An economic evaluation of a telehealth network in British Columbia.

We carried out an economic evaluation of the northernmost five sites of the British Columbia telehealth network. The videoconferencing network links health-care facilities in 12 communities with Vancouver, for clinical consultations, administrative meetings and educational sessions. The economic evaluation was based on the netcost criterion (i.

The usability axiom of medical information systems.

Introduction: In this article we begin by connecting the concept of simplicity of user interfaces of information systems with that of usability, and the concept of complexity of the problem-solving in information systems with the concept of usefulness. We continue by stating "the usability axiom" of medical information technology: information systems must be, at the same time, usable and useful. We then try to show why, given existing technology, the axiom is a paradox and we continue with analysing and reformulating it several times, from more fundamental information processing perspectives.

Case-based medical informatics.

Background: The "applied" nature distinguishes applied sciences from theoretical sciences. To emphasize this distinction, we begin with a general, meta-level overview of the scientific endeavor. We introduce the knowledge spectrum and four interconnected modalities of knowledge.

Cluster analysis of Wisconsin Breast Cancer dataset using self-organizing maps.

This work deals with multidimensional data analysis, precisely cluster analysis applied to a very well known dataset, the Wisconsin Breast Cancer dataset. After the introduction of the topics of the paper the cluster analysis concept is shortly explained and different methods of cluster analysis are compared. Further, the Kohonen model of self-organizing maps is briefly described together with an example and with explanations of how the cluster analysis can be performed using the maps.

A new method for matching a document to potential users' information needs.

This paper explores approach to finding out how the information needs that a document can address can be captured. This is important in order to improve indexing strategies applied to document collections. We propose and implemented a cognitive science approach, the "jeopardy game" method of evaluation combined with "think aloud" analysis.

Introducing a conceptual information retrieval (IR) framework.

This is the third in the series of the articles on an application of the systems analytic approach to evaluation of information retrieval (IR). Previously terminological and evaluation problems associated with IR were identified, and it was proposed that the systems analytic approach can provide solutions to these problems. Here, after the general discussion of a systems approach, different attempts to introduce this approach into IR are presented and critiqued: modelling of IR, identifying boundaries of a system under evaluation, identifying variables under investigation; and creating evaluation frameworks.

Introducing a technology-enabled problem-based learning approach into a health informatics curriculum.

Purpose: To investigate the effect on learner satisfaction of introducing a technology-enabled problem-based learning (PBL) approach into a health informatics curriculum. Course redesign was undertaken to prepare students for three 4-month work terms and a rapidly changing professional environment upon graduation.

Methods: Twenty-six Canadian undergraduate students of a redesigned course in biomedical fundamentals completed a midterm questionnaire in 2002.

Project based experiential distance education: an oxymoron?

In the context of a program in Health Information Science at the University of Victoria in Victoria, BC, Canada, we have over the past 20 years made progress and gained experience in delivering a number of courses in a project-based experiential learning mode which links professionals and students in real world projects. As we are moving towards distance education, we are facing the challenge of translating these achievements into distance mode. The paper reviews the principles which make project-based educational mode involving collaboration with professionals desirable.

Decision support for governing boards of integrated delivery networks: explicating versus eliciting knowledge.

The everyday knowledge work of members of one governing health board was mapped using institutional ethnography. Our objective was to identify opportunities to improve the effective use of information and communication technologies for decision support. The dynamic interplay of work processes, professional discourse, institutional complexes and dominant ideology was explicated, that is, made visible in relation to the actualities of work practices.

Current status of the evaluation of information retrieval.

This is the second in the series of the articles on an application of the systems analytic approach to evaluation of information retrieval (IR). In the previous article a historical overview of IR was presented and existing terminological problems associated with IR were identified and discussed. In the presented article the current status of IR evaluation is summarized, and different evaluation approaches are discussed.

Terminological problems in information retrieval.

This is the first in the series of the papers on an application of the systems analytic approach to evaluation of information retrieval (IR). At the beginning, the importance of consistent terminology in information retrieval is discussed, and different definitions of "information retrieval" and "IR system" are presented. The importance of identifying boundaries of the IR system for clarifying terminological differences is discussed.

Evaluation: salvation or nemesis of medical informatics?

The currently prevailing paradigms of evaluation in medical/health informatics are reviewed. Some problems with application of the objectivist approach to the evaluation of real-rather than simulated-(health) information systems are identified. The rigorous application of the objectivist approach, which was developed for laboratory experiments, is difficult to adapt to the evaluation of information systems in a practical real-world environment because such systems tend to be complex, changing rapidly over time, and often existing in a variety of variants.