Gaurav Singal – Automated chart biopsy interface
Category: Resident
The proliferation of electronic medical record systems (EMRs) has led to new challenges in the practice of clinical medicine. Physicians are now responsible for aggregating information from hundreds – sometimes thousands – of clinical records which are
still organized in traditional, ineffective silos (notes, imaging, labs, etc.). In many cases, this leads to suboptimal care delivery; records are often incompletely reviewed (AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2003:269-73), information frequently remains buried
(Am J Med. 2009 Jun;122(6):495-6), and studies are repeated unnecessarily (Genet Med. 2008 Feb;10(2):114-6). We have built an automated chart biopsy interface that processes and presents a patient’s entire record at the time of admission using validated
natural language processing (NLP) searches. This information is automatically curated, organized, and displayed in a custom, optimized interface designed to mimic clinical workflow. This novel EMR interface will save time, improve quality of care,
reduce errors due to missed data, and prevent re-ordering of redundant tests.
Sun Mi Yoo – Online community for consults in Rwanda
Category: Student
In resource-poor countries, there is a lack of specialists in various areas including hematology-oncology, surgery, rheumatology, and infectious diseases. Rwanda has 1 oncologist for a country of 11 million people. In order to find a cost-effective solution
to connect generalists in Rwanda to specialists in Boston, an online community was created where online consults can be submitted and discussed. There is a standardized consult template that physicians can use to submit consults, and there is also
a function where photos can be uploaded. This function has been used to upload photos documenting rashes, pathology smears, as well as radiology. This community is composed of over 200 Boston-based specialists in various areas including hematology-oncology,
rheumatology, general surgery, infectious diseases, dermatology, plastic surgery, and orthopedics, among other specialties. This community has been used to collaborate on over 200 complex cases. The community has over 300 discussions, 295 members,
and 15 countries represented. After implementing a triaging system performed by the Clinical Exchange Coordinator, the time between the consult request and specialist response has decreased. The percentage of cases with responses has also increased.
The Clinical Exchange Community is a cost-effective way to help facilitate collaboration among generalists in resource-poor nations and specialists to enhance patient care in resource-limited settings
