Nurses constitute the largest number of hospital information system (HIS) users. Therefore, their awareness level and access to HIS functions based on their needs are particularly important. The present study aims to determine nurses’ access levels to HIS functions and examine the compliance between defined and required access levels to core functionalities of a comprehensive HIS. This observational and survey study was conducted on nurses using the census method (n = 110) in two phases. In the first phase, nurses’ current access levels to core functionalities of the hospitalization management subsystem were identified in HIS. In the second phase, nurses’ awareness of defined access levels to HIS functions and compliance with their needs were investigated using a valid and reliable questionnaire (α = 0.90). The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics (t-test and one-way ANOVA). The hospitalization management subsystem had 57 functions in 6 task groups. The information technology (IT) department enabled nurses to access 35 functions but did not allow them to access 22. 58.0

Introduction: Various training methods such as web-based training tools have been developed to achieve the potential benefits of classification systems developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Given that users of these tools have different levels of capability, usability problems could reduce the speed and accuracy of learning among users interacting with these tools. This study aims to identify usability problems of web-based training tools under the WHO family of international classifications (WHO-FIC). Methods: In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, ten trained evaluators independently examined WHO-FIC training tools using the heuristic evaluation method. The identified problems were classified into 10 Nielsen’s usability heuristics. Then, their average severity was calculated. Results: In total, 40 usability problems were identified after merging and eliminating the duplicates. The highest number of problems was related to ICD-10 training tool (n=20). The highest number of problems was related to heuristics of aesthetic and minimalist design (25.0%), and user control and freedom (17.5%). Heuristics of flexibility and efficiency of use and helping users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors had the highest average severity of problems. Conclusion: Violating heuristics of aesthetic and minimalist design, user control and freedom and recognition rather than recall were among the most common problems of WHO-FIC training tools. Evaluators reported that half of the user interface problems of WHO-FIC training tools were of major and catastrophe type. Solving the usability problems of these tools could lead to ease of work, increased speed of learning and acceptance of these systems among users.

Purpose Despite the presence of electronic medical records systems, traditional paper-based methods are often used in many countries to document data and eliminate medical record deficiencies. These methods waste patient and hospital resources. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the traditional deficiency management system and determine the requirements of an electronic deficiency management system in settings that currently use paper records alongside electronic hospital information systems. Design/methodology/approach This mixed-method study was performed in three phases. First, the traditional process of medical records deficiency management was qualitatively evaluated. Second, the accuracy of identifying deficiencies by the traditional and redesigned checklists was compared. Third, the requirements for an electronic deficiency management system were discussed in focus group sessions. Findings Problems in the traditional system include inadequate guidelines, incomplete procedures for evaluating sheets and subsequent delays in activities. Problems also included the omission of some vital data elements and a lack of feedback about the documentation deficiencies of each documenter. There was a significant difference between the mean number of deficiencies identified by traditional and redesigned checklists ( p < 0.0001). The authors proposed an electronic deficiency management system based on redesigned checklists with improved functionalities such as discriminating deficiencies based on the documenter’s role, providing systematic feedback and generating automatic reports. Originality/value Previous studies only examined the positive effect of audit and feedback methods to enhance the documentation of data elements in electronic and paper medical records. The authors propose an electronic deficiency management system for medical records to solve those problems. Health-care policymakers, hospital managers and health information systems developers can use the proposed system to manage deficiencies and improve medical records documentation.

