Raw || Data

This blog is curated by Grace Villareal, born 2 years prior EDSA Revolution, grew up in Manila as an only child, who treats her cousins as siblings in lieu of none. Currently working as an Emergency Room nurse at Veterans Memorial Medical Center. Her fondness of things relating to Medicine and Technology paved way to pursuing a Masters Degree in Health Informatics, Medical Informatics Track at UP Manila. This will serve as a repository of academic work and trainings throughout the course. Personal notes will also be added here and there. All things written thus are sole opinion and understanding of the owner.

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Journey to Eliminating Electronic Health Record Adoption Barriers

Barriers to Electronic Health Record Adoption from Grace Villareal

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Virality of Information System Adoption

We are in the age where the word "viral" doesn't only mean disease caused by microbes. Media has now taken over the Internet, where articles, images, videos get shared over different social media sites. While not everything we see on the Internet is credible, it is still astounding that such innovation is widely diffused now in our everyday lives. I have been a vast consumer of media during the holiday and semestral break, and have often wondered how videos on Youtube, articles on Buzzfeed and Reddit , technology and science news on The Verge and Tech Insider has the power to reach millions and sometimes influence how they perceive and adopt things.

As a first task in our course Clinical & Laboratory Information Systems, we were asked to review a literature describing the adoption or use of information system in the medical setting. I have chosen a research article by Kyoung Won Cho, PhD , Seong Min Kim, BS , Chang-Ho An, MPH , Young Moon Chae, PhD entitled, Diffusion of Electronic Medical Record Based Public Hospital System. It's a study that evaluated the adoption behavior of Doctors and Nurses across three hospitals in Korea where surveys before the integration of the newly developed Electronic Medical Record (EMR)-based Information System (IS) and after 1st and 7th month of deployment was conducted.

More information of the study on the slide below:

MI227 Cousework1 from Grace Villareal

I have learned from the article that many factors were involved in the for the adoption of Electronic Medical Record. In the study they would have to take into consideration the factors that were applicable to the Public Hospitals in Korea. Since the methodology used was heavily anchored on the Performance Reference Model (PRM), some key performance indicators would have to be modified.

The limitation of the study in which the subjects has remained annonymous, same respondents were not tracked from the first survey upto the third one.

The key to total adoption of users is when each criteria or layers are met. This is not an easy task since many factors are involved in developing a new system. As with any emerging innovation, careful study and changes must be done. If the purpose of the innovation is tangible and it answers a need in the populace, it has the higher rate of adoption.

Since most Filipinos are considered low-income patients, new Electronic Medical Records should be geared towards improving the medical service quality. But aside from that, the balance of the components/indicator under each layer must be met. It is applicable in the Philippine setting since the subjects in the study also represent the vast majority of users we have in the medical field. I have no doubt we will also encounter many challenges, but with careful consideration of each of these hurdles that we can learn the value of our undertaking. It is through the guidance of what we have learned that we arrive on the best solutions. There will be a time that ideal behavior towards information system adoption will go viral.

REFERENCES:

Cho, Kyoung Won, Seong Min Kim, Chang-Ho An, and Young Moon Chae. “Diffusion of Electronic Medical Record Based Public Hospital Information Systems.” Healthcare Informatics Research 21, no. 3 (July 2015): 175–83. doi:10.4258/hir. 2015.21.3.175.

Nils Urbach, Benjamin Müller. “The Updated DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success” 1 (2011): 1– 18. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-6108-2_1.

Rogers, Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations, 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster, 2010.

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HI201 in 2014

HI201 in 2014 from Grace Villareal

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Gamification and Solve the Outbreak Review

Growing up, my cousins and I always enjoyed a healthy competition of playing video games. One of the motivation to wake up early during the summer and christmas vacations is to have the first dibs of the console. The ones who wake up later will have to wait their turn or just play the game you prefer.

