Considerations for adapting digital competencies and training approaches to the public health workforce: an interpretive description of practitioners' perspectives in Canada.

Background: Widespread digital transformation necessitates developing digital competencies for public health practice. Given work in 2024 to update Canada's public health core competencies, there are opportunities to consider digital competencies. In our previous research, we identified digital competency and training recommendations within the literature.

Frameworks and Tasks Used in Usability Testing Scripts: A Scoping Review.

Usability is understood as a critical component to the success of electronic health records and other related healthcare technologies. Usability testing methods routinely employ scripts that help researchers understand how a particular tool works under real world conditions. This scoping review sought to better understand the guiding frameworks, principles, and methodologies employed when generating usability testing scripts to better understand how script generation occurs.

Artificial intelligence governance framework for healthcare.

Recent advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) provide promising applications of this technology with the aim of solving complex healthcare challenges. These include optimizing operational efficiencies, supporting clinical administrative functions, and improving care outcomes. Numerous AI models are validated in research settings but few make their way into useful applications due to challenges associated with implementation and adoption.

Challenges in Teledermoscopy Diagnostic Outcome Studies: Scoping Review of Heterogeneous Study Characteristics.

Background: Teledermoscopy has demonstrated benefits such as decreased costs and enhanced access to dermatology care for skin cancer detection. However, the heterogeneity among teledermoscopy studies hinders the systematic reviews' synopsis of diagnostic outcomes, impeding trust and adoption in general practice and limiting overall health care benefits.

Objective: This study aims to improve understanding and standardization of teledermoscopy diagnostic studies, by identifying and categorizing study characteristics contributing to heterogeneity.

Digital Competencies and Training Approaches to Enhance the Capacity of Practitioners to Support the Digital Transformation of Public Health: Rapid Review of Current Recommendations.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted gaps in the public health workforce's capacity to deploy digital technologies while upholding ethical, social justice, and health equity principles. Existing public health competency frameworks have not been updated to reflect the prominent role digital technologies play in contemporary public health, and public health training institutions are seeking to integrate digital technologies in their curricula.

Objective: As a first step in a multiphase study exploring recommendations for updates to public health competency frameworks within the Canadian public health context, we conducted a rapid review of literature aiming to identify recommendations for digital competencies, training approaches, and inter- or transdisciplinary partnerships that can enhance public health practitioners' capacity to support the digital transformation of public health.

Barriers to and Facilitators of Artificial Intelligence Adoption in Health Care: Scoping Review.

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) use cases in health care are on the rise, with the potential to improve operational efficiency and care outcomes. However, the translation of AI into practical, everyday use has been limited, as its effectiveness relies on successful implementation and adoption by clinicians, patients, and other health care stakeholders.

Objective: As adoption is a key factor in the successful proliferation of an innovation, this scoping review aimed at presenting an overview of the barriers to and facilitators of AI adoption in health care.

Empathetic and Emotive Design: A Scoping Review.

With the advent of the digital health era, there has emerged a new emphasis on collecting health information from patients and their families using technology platforms that are both empathetic and emotive in their design to meet the needs and situations of individuals, who are experiencing a health event or crisis. Digital empathy has emerged as an aspect of interactions between individuals and healthcare organizations especially in times of crises as more empathetic and emotive digital health platforms hold greater capacity to engage the user while collecting valuable health information that could be used to respond to the individuals' needs. In this paper we report on the results of a scoping review used to derive an initial set of evidence-based empathetic or emotive design heuristics.

Empathetic and Emotive Design Heuristics.

The design of user interfaces and systems that promote positive emotional interaction and reaction from end users is becoming a critical area in the design of applications and systems for use by the general population. In this paper we describe our work in the creation of a set of empathetic design heuristics that were developed from examination of the literature in this area within the context of healthcare user interface design. The heuristics and their potential application are explored.

Empathetic and Emotive Design Heuristics: Preliminary Results of Their Application to Evaluating Survey User Interfaces.

Empathetic and emotive design is becoming increasingly important in the digital age. In this research we describe the results of a combined cognitive walkthrough and heuristic evaluation using newly developed, empirically derived empathy or emotive design heuristics. We applied the heuristics to the evaluation of four commonly used survey platforms.

A Comprehensive Framework for Hospital@Home Care Models.

Unlabelled: Hospital@home is a healthcare approach, where patients receive active treatment from health professionals in their own home for conditions that would normally necessitate a hospital stay.

Objective: To develop a framework of relevant features for describing hospital@home care models.

Methods: The framework was developed based on a literature review and thematic analysis.

HCI-modelling for improving the clinical usability of digital health technologies.

Introduction: Digital Health Technologies (DHTs) have been shown to have variable usability as measured by efficiency, effectiveness and user satisfaction despite large-scale government projects to regulate and standardise user interface (UI) design. We hypothesised that Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) modelling could improve the methodology for DHT design and regulation, and support the creation of future evidence-based UI standards and guidelines for DHTs.

