed further., (Copyright © 2016 Société Française du Cancer. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To determine whether a depression care management intervention in Medicare home health recipients decreases risk of hospitalization., Design: Cluster-randomized trial. Nurse teams were randomized to intervention (12 teams) or enhanced usual care (EUC; 9 teams)., Setting: Six home health agencies from distinct geographic regions. Home health recipients were interviewed at home and over the telephone., Participants: Individuals aged 65 and older who screened positive for depression on nurse assessments (N = 755) and a subset who consented to interviews (n = 306)., Intervention: The Depression CARE for PATients at Home (CAREPATH) guides nurses in managing depression during routine home visits. Clinical functions include weekly symptom assessment, medication management, care coordination, patient education, and goal setting. Researchers conducted telephone conferences with team supervisors every 2 weeks., Measurements: Hospitalization while receiving home health services was assessed using data from the home health record. Hospitalization within 30 days of starting home health, regardless of how long recipients received home health services, was assessed using data from the home care record and research assessments., Results: The relative hazard of being admitted to the hospital directly from home health was 35% lower within 30 days of starting home health care (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.65, P = .01) and 28% lower within 60 days (HR = 0.72, P = .03) for CAREPATH participants than for participants receiving EUC. In participants referred to home health directly from the hospital, the relative hazard of being rehospitalized was approximately 55% lower (HR = 0.45, P = .001) for CAREPATH participants., Conclusion: Integrating CAREPATH depression care management into routine nursing practice reduces hospitalization and rehospitalization risk in older adults receiving Medicare home health nursing services., (© 2016, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2016, The American Geriatrics Society.)

Purpose: Communication failures contribute to adverse clinical events and health care inefficiencies. Paged messaging remains a predominant communication mechanism at many academic medical centers. An interprofessional, institutionally sponsored initiative to improve inpatient care team communication sought to understand the content and quantity of paged messages., Method: A retrospective analysis at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was performed for messages delivered to the 15 highest-volume pagers carried by inpatient medical, surgical, and pediatric residents over two monthlong periods of data collection between November 2013 and February 2014. An interprofessional team defined message content categories a priori. Descriptive statistics were used to demonstrate message volume and distribution by content category. Team members and stakeholder groups discussed common message themes during and after categorization to identify targets for improving care efficiency., Results: During the data collection period, 10,928 messages were paged (median 38 messages per pager per shift). The most common primary content categories were bedside nursing (2,570; 30%) and medication (2,285; 26%). Common bedside nursing communications included notification of vital signs (915; 36%), patient activity (481; 19%), and diet (444; 18%). Most medication messages were requests to start (1,253; 55%) or change (694; 30%) a common medication. The team recommended implementing anticipatory orders for common medications and routine nursing staff needs using computerized order algorithms to reduce the volume of noncritical messages., Conclusions: An interprofessional assessment of the content and volume of paged communication identified high volumes of noncritical messages that could be eliminated through better anticipation of patient care needs.

Hospitals and health systems can save IT expenses by implementing more efficient processes in accordance with the principles of effective telecommunications expense management. This approach involves three primary steps: Inventory of existing infrastructure. Charge verification. Optimization of rates and design for continual improvement.

With the development in science, methods of communication are also improved, replacing old ones with new advanced ways in an attempt to make data transfer more secure, safer for health, and time as well as cost efficient. One of such methods is Visible Light Communication, as the name implies data is transferred through a light equipment such as incandescent or florescent bulb having speed of 10 Kb/s or LEDs approaching speed of 500 Mb/s [1]. VLC uses visible light between 384 and 789 THz [2,3]. Though range is limitation of VLC, however data transfer up-to distance of 1 to 2 km although at lower transfer rate has been reached.The VLC system comprises of light source like LED and receiver equipment, however, with advancement, now LEDs are used for both sending and receiving data. LED remains on all the time, and there is no change in brightness level during the whole process, making it safe for eyes. Currently, VLC system is facing some serious technical challenges before it could be applied in daily life.

A national eHealth strategy is presumed to empower health professionals, patients and citizens to increase patient safety and quality of health care delivery. A national eHealth infrastructure encompassing a secure HealthNet, interconnected electronic health records, e-prescriptions, a national medication database and a patient portal has been implemented in Iceland. The timely and secure access to patient information by health professionals through a single portal, independent of where the patient received care, is expected to increase continuity of care, decrease duplication of data and tests, increase efficiency, increase cost effectiveness and benefit citizens in several ways. The eHealth strategy needs to be evaluated using comparable indicators.

