Note: The Q&A transcription has been paraphrased to be more succinct.
The recorded presentation may be viewed here.
Presentation: Creating a Low-Cost Analytics Solution for Medical Education Data
Presenter: Aneet Bhattal, Manager, Business Intelligence, University of Virginia School of Medicine
Q: (Johmarx Patton)
In the project’s development over the last few years, specifically with the education data warehouse, did you use any data standards (MedBiquitous or otherwise) and how did they influence the creation of the data model warehouse? If standards were not used, in hindsight do you feel they would have been useful to your efforts?
A: (Aneet Bhattal)
One issue encountered during the initial build was receiving data from so many different source systems. It took considerable effort to connect data between different systems. Right from the start, we created a universal ID that could identify an individual across multiple systems. A table was built to track all IDs used in those different systems, but only that one universal ID was used for the data warehouse. Rather than delve into all the data standards we used, this is an example of one that we tried.
Q: (Johmarx Patton)
It sounds like you created some internal data standardization and unique identifiers across systems. It does not sound like you did any alignment with national or international data standards, correct?
A: (Aneet Bhattal)
Correct. I think we are just not there yet. We’ll likely get there, but we are not there yet.
Q: (Johmarx Patton)
What feedback have you received about the user dashboard?
A: (Aneet Bhattal)
To provide a bit of background, prior to beginning work on the UME analytics piece, faculty and students would access SSRS reports or download data in excel from any of four different places. This was our starting point. Positive feedback received included 1) Faculty and students now only had to visit our data analytics website to access data, 2) It looked much slicker than before (though still requires some work for a mobile platform) and, 3) If their data already existed in the warehouse, creating a report only took days rather than weeks to turnaround.
Presentation: Development Process for UCF's HoloLens Augmented Reality Application on Cardiac Disorders
Presenters: Melissa Cowan, MA, Instructional Learning Designer, and Michael Callahan, EdD, Director of Knowledge Management, both from the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Medicine
Q: (Johmarx Patton)
The landscapes of healthcare, health professions education, and telemedicine have drastically changed over the last 15 to 20 years, and continue to grow rapidly. What types of things do you think our learners should expect in the next 10 to 20 years in terms of what technology can deliver in mixed or augmented reality in the education space?
A: (Michael Callahan)
The biggest takeaway for learners today is to remain engaged in the process of learning with new technology. It will be difficult to predict what will or will not be successful in medicine. Technology evolves quickly. In 15 years, there may be technology used that has not been invented yet.
The process of learning new technology is important - being openminded and understanding while navigating the initial learning curves until benefits are reached. One learns to understand that practice and process. Whatever is out there 15 years from now learners will be able to learn it and adapt it to their practice, and their patients, and provide a great experience for everyone involved.
A: (Dale Voorhees, Director, Educational Technology, UCF)
We envision the future like how computers are used today. They augment teaching and teaching in the classroom. It will provide another option, another vehicle for instruction. What we envision for the future, whether it is virtual reality or augmented reality, is the ability for students to put on a headset wherever they are in the world and be in an environment surrounded by content and paths of learning and assessment. We envision that interaction can be tailored to the user so the material can be provided to them in the way they need it, to assess and guide their path.
Another thought is that it will enable learners to be anywhere in the world and connect with each other. Right now, the technology is not quite there. It won’t be too long before you can put on a headset and turn and see people next to you as if they are right there. It will provide community, as well as instruction. We are excited about the potential, which is why we are committed to it. Limitations are there, but we are excited at what can happen.
A: (Melissa Cowan)
We have all seen the growth of electronic health records. As technology advances, we have also considered loading diagnostic imaging into these headsets and mapping it to the patient’s physical anatomy in order to involve the patient more in the conversation. Imagine a patient putting on a headset and visualizing what is happening internally while discussing why surgery may be needed and how surgery may help them feel better – taking concepts that may be scary to discuss and bringing a visual experience to them. This can really touch on the patient-centered approach.
Some institutions are experimenting with augmented reality in surgery to pull up a tumor or abscess, not just relying on x-rays or MRIs to guide the process. It could really help in surgery or in the operating room. Unfortunately, we are not at that point of having that dynamic data. It is not really connected to the EMR system.
The resolution of the first generation is not that great. Although, as technology advances into high-resolution, we are watching 4K and 8K TVs come out. We expect that same experience out of HoloLens, but are not there yet. We are back at 720 VCI standard resolution. As we get into the 4K and 8K with more realistic images – that will bring us into the future.
Q: (Marc Triola)
How has COVID impacted this project? Can you get devices to students learning remotely? Decontamination of the headset between students?
A: (Michael Callahan)
Yes, COVID has had an impact on this project. Around this time of year, the second group of students would be learning these topics in the curriculum. We expected them to be able to stop by our office, put this on, supplement the curriculum, and complete a survey sharing how they felt before and after, and provide more data points on how well this app helped them understand the content.
Since we are still doing remote instruction, the professor and we felt it was better to hold off an entire year for students to have this experience again. There are concerns for student safety – coming to campus, disinfecting rooms and headsets. If we decided to open later and a student wanted to participate, we would definitely have those procedures in place. But, at this time, we are waiting a year to gather more data.
It has also slowed down the IT process. Getting the app in its final package, completing all the documentation, finalizing the IT review, and having the legal office review anything – it’s been a very lengthy process for us. It is the first time we are encountering this process, so there are learning curves and it’s taken much longer than we hoped for. We were hoping to be done back in June when the MedBiquitous annual conference was scheduled to be face to face.
A: (Dale Voorhees, Director, Educational Technology, UCF)
Once licensing and the IT process are finalized, we want to make this available to universities.
If you are interested in a free copy of the app, please email: mtc@ucf.edu or Michael.Callahan@ucf.edu
Then, once there are clearer details how the app will be released to the education space, we will follow up with instructions on how to access the app.
If you would like to join our virtual community, MedBiquitous ThinkTank, to further the discussion, please email medbiq@aamc.org with the below details:
- First name
- Last name
- Email address>
- Professional title
- Institution name
- Institution street address