Informatics in Action
A single SpO₂ measurement of 88% represents which stage in the data–information–knowledge progression?
Data
Which free biomedical research search platform provides access to citations and abstracts, including records from MEDLINE?
PubMed
Which STEEEP principle of healthcare quality focuses on reducing unnecessary delays in patient care?
Timely
Within the evidence hierarchy presented in class, what type of research synthesis is generally positioned at the top?
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
What is the primary distinction between an electronic medical record (EMR) and an electronic health record (EHR)?
An EMR primarily supports care within one organization, while an EHR is intended to support continuity of care and information exchange across settings
What electronic record tracks medications that are scheduled, administered, delayed, or omitted?
Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR)
Which standardized terminology represents clinical concepts such as COPD, asthma, and respiratory failure?
SNOMED CT
What term describes how effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily clinicians can use a system to complete tasks?
Usability
What term describes the ability of different healthcare information systems to exchange and meaningfully use information?
Interoperability
What involves locating relevant research, guidelines, and published clinical knowledge?
Information retrieval (rather than data retrieval)
What are the three essential components of evidence-based practice?
Best available research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient values or preferences
What framework evaluates the certainty of a body of evidence and distinguishes that certainty from the strength of a clinical recommendation?
GRADE
What does CPOE stand for?
Computerized Provider Order Entry
What are the Five Rights of Medication Administration?
Right patient, right medication, right dose, right route, and right time
Which standard provides identifiers for laboratory tests and clinical observations, such as arterial pH and PaCO₂?
LOINC
What usability problem occurs when clinicians receive so many electronic warnings that important alerts may be overlooked?
Alert fatigue
Healthcare generates large amounts of clinical information from multiple sources. What is the primary purpose of health informatics?
To organize and use healthcare information to support better clinical decision-making and patient care
What standardized subject-heading vocabulary is used to index biomedical literature in MEDLINE?
MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)
What approach generates knowledge by analyzing care delivered in real-world clinical settings?
Practice-Based Evidence (PBE)
In the ACE Star Model, which stage transforms research findings into actionable clinical recommendations?
Translation to Guidelines
Name three of the eight core functions of an EHR
Any three of the following: health information and data, results management, order entry, decision support, electronic communication, patient support, administrative processes, and reporting or population health management
What EHR functionality provides alerts, reminders, and evidence-informed recommendations to support clinical decisions?
Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
Which standardized terminology identifies medications and supports medication reconciliation across healthcare systems?
RxNorm
A design team tests an early ventilator documentation flowsheet, collects RT feedback, and revises the design. What type of usability testing is this?
Formative usability testing
A ventilator automatically transfers measured tidal volumes into the EHR. What responsibility does the respiratory therapist still have?
Verify the accuracy of the transferred data against the ventilator and clinical assessment
An RT needs a quick, evidence-informed summary to guide a clinical decision rather than reviewing multiple individual research studies. What type of resource would be most appropriate?
A point-of-care clinical reference, such as UpToDate
A patient meets established criteria for a spontaneous breathing trial, but the assessment is delayed solely because the clinical team is changing shifts. Which STEEEP quality principle is most directly affected?
Timely
A hospital adopts an evidence-informed spontaneous breathing trial protocol and incorporates it into daily respiratory care workflows. Which ACE Star stage does this represent?
Practice Integration
An RT selects a predefined collection of orders for a patient experiencing a COPD exacerbation. What EHR feature is being used?
Electronic order set
An EHR warns an RT about a potentially unsafe medication order, while another notification prompts completion of a scheduled reassessment. What two types of clinical decision support are demonstrated?
An alert and a reminder
A patient has COPD documented as a diagnosis, while pulmonary function testing is billed as a professional service. Which coding systems generally represent the diagnosis and the service, respectively?
ICD-10-CM for the diagnosis and CPT for the service
An EHR redesign reduces the time needed to locate active ventilator orders from 60 seconds to 25 seconds. Which usability measure has improved?
Efficiency
A respiratory department compares its ventilator utilization and treatment workload with similar institutions to identify opportunities for improvement. What is this process called?
Benchmarking
An RT searches for high-flow nasal cannula research but retrieves thousands of irrelevant results. What Boolean operator can be used to combine high-flow nasal cannula with a second required concept, such as acute respiratory failure, to narrow the search?
AND
A patient declines an evidence-supported treatment after discussing its benefits and risks. Which essential component of EBP requires clinicians to consider that decision?
Patient values and preferences
A respiratory department implements a new evidence-based ventilator liberation protocol. Which final stage of the ACE Star Model evaluates whether the change improved clinical outcomes?
Process and Outcome Evaluation
During an EHR outage, respiratory treatments are documented using approved paper downtime procedures. Once the EHR is restored, what must occur to maintain a complete patient record?
Reconciliation of downtime documentation
An RT receives an electronic medication order that conflicts with the patient's documented allergy. What should the RT do before administering the medication?
Verify the patient information and order, assess the safety concern, and clarify the discrepancy with the appropriate clinician before administration
Two hospitals exchange structured clinical information using standardized resources and application programming interfaces (APIs). Which modern HL7 standard supports this exchange?
FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources)
During an emergency, an RT cannot locate a critical airway management guideline because it is buried within multiple unrelated EHR screens. Testing identifies a serious patient safety risk that must be corrected before release. On Nielsen's 0–4 usability severity scale, what rating is appropriate?
4 – Critical usability problem