Sandy Oelschlegel

Impact of a Consumer and Patient Health Information Service on User Satisfaction, Attitudes, and Patient-Health Care Professional Interactions

The main goal of this project was to evaluate a consumer and patient information service and its impact on attitudes, health care decision making, and health care professional-patient communication. A survey was distributed to users of a well-established CAPHIS and was returned at a rate of 39 percent (n = 271). Sixty-six percent of respondent said that the information helped them to communicate better with health care professionals and 63.84 percent said they discussed the information they received with a health care professional. The information reduced stress for respondent or their families 52.24 percent; there also was an impact on “treatment” (27.68 percent), “attitude toward health” (25.83 percent), and “life style habits” (21.40 percent). These finding indicate that CAPHIS continues to be valued by participants, despite widespread Internet access, and that it impacts attitudes, communications, and diagnosis, treatment, and lifestyle choices.

Consumer Health Information Centers in Medical Libraries: A Survey of Current Practices

This article summarizes a survey designed to assess consumer health information services in United States medical libraries and describes how survey data informed the planning process for redesigning a medical library. The survey included multiple choice and ranking questions about staffing, space, services, and resources. Identifying characteristics of existing consumer health information services may be useful for libraries implementing or expanding such a service. The importance of patient education is acknowledged through recent research, Joint Commission, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records requirement for patient education. Hospital libraries can play a key role in this domain.

Delivery of Information to the Patient Bedside Utilizing Skylight In-Room Television Service

This article describes the innovative use of the in-room television system, Skylight, to facilitate delivery of health information to patients in their hospital rooms. Skylight alerts, initiated by patients, result in librarians conducting reference interviews. Delivery of information to nursing stations allows clinical staff to verify and document patient comprehension of the information in the electronic medical record. Results from the initial year are discussed, including topics requested, which are indexed using Medical Subject Headings. This patient-initiated, library-facilitated method of meeting health information needs of patients delivers trustworthy and authoritative disease and treatment information to patients in their hospital rooms.

Surveying hospital nurses to discover educational needs and preferences

Objective The author investigated the educational needs of nurses in an American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet hospital to determine topics of interest, instruction time and delivery preferences, and interest in a research information skills certificate provided by the library. Methods A 9-question survey was distributed to 1,500 nursing staff of the hospital through email. Results Surveys were completed by 865 respondents, which represented a response rate of 58%. The majority of respondents were registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and paramedics (81%), and day-shift workers (65%). For education topics, nursing staff placed the highest priority on finding health-related mobile apps for professionals and developing evidence-based research skills. For mode of delivery, respondents expressed a preference for unit-based in-service, computer-based tutorials, and hands-on computer training. Most (70%) respondents expressed an interest in participating in a research information skills certificate program. Conclusions Our survey results reveal an avenue for reinvigorating and updating the library’s educational program to match the needs of nursing staff and may offer valuable insight for other libraries seeking to do the same.

Transitioning Technologies: Pathfinders of the Future

ABSTRACT Medical libraries have a history of providing quality health information. Consumers who search the Internet on their own often find out-of-date, biased, or invalid information. A strong library web presence is the best approach to connecting consumers to reliable, online resources. However, hospital web development teams focus on strategic initiatives and are not always accommodating to the web page needs of medical librarians. Utilizing LibGuides and aligning the content of web pages with hospital approved sites, librarians at a large academic medical center successfully curated modern pathfinders that are attractive, easily updated, and acceptable to hospital leadership. This article details the creation, content selection, and usage of the pathfinder guides.

Reading Demands of Commercial Patient Educational Materials

Commercial information products often have patient education handouts built into their systems. How readable are they to the average patient? This study attempts to answer this question by sampling and scoring handouts from three different producers. The patient education handouts from MD Consult, Micromedex Care Notes, and ADAM were analyzed and scored using the average of three reading level formulas. The results indicate that most handouts are above the average reading level of most patients, with Micromedex Care Notes scoring the best in this study.

Librarians Promoting Changes in the Health Care Delivery System through Systematic Assessment

ABSTRACT Patient engagement in health care decisions largely depends on a patient’s health literacy and the health literacy attributes of the health care organization. Librarians have an established role in connecting patients with health information in the context of their care. However, librarians can play a larger role in helping to make changes in their organization’s health literacy attributes. This article discusses one medical library’s process of leading systematic assessment of their organization’s health literacy attributes. Included in this discussion is the institutional support, timeline, assessment tool, the results for five areas of health literacy, marketing and the event-planning process to disseminate results. The systematic assessment process described employs the Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers document, which provides assessment tools for Print Communication, Oral Communication, Navigation, Technology, and Policies and Protocols.