When I got my first smartphone, and mobile device, I eagerly filled it with my game preference, mostly by reading on most game reviews and browsing how the gameplay is at youtube before downloading/purchasing the application. I am more discerning about my games now, I have limited it to 3 sometimes up to 5 but never exceeding that number. I didn't want to clutter my device and obtain games I hardly even play. I try to complete one and uninstall it after, but there are games that you never get tired of playing and it gets handy when you get stuck in traffic or waiting on a queue.

When I heard of gamification and healthcare I quickly related it to the flight simulations in aviations, pilots get to train through this and fly through a different scenario in the safety of flight simulator. Surgeons are also making use of similar technique in training laparoscopic surgery, they get to train in labs in 2D simulator and apply it on a 3D subject. Many surgeons are encouraged now to play Wii Sports to further enhance their skills.

Below is the link to my Presentation and Game Review. Thanks!

Gamification & Solve the Outbreak Review from Grace Villareal

Game Link: http://www.cdc.gov/mobile/applications/sto/web-app.html

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mHealth App Proposal: GeriCare

The inspiration for this application came from the idea that most Filipinos dislike going to hospitals, some for the fear of needles, but most for the lack of financial capacity to obtain health care.

Since I work in a government institution where Retired Philippine Veterans and their Dependents have medical benefits from serving our country. I have thought of a similar way Grab Taxi and Easy Taxi cater to their clients, if the HCP use GPS technology to render care for patients at home especially those who are chronically bed ridden and with disabilities. Its a fact that our transportation system is not friendly for elderly and people with disabilities. We don't have buses with ramps for wheelchairs, not most train stations have elevators that work. These individuals doesn't have much choice on how to go around but take the taxis.

The application can cater to 1) People with disabilities 2) Elderly with difficulty of walking unassisted 3) Elderly with dementia 4) Chronically bed ridden patients

mHealth from Grace Villareal

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Telehealth & House Bill No. 6336

Telehealth from Grace Villareal

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Privacy, Confidentiality & Legislation

Slide presentation on the topics of Privacy, Security and Confidentiality and Data Privacy Act of 2012

Privacy & Confidentiality from Grace Villareal

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Clinical Decision Support System: AI for Health Professionals?

Clinical Decision Support System from Grace Villareal

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Standards & Interoperability

Have a glimpse of my Paper on first posted on Basecamp with Dr. Mike Muin

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Personal Health Records: iTriage Review

There has been growth of web based and mobile applications available for us. Productivity tools are used daily to jot down to-do list, track finances and more popularly diet and fitness. We let these tools guide us through complex activities we have daily, if there is a way to do things faster, cheaper and secured, we all want it. It also helps us maintain important relationships, streamline work and learning, and finding solutions to different tasks.

Image Credit: Appcrawlr

We want the same for our Personal Health Records (PHR), a system initiated to personally organize and update medical history and condition, diagnostic procedures, treatment modalities, medications and physician appointment among others. While PHR use isn't a usual practice in our country today, in the future more patients can make use of these systems to set reference for their health care provider of the choices and treatment course they want. While debates regarding the legality of having directives placed within the system are profound. It can give comfort that in the very least we can apply the treatment/medical care the patient prefers.

I have set to evaluate the mobile application iTriage by Healthagen, LLC. I made a criteria based on the suggested reading for this task, but revised it a bit to fit my own preference. Here are the critical features I aim to see on Personal Health Records:

Personal Health Records: iTriage Review from Grace Villareal

Inspired by the presentation of my classmates, I've searched for a tool to asses usability. I found usability.gov , an organization which aims to be the leading resource for user experience (UX) best practices and guidelines, serving practitioners and students in the government and private sectors. They have developed the System Usability Scale (SUS), a ten item scale giving a global view of subjective assessment of usability. It is a Likert Scale, a statement is made and the respondent indicates the degree of agreement or disagreement with the statement.

System Usability Scale © Digital Equipment Corporation, 1986.

Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree

I think that I would like to use this system frequently = 3

I found the system unnecessarily complex = 2

I thought the system was easy to use = 4

I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use this system = 3

I found the various functions in this system were well integrated = 3

I thought there was too much inconsistency in this system = 4

I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly = 4

I found the system very cumbersome to use = 4

I felt very confident using the system = 1

I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this system = 4

To calculate the SUS score, first sum the score contributions from each item. Each item's score contribution will range from 0 to 4. For items 1,3,5,7,and 9 the score contribution is the scale position minus 1. For items 2,4,6,8 and 10, the contribution is 5 minus the scale position. Multiply the sum of the scores by 2.5 to obtain the overall value of SU.

Total Score Value - 32*2.5 = 80/100

While PHR's don't rely solely on usability, it will play a large role in the success of the system. In the end, the security and confidentiality of the data contained in the PHR, the efficiency of use between the person and his health care provider that will benefit both in the process, interoperability and linkage with an Electronic Health Record are the top considerations in making a quality personal health record.

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Critical and Discrete Electronic Health Records

When I got hired in our institution, they were on the early stages of EMR implementation. Our batch and the one before us will be starting to utilize the program once we get deployed to our respective assignments. We were oriented on how to use the system, issued our user codes which was similar to our employee number and a default password which we can change upon first entry into the system.

Prior to my work in the clinical area, I was around computers working for my auntie's business while I await employment. Integrating the EMR with my work flow became second nature since it was the system introduced to me early on the orientation phase. It won't hold true for most, especially for senior nurses who are more familiar with documentation using the charts and ordering medications through prescriptions. I understood the gap that lied ahead, the training for the system was only one session, most of my co-workers got confused on where to go, and what to click.

Image Credit: http://www.hipaacartoons.com

I proposed to my Head Nurse that we need a manual as a reference for the flow of work, and how we can harmoniously use the system. I began to make a manual for our area to use, I asked the Management Information System (MIS) of our hospital for some reference and screen capture image to help for this project. But they were hesitant, and said some reasons I can not recall as of the moment. I finished the manual, and was recognized for the informal manual I designed for our area. My co-workers began to be more responsive to the adoption of EMR in the clinical area.

The problems we face now will help us build better, user friendly, more robust, and secure electronic health records. Usability and the future of incorporating aspects of social media into EHR paves way to increased involvement by the society in EHR acceptance and adoption.

Below is the presentation I made, answering the driving question and Dr. Muin's inquiry regarding Electronic Health Records.

Electronic Health Records Issues & Challenges in a Government Institution from Grace Villareal

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Puzzled by Enterprise Architecture

I will have to admit, I have not come accross Enterprise Architecture before. It all seemed foreign to me, but like most things, I am eager to learn more about it and it's application.

Aspirations to have a seamless service delivery spurrs on the growth of information technology in various sectors. Health care with all it's complexity is slowly gaining speed to deliver the best quality care medical professionals can offer. To carry through the Department of Health's goals and objectives for the future, we need a process by which business strategies can turn to operational reality.

Image Credit: nonprofitaustin.org

Enterprise Architecture can help us attain our goals, it is a discipline that leverages information, processes and tools to bring the organization/institution where it intends to go, what should be done to get there, and how and when each task or deliverables are fulfilled. To be able to identify current and future gaps, mis-alignment, risk and opportunities among different domains, units, people, IT and so much more. It will moderate discussions, bring about transparency, clarity and commitment to carry out the change while navigating through different personal interest, beliefs, viewpoints, politics and culture. All done to give assistance to building sound strategy and communicating this across the institution to understand different and talk different lingos.

To answer the driving question, "Pretend you are the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Health. Which of the four major enterprise architecture frameworks will you choose to manage the information coming in from regional health units and DOH hospitals? Why?"