Background: With the advent of coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19), telemedicine services have played an essential role in reducing the transmission of this virus between patients and health care providers. Nevertheless, financial and reimbursement barriers are the biggest challenge in adopting these technologies. It seems necessary to determine the successful reimbursement methods in different countries. The purpose of this study was to identify methods of reimbursing telemedicine services. Methods: A search without time limitation was conducted on the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases in December 2020 and updated in January 2022. Articles were identified using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two researchers independently evaluated the titles, abstracts, and full text of the articles. Results: Out of 4946 identified articles, 28 articles were included. In these studies, the most used insurances were Medicare (n = 17), and Medicaid (n = 15). The majority of services included telepsychiatry (n = 7), telehealth (n = 7), and telemedicine (n = 7). There was no difference between the reimbursements in telemedicine services and face-to-face visits in 18 studies. Conclusion: Various government, state, and private insurance reimbursed telemedicine services. In most studies, there was no difference between reimbursing telemedicine services and in-person visits. Differences in the type and number of reimbursements may be due to the year of publication of the articles, changes in covered service policies, and state laws. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to develop and update the guidelines and regulations for telemedicine reimbursement. Future studies can examine the telemedicine reimbursement methods in developed and developing countries before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract Introduction Using information technology (IT) for purposes such as patient education and disease prevention and management is effective when patients are ready to use it. The objective of this study was to determine the readiness of patients with renal failure to use health IT. Methods This study was performed on all dialysis patients in South Khorasan province (n = 263) using a 28-item questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of (1) demographic information of participants and (2) questions concerning eight main factors including the need for information, desire to receive information, ability to use computers and the Internet, computers and the Internet anxiety, communication with physicians, using mobile phones and concerns about security and confidentiality of information. Descriptive statistics and Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis statistical tests were used to analyze the data. Results About 15% of the participants stated that they do not want to receive information from the Internet. Anxiety and concern about Internet security and confidentiality were higher in women, married people, people over 60, villagers, and illiterate people (p < 0.05). Married people and people over 60 years had a higher desire to get information (p < 0.05). The rate of computer anxiety and Internet privacy concern was higher than average (p < 0.001). Most patients (34.2%) could only send text messages using mobile phones. Conclusion Despite the need of most patients to online health information, they do not use this information due to a lack of skills and experience to use IT. Therefore, the ability of users should be considered when developing IT-based interventions. Due to patients' concerns about Internet privacy, it is required to teach patients how to protect their privacy while using the Internet.

Introduction: Advances in mobile health have led to numerous relevant studies in diagnosis, treatment, and controlling of various diseases. One of the criteria indicating the quality of the previously published studies is the number of citations. Therefore, investigating the features of highly cited articles and identifying the most frequently used mobile technological interventions can affect future research ideas. This study aimed at identifying 100 highly cited interventional studies on mobile health, type of used mobile technologies, and effect of these technologies in various diseases in top-cited articles.Methods: The database employed in this study was the Web of Science, which without limitations was analysed in April 2020 to identify 100 highly cited interventional studies in the field of mobile health. The identified studies were classified based on the number of citations, year of publication, country of the first author, type of disease, and use of mobile technology.Results: A great majority of the studies in the field of interventional mobile health focused on obesity (n=18), addiction (n=15), diabetes (n=13) and mental health disorders (n=12), respectively. Many studies employed mobile technologies to promote lifestyle (weight loss and increased physical activity) (n=20), disease controls (n=20), and treatment adherence (n=18). The mean number of citations per study was 146±97. The most cited study was in the category of viral disease treatment adherence (n=703), and the most cited articles were published in 2012.Conclusions: Among the reviewed 100 studies, many of the interventional studies regarding mobile health focused on obesity, addiction, diabetes and mental health disorders. Promotion of lifestyle, disease controls, and treatment adherence were effects of mobile technologies in top-cited articles. Text messaging service was used as intervention in most of the studies. Thus, future studies may focus on the use of various mobile applications on different diseases’ prevention, control, and treatment.

COVID-19 virus variants are rapidly spreading across the world. Successful tracing of contacts and early isolation after the onset of symptoms are vital, because, in this period, patients can infect other people having contact with them before isolation. One method for identifying, tracing, screening, and monitoring the potential patients can be self-reporting of information by these individuals. The present letter suggested importance of recording self-reported information in the management of COVID-19 virus variants using technology-based devices.