Methodology: Using a Design Science Research (DSR) framework, we developed novel UI components that adhered to existing standards and guidelines (combining the NHS Common User Interface (CUI) standard and the NHS Design System).

Canada's Digital Health Workforce: The Role of Innovation, Research and Policy.

The rapid growth of digital health and use of technology has led to an increased demand for qualified professionals in the areas of health informatics (HI) and health information management (HIM). This is reflected by the growth in the number of educational programs and graduates in these areas. However, to develop a culture of digital health innovation in Canada, the role of research needs to be critically examined.

Canadian employers' perspectives on a new framework for health informatics competencies.

Competencies are the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to operate and perform successfully in the workplace. Due to the evolving nature of health informatics, it is important continuously examine and refine competencies in this field. In this study, we administered a questionnaire to Canadian employers (N = 29) of health informatics cooperative education (co-op) students to garner their feedback on competencies within a New Health Informatics Professional Competencies Framework.

Patient Journey Map: Metal Hypersensitivity.

In this study, we highlight patients' experiences with metal hypersensitivity (MH) after receiving implantable medical devices (IMDs). We aim to identify gaps in clinical care and improve outcomes for individuals who have or may be sensitive to metals. Secondary data analysis from a previous interpretative phenomenological qualitative study was utilized.

A Human-Centered Physician Journey.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented strain on global health systems, and the ability to safely and effectively deliver care. Further, it has impacted the mental health of global populations, in particular healthcare providers (i.e.

Navigating Infection Control Processes in a COVID-19 Only Safety-Net Hospital at the Height of the Pandemic.

Hospitals faced extraordinary challenges during the pandemic. Some of these were directly related to patient care-expanding capacities, adjusting services, and using new knowledge to save lives in a dynamically changing situation. Other challenges were regulatory.

Decision Aids for Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: Qualitative Elicitation of Design Recommendations From Patient End Users.

Background: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) carry a clinically significant symptom burden, have alterations in function (eg, impaired ability to chew, swallow, and talk), and decrease in quality of life. Furthermore, treatment impacts social activities and interactions as patients report reduced sexuality and shoulder the highest rates of depression across cancer types. Patients suffer undue anxiety because they find the treatment incomprehensible, which is partially a function of limited, understandable information.

Comparing Responses to COVID-19 Across Institutions: Conceptualization of an Emergency Response Maturity Model.

The impact of Covid-19 on hospitals was profound, with many lower-resourced hospitals' information technology resources inadequate to efficiently meet the new needs. We interviewed 52 personnel at all levels in two New York City hospitals to understand their issues in emergency response. The large differences in IT resources show the need for a schema to classify hospital IT readiness for emergency response.

Modelling Information Needs and Sources in a COVID-19 Designated Hospital.

COVID-19 remains an important focus of study in the field of public health informatics. COVID-19 designated hospitals have played an important role in the management of patients affected by the disease. In this paper we describe our modelling of the needs and sources of information for infectious disease practitioners and hospital administrators used to manage a COVID-19 outbreak.

Digital health as an enabler for hospital@home: A rising trend or just a vision?

Background: Hospital@home is a model of healthcare, where healthcare professionals actively treat patients in their homes for conditions that may otherwise require hospitalization. Similar models of care have been implemented in jurisdictions around the world over the past few years. However, there are new developments in health informatics including digital health and participatory health informatics that may have an impact on hospital@home approaches.

Human factors in healthcare IT: Management considerations and trends.

A range of human factors issues are recognized as critical to the success of projects involving Health Information Technology (HIT). Problems related to the usability of HIT have come to the fore, with continued reports of systems that are non-intuitive and difficult to use and that may even pose safety risks. In this article, we consider a number of approaches from usability engineering and human factors that can be applied to improve the chances of system success and adoption.

Updating professional competencies in health informatics: A scoping review and consultation with subject matter experts.

Introduction: The discipline of health informatics emerged to address the need for uniquely skilled professionals to design, develop, implement, and evaluate health information technology. Core competencies are an essential pre-requisite for establishing a professional discipline such as health informatics. In 2012, Digital Health Canada released a framework (DHC Framework) for Canadian health informatics competencies.

Health technology, quality and safety in a learning health system.

Health technology quality and safety is an important issue for health informatics (i.e. digital health) professionals.

Recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) on Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics: Second Revision.

Background: The purpose of educational recommendations is to assist in establishing courses and programs in a discipline, to further develop existing educational activities in the various nations, and to support international initiatives for collaboration and sharing of courseware. The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) has published two versions of its international recommendations in biomedical and health informatics (BMHI) education, initially in 2000 and revised in 2010. Given the recent changes to the science, technology, the needs of the healthcare systems, and the workforce of BMHI, a revision of the recommendations is necessary.