Telehealth activities are often conducted by ambulatory nurses to assist with care coordination; these activities are especially important for children with complex, chronic conditions. This quality-improvement project examines specific components of nursing care delivered to children on the neurology and gastroenterology services through patient-initiated telephone encounters. Metrics and nurse-sensitive indicators explored include the type of services requested, the nurses' ability to resolve patients' concerns while eliminating otherwise unnecessary care, and associated costs with providing this care. The usefulness of a standardized instrument, the care coordination management tool, used in this project is discussed., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: An in-depth assessment of work-related stress was conducted in a major national telecommunications company undergoing major changes. The assessment was made on three homogeneous groups of workers and covered a large representative sample of the corresponding populations., Objectives: To identify the main sources of stress for the three populations of workers, stimulate a discussion on the possible corrective actions, and assess the impact of the on-going organizational changes on workers' health., Methods: The assessment started with an analysis of the objective stress indicators listed in the INAIL (National Insurance Institute for Occupational Diseases and Accidents) Checklist. This was followed by a combination of qualitative and quantitative investigations on work context and tasks and on the subjective perceptions of workers, which were carried out by using: semi-structured interviews with management, field observations of work tasks, focus groups and questionnaires (GHQ-12, HSE Indicator Tool, ad-hoc questionnaire)., Results: The assessment allowed identification of the critical areas to be addressed with specific interventions: relationship with the company, work performance, work organization, and equipment., Conclusions: the investigation allowed to identification of specific practical actions (improvement of technological tools; professional development through training courses) as well as strategic actions ( re-establish relationship of trust with the company) so as to mitigate the workers' level of stress. Analysis of the results also showed that the three targeted populations differed in the degree of acceptance and understanding of the organizational changes.

Background: Nurse-led follow-up (NLFU) has been identified as a suitable means of follow-up care in cancer patients, and its acceptability has already been demonstrated in other areas of cancer care., Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of NLFU on quality of life and patient satisfaction compared with conventional follow-up (CFU) in women treated for endometrial cancer and to evaluate the feasibility of NLFU, in terms of patient acceptance and referral to consultant clinic., Methods: Participants included women diagnosed with endometrial cancer between 2008 and 2013. At time of study, 118 women were receiving NLFU, and 178 women were receiving CFU. Quality of life and patient satisfaction were evaluated through the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire and the In-patient Satisfaction With Care Measure questionnaires. Feasibility of NLFU was retrospectively assessed through patient's records., Results: Seventy-eight women in NLFU and 112 women in CFU completed the questionnaires. Quality-of-life outcomes and satisfaction levels did not differ between both forms of follow-up. Almost all women in NLFU (98%) found NLFU an acceptable alternative to CFU., Conclusion: Women receiving NLFU reported similar quality of life and satisfaction with care as did women in CFU, making it a promising alternative for follow-up care of women with endometrial cancer., Implications for Practice: Options are improved for women with endometrial cancer by offering alternative follow-up strategies within the national healthcare.

Patients with diabetes have to take numerous factors/data into their therapeutic decisions in daily life. Connecting the devices they are using by feeding the data generated into a database/app is supposed to help patients to optimize their glycemic control. As this is not established in practice, the different roadblocks have to be discussed to open the road. That large telecommunication companies are now entering this market might be a big help in pushing this forward. Smartphones offer an ideal platform for connectivity solutions., (© 2015 Diabetes Technology Society.)

ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), one main type of acute myocardial infarction with high mortality, requires percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with balloon inflation. Current guidelines recommend a door-to-balloon (D2B) interval (i.e., starts with the patient's arrival in the emergency department and ends when PCI with a catheter guidewire and balloon inflation crosses the culprit lesion) of no more than 90 min. However, promptly implementing PCI requires coordinating various medical teams. Checklists can be used to ensure consistency and operating sequences when executing complex tasks in a clinical routine. Developing an effective D2B checklist would enhance the care of STEMI patients who need PCI. Mobile information and communication technologies have the potential to greatly improve communication, facilitate access to information, and eliminate duplicated documentation without the limitations of space and time. In a research project by the Chi Mei Medical Center, "Developing a Mobile Electronic D2B Checklist for Managing the Treatment of STEMI Patients Who Need Primary Coronary Intervention," a prototype version of a mobile checklist was developed. This study describes the research project and the four phases of the system development life cycle, comprising system planning and selection, analysis, design, and implementation and operation. Face-to-face interviews with 16 potential users were conducted and revealed highly positive user perception and use intention toward the prototype. Discussion and directions for future research are also presented.

Telephone follow-up (TFU) is a good tool for providing transfer of health education, dealing with symptomatic concerns, early recognition of potential complications, and reassuring the patient after discharge. Telephone follow-up may also decrease knowledge deficits, increase communication improving patient satisfaction and patient outcomes to include decreased emergency department visits and hospital readmissions. An advanced practice nurse-led TFU program involving 59 motorcycle trauma patients discharged to home demonstrates how effective TFU can improve patient satisfaction in motorcycle trauma.

The primary aim of this intervention was to assess the feasibility of using call center nurses who are experts in telephone triage to conduct post discharge telephone calls, as part of a quality improvement effort to prevent hospital readmission. Families of patients with bronchiolitis were called between 24 and 48 hours after discharge. The calls conducted by the nurses were efficient (average time was 12 minutes), and their assessments helped to identify gaps in inpatient family education. Overall, the project demonstrated the efficacy in readmission prevention by using nurses who staff a call center to conduct post-hospitalization telephone calls., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Despite becoming a prerequisite for participation in an information-based society, the use of information communication technologies (ICT) within social work and health care remains in its infancy. Currently, there is a push to adopt newer technologies to enhance practice. This article aims to highlight some of the innovative ways in which ICT have been adopted and adapted to augment social work practice. The need for social workers to become proficient in the use of newer technologies, opportunities for implementing ICT within a health care setting, and potential challenges at the professional, ethical, and systemic level are explored. Using the available literature as a guide, recommendations and strategies to strengthen implementation of ICTs into health social work are provided.