Use of electronic forms within an electronic patient record to create an institutional clinical data repository.

The transition to an electronic patient record (EPR) and a paperless, filmless patient care environment provided new opportunities for clinical data collection, storage and retrieval. Electronic patient care forms were developed using accepted information science principles, such as controlled vocabularies, and agreed upon levels of term specificity. Electronic forms in concert with information science principles enabled The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston (UTDB) to streamline patient care and to create a robust, well-organized and functional institutional repository of clinical data.

SmartConsent: a computerized informed consent for dental patients.

Communicating personalized information to patients about the risks, benefits and other critical information about dental disease and treatment is often difficult for providers. In this research we developed a novel informed consent prototype that can accurately translate and communicate information to patients in a standardized and effective manner based on their diagnosis and prescribed treatment. In future work, we aim to integrate SmartConsent into the institutional electronic patient record (EPR) and determine its effectiveness in a randomized controlled study.

Integrating electronic patient records into a multi-media clinic-based simulation center using a PC blade platform: a foundation for a new pedagogy in dentistry.

Simulation has been used for many years in dental education, but the educational context is typically a laboratory divorced from the clinical setting, which impairs the transfer of learning. Here we report on a true simulation clinic with multimedia communication from a central teaching station. Each of the 43 fully-functioning student operatories includes a thin-client networked computer with access to an Electronic Patient Record (EPR).

Documentation of clinical workflow: a key step in a plan to facilitate implementation of an Electronic Patient Record.

After a year of preparation, the UT Dental Branch implemented an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) and a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) for digital imaging. Central to the preparatory process was documentation of existing clinic workflow as a set of detailed flowcharts, which eased cultural and logistical changes and had the immediate benefit of increasing system efficiencies.

Assessing user perceptions of an electronic patient record (EPR) before implementation.

As part of a comprehensive strategy to implement an electronic patient record (EPR), faculty, residents, students and support staff, were surveyed to assess their attitudes and awareness towards an EPR before implementation. Results of the survey suggested a high degree of awareness and optimistic outlook by many users about the potential of the EPR to improve efficiency and patient care.

Progestin inhibition of cell death in human breast cancer cell lines.

Previously, we have shown that progestins both stimulate proliferation of the progesterone receptor (PR)-rich human breast cancer cell line T47D and protect from cell death, in charcoal-stripped serum-containing medium. To lessen the variability inherent in different preparations of serum, we decided to further characterize progestin inhibition of cell death using serum starvation to kill the cells, and find that progestins protect from serum-starvation-induced apoptosis in T47D cells. This effect exhibits specificity for progestins and is inhibited by the antiprogestin RU486.