Correspondence to Professor David Peiris; dpeiris@ georgeinstitute. org mHealth relates to the provision of health-related services via a mobile device. It comprises multidimensional elements including provider, patient and administrative applications. Applications include consumer education and behaviour change, wearable sensors and point-of-care diagnostics, disease and population registries,...

Patient-provider family planning discussions and preconception counseling can reduce maternal and neonatal risks by increasing adherence to provider recommendations and antiretroviral medication. However, HIV-infected women may not discuss reproductive intentions with providers due to anticipation of negative reactions and stigma. This study aimed to identify correlates of patient-provider fami...

Available data support that women who have sex with women (WSW) are at risk for a variety of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and vaginitis. Risk of STI transmission in this group depends on the specific STI under consideration and the sexual practices involved. Data demonstrates that WSW receive less standard gynecologic screening than their heterosexual counterparts. This may be due, in ...

We conducted case studies of fourteen solo or small-group primary care practices using electronic health record (EHR) software from two vendors. Initial EHR costs averaged $44,000 per full-time-equivalent (FTE) provider, and ongoing costs averaged $8,500 per provider per year. The average practice paid for its EHR costs in 2.5 years and profited handsomely after that; however, some practices co...

BACKGROUND Many systems for routine public health surveillance rely on centralized collection of potentially identifiable, individual, identifiable personal health information (PHI) records. Although individual, identifiable patient records are essential for conditions for which there is mandated reporting, such as tuberculosis or sexually transmitted diseases, they are not routinely required f...

BACKGROUND Across many jurisdictions, adults with complex mental health and social needs face challenges accessing appropriate supports due to system fragmentation and strict eligibility criteria of existing services. To support this underserviced population, Toronto's local health authority launched two novel community mental health models in 2014, inspired by Flexible Assertive Community Team...

This paper critically reviews studies that have interpretively invoked communication accommodation theory (CAT) for the study of patient-provider interaction. CAT’s sociolinguistic strategies—approximation, interpretability, interpersonal control, discourse management, and emotional expression—are succinctly introduced and their use in studies of patient-provider interaction discussed. The majo...

While the state of the research in the field of medical decision support systems is illustrated by a set of fairly heterogeneous studies, it is possible to identify fundamental aspects of the fields, e.g. Decision Support Systems for Computerized Provider Order Entry, both for physicians and pharmacists, as well as more specific developments such as instruments to improve processing of data rel...