Several cultural and psychological factors can affect the behavior of users towards the use and acceptance of mobile-based educational applications. One of the methods to measure the factors resulting in the acceptance of mobile-based educational applications is Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The objective of this study was to evaluate the behavioral intention of the pharmacy students for acceptance and long-term use of the mobile-based application for educating safety measures in pharmaceutical laboratories (LabSafety) using UTAUT2 in 2017–2018. The research population was all pharmacy students (n = 241) who had experience of using the LabSafety application. Data were collected using a translated and modified version of the UTAUT2 questionnaire. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for statistical analysis. Based on the obtained results, “Performance Expectancy”, “Social Influence” and “Habit” had positive effects on “Behavioral Intention”. “Behavioral Intention” had significant positive effects on “Use Behavior”. The effect of “Habit” on “Use Behavior” in men was higher than women. As a result, the usefulness of educational applications such as LabSafety, their positive impact on the improvement of students’ efficiency, and the influence of the faculty member’ viewpoints on their use can result in frequent and daily use of these applications.

Introduction: Despite the implementation of hospital information system, in some countries, medical records are still documented in traditional ways. Incomplete documentation in medical records can lead to inappropriate medical decisions and higher costs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the deficiencies of the main forms in medical records by the role of documentarians. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shafa hospital in Kerman in 2019-2020. The medical records of this hospital were randomly selected. The completion or non-completion of data elements in the main forms of medical records was examined using a valid and reliable checklist. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS 24. Results: The result of this study demonstrated that 34.70% of the selected records for each patient were incomplete. In most forms, ward secretaries did not complete the relevant data elelments. In other forms, nurses and physicians did not complete more than half of the data elelments. The highest number of deficiencies were observed in the electrocardiogram attachment sheets, emergency records, and radiographic request forms, respectively. Conclusion: Some data elements such as demographic information, initial diagnosis, final diagnosis, and signatures were not completed by ward secretaries, physicians, and nurses. Non-completion of data elements may lead to problems in providing services to patients. Evaluating the extent of medical record deficiencies based on the role of documentarians can be effective in modifying the forms and developing future training programs.

Background: Telepharmacy can help deliver pharmaceutical advice from an expert pharmacist to another party, such as a physician, inexperienced pharmacist, or pharmacy technician. In this study, we consider term “2-person discussions” as teleconsultation between expert pharmacists to each of the aforementioned persons. Objectives: This study has 2 aims: first to prioritize 2-person discussions between the parties involved in telepharmacy services when we have limited budget and time and would like to implement the best efficient telepharmacy system. Second to examine the barriers and benefits of implementing a telepharmacy. Methods: The research population included 40 pharmacists working in Kerman pharmacies (Iran). Their viewpoints were evaluated using a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire focused on professional-demographic information, while the second part addressed the most important 2-person discussions and also asked about barriers to and benefits of implementing telepharmacy. Results: The findings indicate that the following 2-person discussions are priority for implementation: physician-pharmacist, pharmacist-hospital ward, and pharmacist-pharmacist. Payment and reimbursement issues and lack of access to information technology infrastructure were among the most important barriers. Efficient training about medicine usage, drug-drug interactions, and adverse effects was the most important benefit of telepharmacy. Conclusion: In this study, pharmacists’ first priority regarding who to involve in a 2-person telepharmacy consultation was to establish a long-distance connection between physicians and pharmacists. This finding indicates that the pharmacists were more interested in providing teleconsultation services to physicians and other pharmacists rather than communicating with pharmaceutical technicians.

BACKGROUND:Today, increased use of methamphetamine in homosexual men is associated with high-risk sexual behaviors and (HIV) epidemic. Mobile phone-based interventions are an accessible and rapid method to provide healthcare services to this population. This study aimed to systematically review the effects of mobile phone-based interventions on methamphetamine use and high-risk sexual behaviors in homosexual men.METHODS:This systematic review was conducted by two researchers via searching in PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases to retrieve the published articles regarding the effects of mobile phone-based interventions on the control of methamphetamine use and high-risk sexual behaviors.FINDINGS:Among 250 unique articles that were retrieved, only five cases met all the inclusion criteria of the study. Accordingly, some of the applied interventions included text messaging (n = 4) and mobile apps (n = 1). In this regard, the use of text messaging significantly decreased the rates of methamphetamine use, condomless anal intercourse (CAI), and HIV transmission among homosexual men.CONCLUSION:According to the results, short-term interventions based on text messaging could decrease the rates of methamphetamine use and the high-risk sexual behaviors associated with HIV infection in homosexual men. Despite the positive impact of these interventions, long-term follow-ups are required for individuals using methamphetamine in different communities.

