Robert J. Campbell

Meeting Seniors' Information Needs: Using Computer Technology:

This article discusses the design and development of a program to integrate computer technology into two Nurse Wellness Centers located in low-income minority high-rise facilities. The goal of the program is to teach residents how to use the computers and the Internet to locate health information and to take a more active role in their own health care. Previous research shows that low-income seniors have had limited access to a personal computer and the Internet, therefore creating a digital divide between those individuals having Internet access and those who do not. By teaching minority seniors how to locate Internet-based health information, it is hoped that they will seek more information regarding their health conditions, proposed treatments, and current medications. This article describes the training format, barriers to implementation, and initial qualitative findings.

Internet-Based Health Information Seeking Among Low-Income, Minority Seniors Living in Urban Residential Centers:

This article discusses the results of an exploratory study designed to measure low-income, minority elderly adults Internet-based health information—seeking activities. The study is a part of a program designed to teach residents, living in high-rise urban communities, how to use the Internet to locate health information. By teaching minority seniors how to locate Internet-based health information, it is hoped that they will seek more information regarding their health conditions, treatments, and medications. The results of the study draw five inferences regarding participants health information—seeking behavior: The retrieved information helps the elderly understand their health problems; retrieved information will not lead the elderly to engage in self-care, nor will it engage them enough to change health care providers; retrieved information can change elderly eating and exercise patterns, and retrieved information can affect the treatments the elderly receive for their illnesses.

Wireless communication in health care: who will win the right to send data boldly where no data has gone before?

Increasingly, health care professionals will need to retrieve, store, share, and send data using several types of wireless devices. These devices include personal digital assistants, laptops, Web tablets, cell phones, and clothing that monitor heart rate and blood pressure. Regardless of the device, several standards will vie for the right to provide the wireless communications link between the health care professional and the wired data resources located within a health care organization. This article identifies the top three technologies in the wireless communications field: Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Mobile Communications, and Bluetooth; breaks down each according to its strengths and weaknesses; and makes recommendations for their use by health care professionals located inside and outside a health care facility. Where appropriate the discussion includes an explication of how a specific technology can be made secure from hackers and other security breeches.

Creating a winning organizational culture.

This article explores the idea of how to create a winning organizational culture. By definition, a winning organizational culture is one that is able to make current innovations stick, while continuously changing based on the demands of the marketplace. More importantly, the article explores the notion that a winning organizational culture can have a profound impact on the conscious of the workforce, helping each individual to become a better, more productive person, who provides important services and products to the community. To form a basis toward defining the structure of what a winning organization culture looks like, 4 experts were asked 12 questions related to the development of an organizational culture. Three of the experts have worked intimately within the health care industry, while a fourth has been charged with turning around an organization that has had a losing culture for 17 years. The article provides insight into the role that values, norms, goals, leadership style, familiarity, and hiring practices play in developing a winning organizational culture. The article also emphasizes the important role that leaders perform in developing an organizational culture.

Technologies in Progress: CPOE, Wireless Computing, and Biometrics

In the late 1960s, a generation of television viewers was introduced to the television show “Star Trek.” What made “Star Trek” so interesting was its ability to forecast many of the technologies that are now coming into use in health care. For example, did not the communicator that Captain Kirk used to frequently ask Scotty to beam him up look strikingly familiar to the cell phones, or handsets, that many physicians and hospital administrators carry around with them today? And what about the tricorder? It could easily be mistaken for a personal digital assistant. The “Star Trek” technology, much like the technology we are seeing today, foreshadowed the breakdown of the barriers between data collection and data storage by newer handheld technologies. When Dr. McCoy wanted to know a patient’s vital signs, all he did was run a little sensor over the patient’s body. Devices now exist that literally do the same thing for physicians, who, incidentally, may or may not be in the same room with the patient. Finally, in “Star Trek,” access to information was almost ubiquitous. When Captain Kirk needed important information, all he did was make a request of the computer, and the information was quickly and efficiently displayed. Systems such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE) hold the same promise for physicians who need immediate access to patient information, laboratory results, or the latest information on a new medication’s dosage levels. This chapter will discuss some of the new and developing technologies that have the potential to shape the healthcare industry over the next decade. These technologies include CPOE, wireless/pervasive computing, biometrics, and customer relationship management.