Can I get a visual? The Impact of the New Clinical Informationist Program

Description

This poster was given at the Medical Library Association Annual Conference on May 26-31, 2017 in Seattle, Washington.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Clinical informationists provide expert support in the clinical care environment by fostering evidence-based decision making. In 2015, the Galter Health Sciences Library began a Clinical Informationist Service. The informationists collect data to illustrate the value of the service and highlight connections to patient care. Visualization techniques demonstrate how data is used to analyze and build upon our current service model. METHODS: Evaluation is an important element in implementing a new service. There are three topical areas that are tracked by the Clinical Informationist Service and compiled into a monthly data report. The first area helps us assess our productivity by tracking our interactions on the clinical floors and our work with clinical departments through liaison relationships. The second area helps us better leverage our resources by tracking the questions asked and the resource used to answer them. The third area focuses on additional work generated as a result of the clinical informationist service and the liaison relationships. RESULTS: From August 2015 through December 2016 the clinical informationists participated in 87 unique patient care rounds. They interacted with attending physicians, medical residents, and medical students. There were 80 unique questions harvested from in-person interactions. The questions were categorized into four areas and each question can fall into more than one category. Information was also collected on the database or resource, and document type used to answer the question. Data from each topical area has been visualized using a variety of tools to better communicate the impact of the service. CONCLUSION: The clinical informationists provided evidence-based information in the complex patient-care environment by their interaction with more than 180 people over a 16 month period. Detailed monthly reports to track questions, interactions and effort help demonstrate the value of the service and lay the groundwork for a more formal evaluation in the future.

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presentation_location: Seattle, Washington, United States

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