Background The Internet plays an important role in attaining health related information and its importance is growing worldwide. The majority of Internet users are university students. However, their use of the Internet for health information has not been well studied. The objective of this study was to examine the use of the Internet by medical students to search for health information. Methods This cross-sectional survey was performed on a sample of 400 Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacology students selected from three faculties. The data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire designed based on the review of the published literature and advice of a panel of experts. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20 using Chi-square and Logistic regression.Results In this study 261 (65.2%) students used the Internet to search for health information. Most of them (n=175, 67%) somewhat trusted the reliability of information on the Internet. Women used the Internet to search for health information 1.74 times than men (p=0.016) and Medicine students 1.7 times than Pharmacology students (p=0.04). The majority of 20-30 years old students believed that using Internet had no effect on their visits to physicians(p=<0.0001). It reduced the number of visits in all students older than 30. Conclusions The content of online resources needs to be monitored in terms of its credibility for using by students especially those involved in health care domain. Based on our findings most students somewhat trusted the online health information. This is promising for the universities to plan for investment on online education and materials.

Today, despite the advantages of the PACS system, its implementation in some healthcare organizations faces many challenges. One of the important factors in the successful implementation of a PACS system is identifying and prioritizing the challenges from the perspectives of involved staff and user of this system. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine and compare the challenges of implementing PACS from perspectives these users in educational hospitals. This study was conducted on all IT and medical equipment staff, and radiology residents (n = 140) in Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KUMS) and Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) in 2016. The data were collected through two researcher-made questionnaires. Their validity was approved by radiologists, IT staff, and medical informatics specialists and their reliability through calculation of Cronbach's Alpha (0.969 and 0.795). We used Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) to compare the scores given by three groups of participants in the challenges and Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to compare the scores in two universities. The participants believed that technical challenges were more important than other challenges (x̄=3.74, SD = 0.7). IT experts (x̄=3.87, SD = 1) and radiology residents (x̄=3.95, SD = 0.9) gave the higher scores to the "shortage of high quality monitors" factor and medical equipment experts (x̄=4.26, SD = 0.87) to the "low speed of communication networks" factor among all technical challenges. The mean scores given to technical (x̄=76.1, SD = 13.5) and managerial (x̄=16, SD = 5.9) challenges in SUMS were more than the scores of the same challenges in KUMS (x̄=69.9, SD = 15.7) and (x̄=11.9, SD = 6.4) (p < 0.05). The technical challenges are the most common challenges to PACS implementation, and different universities experience different levels of technical challenges. Eliminating implementation challenges can reduce the risk of failure in the utilization process. Based on the results of this study, providing necessary infrastructures such as appropriate monitors and upgraded IT equipment can prevent many of the PACS implementation challenges.

Today, the Internet may be a promising tool for interventions for pregnant women. However, these kinds of tools are only helpful if users are ready to use them. The present study was conducted with the aim of readiness assessment of pregnant women to use the Internet to access health information about pregnancy and childbirth. This study was carried out on a sample of 384 pregnant women. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire. The first section of this questionnaire collected demographic characteristics of the participants. The second part of the questionnaire contains 27 questions covering the following components: infrastructure readiness (6 questions); affordability readiness (3 questions); and skill readiness (12 questions). Data were analyzed with SPSS 19.0 using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and T-test. This study was carried out on a sample of 384 pregnant women. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire. The first section of this questionnaire collected demographic characteristics of the participants. The second part of the questionnaire contains 27 questions covering the following components: infrastructure readiness (6 questions); affordability readiness (3 questions); and skill readiness (12 questions). Data were analyzed with SPSS 19.0 using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and T-test. The use of the Internet by pregnant women depends on factors such as infrastructure, affordability, and skills readiness. This study showed that speed and the quality of the Internet, hardware and software availability, affordability of the Internet, and access to the Internet training were factors in measuring E-health readiness assessment. Not applicable