Computerized versus hand-scored health literacy tools: a comparison of Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) and Flesch-Kincaid in printed patient education materials

Objective The research compared and contrasted hand-scoring and computerized methods of evaluating the grade level of patient education materials that are distributed at an academic medical center in east Tennessee and sought to determine if these materials adhered to the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) recommended reading level of sixth grade. Methods Librarians at an academic medical center located in the heart of Appalachian Tennessee initiated the assessment of 150 of the most used printed patient education materials. Based on the Flesch-Kincaid (F-K) scoring rubric, 2 of the 150 documents were excluded from statistical comparisons due to the absence of text (images only). Researchers assessed the remaining 148 documents using the hand-scored Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) method and the computerized F-K grade level method. For SMOG, 3 independent reviewers hand-scored each of the 150 documents. For F-K, documents were analyzed using Microsoft Word. Reading grade levels scores were entered into a database for statistical analysis. Inter-rater reliability was calculated using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Paired t-tests were used to compare readability means. Results Acceptable inter-rater reliability was found for SMOG (ICC=0.95). For the 148 documents assessed, SMOG produced a significantly higher mean reading grade level (M=9.6, SD=1.3) than F-K (M=6.5, SD=1.3; p<0.001). Additionally, when using the SMOG method of assessment, 147 of the 148 documents (99.3%) scored above the AMA’s recommended reading level of sixth grade. Conclusions Computerized health literacy assessment tools, used by many national patient education material providers, might not be representative of the actual reading grade levels of patient education materials. This is problematic in regions like Appalachia because materials may not be comprehensible to the area’s low-literacy patients. Medical librarians have the potential to advance their role in patient education to better serve their patient populations.

Assessing the Print Communication and Technology Attributes of an Academic Medical Center

Background: Historically, health literacy has been viewed as the patients problem; however, it is now accepted that the responsibility for improving health literacy lies with the health care professionals and systems. An Institute of Medicine report outlines the health literacy attributes, such as printed patient education and technology, which both play a role in patient decision-making and engaging them in their health care. Research suggests that patients who are engaged in their health care have improved health outcomes. For health care organizations to accommodate the needs of all patients, it is imperative that they determine the current organizational state and discover opportunities for improvement. Methods: The Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers (HLEHHC) Print Communication Rating and Technology Rating Tool were used to measure the internal aspects of organizational health literacy at The University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC). Included in the print assessment were the 150 most distributed patient education handouts. Researchers also used the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook and Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool to assess print material. Technology was assessed using UTMCs website as the authoritative source. Key Results: The HLEHHC was useful for assessing print material and technology. Reviewing and reporting the data question-by-question revealed more granular, actionable information on where there are opportunities to improve the health care environment for all patients. This analysis resulted in proposing actions based on best practices that UTMC could implement in the coming year. The process is replicable in other settings. Implications: Responsibility for improving informed medical decision-making lies with health care organizations. Low health literacy influences the effectiveness of print patient education and technology in informing patients about their health. Assessing these aspects of the health care organization as part of quality improvement provides necessary data for improvements. The Health Literacy Environment of Hospital and Health Centers was a useful tool to measure characteristics of print and technology. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2018;2(1):e26–e34.] Plain Language Summary: A task force at an academic medical center assessed the health literacy attributes of their organization. Researchers assessed print patient education and patient-related technology. The researchers found areas for improvements to make health information easier to understand.

Collaboration, Visibility, and Relationship Marketing: Driving Use and Demonstrating Value of a Consumer Health Information Service

ABSTRACT Preston Medical Library/Health Information Center partnered with the University of Tennessee Medical Center Marketing and an outside marketing firm to better promote patient and community engagement in health information. An internal and external marketing plan was developed to promote the library through the development of brochures, table tents, room signage, television appearances and other various marketing strategies. Working with both marketing teams has created a unique opportunity to broaden internal promotion of the library. In addition, the relationship developed between the library and the marketing teams has expanded the library’s presence in the community and created an increase in community use.