Usefulness of videoconferencing in psychiatric emergencies -- a qualitative study.

High quality health services for psychiatric emergencies are difficult to maintain 24 h a day in sparsely populated areas, where the availability of specialists are limited. To overcome this challenge, the University Hospital of North Norway implemented an on-call system in psychiatric emergencies, by which psychiatrists are accessible 24/7 for telephone and videoconferencing consultations with patients and nurses at three regional psychiatric centers. The purpose of this study was to explore the usefulness of videoconferencing consultations in psychiatric emergencies.

The symbolic affordances of a video-mediated gaze in emergency psychiatry.

While mental illness is a significant health challenge worldwide, the availability of specialists is limited, especially in rural areas and for psychiatric emergencies. Although tele-psychiatry, via real-time videoconferencing (VC), is used to provide consultative services in areas that lack psychiatrists, there are a paucity of studies on the use of VC for psychiatric emergencies. We examine how VC matters for patient involvement and professional practice in the first Norwegian emergency tele-psychiatric service.

Barriers to and facilitators for implementing quality improvements in palliative care - results from a qualitative interview study in Norway.

Background: Implementation of quality improvements in palliative care (PC) is challenging, and detailed knowledge about factors that may facilitate or hinder implementation is essential for success. One part of the EU-funded IMPACT project (IMplementation of quality indicators in PAlliative Care sTudy) aiming to increase the knowledge base, was to conduct national studies in PC services. This study aims to identify factors perceived as barriers or facilitators for improving PC in cancer and dementia settings in Norway.

A collective clinical gaze: Negotiating decisions in a surgical ward.

This article explores collaborative aspects of clinical decision-making, based on a focused ethnography and video recordings of meetings in clinical practices in two wards for gastro-intestinal diseases at the surgical department of a large Norwegian university hospital. By studying clinicians' communication during patient introduction, handling uncertainties and surprises, collecting information, and negotiating acceptance, we elaborate on how collaborative teamwork in the hospital ward is developed. Further, by drawing on detailed studies of meetings, in which patients are not physically represented, we explore ways in which a 'collective clinical gaze' of each patient is constructed on the basis of documents, memory, and a consensus-directed discussion among clinicians who are present.

Survival of the project: a case study of ICT innovation in health care.

From twenty years of information and communication technology (ICT) projects in the health sector, we have learned one thing: most projects remain projects. The problem of pilotism in e-health and telemedicine is a growing concern, both in medical literature and among policy makers, who now ask for large-scale implementation of ICT in routine health service delivery. In this article, we turn the question of failing projects upside down.

The peace of paper: patient lists as work tools.

Introduction: Paper-based documents are subject to problems related to storage, loss, distribution and editing. Many organizations have introduced ICT-based processes to reduce the use of paper as primary documentation. Nevertheless, paper documents are still being used in healthcare.

Video-confidence: a qualitative exploration of videoconferencing for psychiatric emergencies.

Background: In psychiatric emergencies in rural areas the availability of psychiatrists are limited. Therefore, tele-psychiatry, via real-time videoconferencing (VC), has been developed to provide advanced consultative services to areas that lack psychiatrists. However, there is limited research on the use of VC for psychiatric emergencies.

Communal normalization in an online self-help group for adolescents with a mentally ill parent.

Although implications of parental mental illness are well documented, most children of mentally ill parents are left to manage their family situation with limited information and support. We explored the role of a Norwegian online self-help group for adolescents (aged 15 to 18) with a mentally ill parent. Through in-depth interviews with 13 participants, we found that the online self-help group provided "communal normalization" by which participants, through communication in the forum, made sense of everyday experiences and emotions arising from having a mentally ill parent.

VIDEOCARE: decentralised psychiatric emergency care through videoconferencing.

Background: Today the availability of specialists is limited for psychiatric patients in rural areas, especially during psychiatric emergencies. To overcome this challenge, the University Hospital of North Norway has implemented a new decentralised on-call system in psychiatric emergencies, by which psychiatrists are accessible by videoconference 24/7. In September 2011, the new on-call system was established in clinical practice for patients and health staff at three regional psychiatric centres in Northern Norway.

From fatness to badness: the modern morality of obesity.

Obesity (or being overweight) is now considered a by-product of membership of developed societies. Moreover, it is considered a growing 'global' health problem. This article reports on a small qualitative study of adults who fell into one or other of these categories in Norway in 2010, and who have been faced with decisions about lifestyle versus surgical remedies.

Getting the aorta pants in place: a 'community of guidance' in the evolving practice of vascular implant surgery.

The evolving nature of surgical treatments creates gaps between evidence-based guidelines and actual clinical practice.This article addresses the emerging clinical practice of the EndoVascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR), a surgical treatment of patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA). Drawing on a qualitative study across three hospitals, we identified three interplaying expertise traits: the collective, the interpersonal and the technical, each being present to promote surgical work.

Beyond the EPR: complementary roles of the hospital-wide electronic health record and clinical departmental systems.

Background: Many hospital departments have implemented small clinical departmental systems (CDSs) to collect and use patient data for documentation as well as for other department-specific purposes. As hospitals are implementing institution-wide electronic patient records (EPRs), the EPR is thought to be integrated with, and gradually substitute the smaller systems. Many EPR systems however fail to support important clinical workflows.

Square pegs in round holes: information systems, hospitals and the significance of contextual awareness.

The considerable emphasis in the development and implementation of clinical information systems in hospitals internationally seems to have had a limited effect. In particular, the implementation of electronic patient record (EPR) systems has been slower and more difficult than anticipated and with little change in efficiency and security. This paper suggests why this might be the case.

No paper, but the same routines: a qualitative exploration of experiences in two Norwegian hospitals deprived of the paper based medical record.

Background: It has been shown that implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) and withdrawal of the paper-based medical record is feasible, but represents a drastic change in the information environment of hospital physicians. Previous investigations have revealed considerable inter-hospital variations in EMR system use and user satisfaction. The aim of this study was to further explore changes of clinicians' work after the EMR system implementation process and how they experienced working in a paper-deprived information environment.

Privacy vs usability: a qualitative exploration of patients' experiences with secure Internet communication with their general practitioner.

Background: Direct electronic communication between patients and physicians has the potential to empower patients and improve health care services. Communication by regular email is, however, considered a security threat in many countries and is not recommended. Systems which offer secure communication have now emerged.

Three-dimensional teleradiology for surveillance following endovascular aortic aneurysm repair: a feasibility study.

Purpose: To study the feasibility of 3-dimensional (3D) teleradiology in surveillance of patients treated with stent-grafts for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

Methods: Between April 2002 and November 2003, 8 AAA patients (7 men; median age 73 years, range 62-84) with stent-grafts had follow-up computed tomograms (CT) performed at their local hospital and transmitted without loss across a broadband connection to the university hospital. On both monitors, the radiologists were presented with the complete CT axial dataset, sagittal and coronal reformatted slices, and a 3D volume-rendered reconstruction.