Advances in mobile communication technologies in the field of health have led to numerous relevant studies. One of the criteria indicating the quality of the previously published studies is the number of citations. Therefore, investigating the features of highly cited articles and identifying the most frequently used mobile technological interventions can be important in developing future studies. This study aimed at identifying 100 cited interventional articles on mobile health. The database employed in this study was the Web of Science, which without limitations was analyzed in September 2019 to identify 100 highly cited interventional studies in the field of mobile health. The identified studies were classified based on the number of citations, year of publication, country of the first author, type of disease, and use of mobile technology. A great majority of the studies in the field of interventional mobile health focused on obesity (n=18), addiction (n=15), diabetes (n=11) and mental health disorders (n=11), respectively. Many studies employed mobile technologies to promote lifestyle (weight loss and increased physical activity) (n=21), disease control (n=19), and treatment adherence (n=18). The mean number of citations per study was 140±94. The most cited study was in the category of viral disease treatment adherence (n=679), and the most cited articles were published in 2012. Among the reviewed 100 studies, many of the interventional studies regarding mobile health focused on obesity, addiction, diabetes and mental health disorders. Text messaging service was used as intervention in most of the studies. Thus, future studies may focus on the use of mobile interventions for less reported diseases and investigate the impact of various mobile technologies on disease prevention, control, and treatment. Non applicable

Currently, traditional paper methods may not effectively be used in education due to lack of access, outdated content, and poor graphics. Education through mobile-based applications is one of the alternative solutions. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate LabSafety educational application and its effect on promoting the knowledge of pharmacy students. In this interventional study, the LabSafety application was first developed and evaluated for educating students about the safety measures in laboratories. Then, all pharmacy students from Kerman University of Medical Sciences (n = 316) were selected and randomly enrolled into one of three groups using simple random sampling: control (n = 106), traditional (n = 105), and application (n = 105) groups. To assess students' knowledge before and after the intervention, two valid and reliable (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.94 and 0.93, respectively) questionnaires were used. The results of the study showed no significant differences among the mean scores of the participants' knowledge before intervention (p = 0.82). After the intervention, the mean scores of the application group were 5.52 higher than the scores of the traditional group and 7.3 higher than the scores of the control group (p < 0.0001). Age had no significant effect on the posttest scores of the participants (p = 0.52). As a result, the use of this educational application can effectively increase the knowledge of all age groups of pharmacy students regarding safety measures in pharmaceutical laboratories. The mobile-based applications with online and offline access, interactive features, and user-friendly interfaces are more engaging and they can be used complementary to traditional training methods. © 2019 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 48(1):44-53, 2020.

OBJECTIVE:Heuristic evaluation (HE) is an inspection method that can be used for identifying usability problems of health information systems. There is insufficient evidence to what extent these problems are experienced by users in their working environment. The objective of this study was to investigate the agreement of real end users of a health information system with the problems identified by HE. METHODS:First, the emergency information system of educational hospitals in Kerman, Iran was evaluated by a heuristic evaluation. Then, a valid and reliable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.95) electronic questionnaire was designed based on the results of the first phase. RESULTS:Among 127 identified problems, the highest number of problems was related to the "consistency and standards" heuristic (18.9%). The user agreement coefficient with heuristic results was 0.5. The highest agreement of the participants was on the problems related to the "help user recognize, diagnose and recover from errors" heuristic (78%). There was a significant relationship between participants age and work experience with a computer (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION:The agreement rate of real end users with the results of HE was at a medium level. Therefore, in some areas, the perception of evaluators in using this method is not consistent with the users experience with a system. This can result in identifying minor issues and ignoring important system-critical usability issues. The HE is appropriate for identifying specific problems, such as problems related to identifying and correcting errors, but in some areas, such as consistency and standards in the design of a system, it identifies minor or ineffective problems.