I would choose to utilize, The Open Group Architechture Framework (TOGAF) with some elements of Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) to manage the DOH's goal for eHealth. TOGAF is an architecture that is devided into four categories, business architecture, application architecture, data architecture and technical architecture. The heart of the architecture is the Architecture Development Method (ADM), a process which identifies the organization's needs and requirements, build its resource and competence to increase capability, aligned to the organization's concerns, drives, and vision to come up with a customized solutions. FEA is composed of five reference models, one each for performance: business, service, components, technical and data. FEA has a perspective on how EA should viewed in segments, a transition process from a pre-EA to a post-EA paradigm. The process entails, Architectural Analysis to define a simple and concise vision for the segment and relate it back to the organizational plan. Architectural Definition to define a desired architectural state of the segment, document the performance goals, consider design alternativ and develop and enterprise architecture for the segment, including business, data, services and technology architectures. Investment and Funding Strategy considers how the project will be funded. The Program Management Plan and Execute Projects focused on creating a plan for managing and executing the project, including milestones and performance measures that will assess project success.

It is necessary to come up with a process in which everyone in DOH, from government hospital and rural health unit is comfortable with, a culture of innovation and change, a governance system that will oversee the future. They will follow the guidelines, templates, checklist and techniques to come up wtih deliverables, artifacts and building blocks. The integration of segments from FEA will best evaluate the needs of each section of DOH, with few modifications to tailor fit the organization, after completing each segment they will measure the progress of different sections within DOH, upon delivery it will add substance to the framework.

“Architecture defines a class of acceptable solutions that address some goal, need, problem… an architecture must express the essential characteristics that define membership in that class”.

-Leonard Fehskens

There is no one way to accomplish a set goal, even if we have planned ahead there will always be external factors that will shift our gears to a different direction. Standards are here to guide us achieve the goals, realize our vision, and accomplish our mission. It is through rigorous and careful planning, implementation and maintenance that we succeed, it doesn't end when we succeed, the possibilities are endless.

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Spectrum of National Health Information System

Through the weeks, we have been set to complete different task to help us build a solid foundation on health informatics. It has walked us through the general terms, it's beginnings in our country, the factors behind it, the challenges it faces, and ways it can achieve sustainability. It has been a real eye opener, we have discussed in group/class meetings that challenges and factors that affect an information system can be looked at two different angles, as in the saying that "Is the glass half empty or half full". It all boils down to perspective, how someone looks at something and apply their interpretation of reality.

We understand early on that this field is complex, but little by little we are exposed to the extent of that complexity. The government has now played an active role in building a national health information system. By employing the help of Key Influencers, a Technical Working Group and Steering Committee was created. Their knowledge and expertise on the field gave our the country a framework it needs to move forward, but the hard and taxing labour doesn't end there. The three phases are there to guide the us with the timeline for each task. Phase 1: Standardize and Connect set for 2013-2014, is focused on the establishment of governance and foundations and provide basic connections to start information sharing across the health sector. The technical working group is currently establishing several other groups to address the key elements in the Philippine eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan, the DOH-PhilHealth Harmonization Group that establish business and technical interoperability between DOH and PhilHealth. An IT Working Group tasked to implement the eHealth enterprise and architecture. Included here is an EMR Committee to organise the EMR implementer for rural health units by October 1, 2014. Advisory Group, to inform the Steering Committee on the perspectives of various stakeholders. Terminology Asset Management Team is placed to collect and organise standard terms for use in Philippine Health Information Exchange (PHIE). Moreover, members from DOH, DOST, PhilHealth and WHO engaged in the terminology services truing to prepare for Terminology Component of PHIE.

We have been praised by World Health Organization (WHO), saying that Philippines has been stepping in the right direction, ahead of many other countries. The importance of bringing healthcare to remote areas of the country. Dr. Julie Hall, WHO representative to the Philippines cited, "key performance indicators or key concepts, there are three words: access, quality and empowerment."

There will be many ways to open a safe, you can burn it with torches and ruin its door, you can pry it open with a crowbar, but there will only be one number combination to open it without wrecking the safe or injuring yourself. We all long for the best way to govern and manage healthcare enterprise, and the number combination is all the collective inputs and make use of the best ones. To engage stakeholders with this endeavour to advance eHealth in our country, we must make it so that they know that they are not spending money but rather investing for the future, to bring access, quality and empowerment to each citizen.

AeHIN Academy Webinar 1: Leadership Quiz:

Triple aims of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement.

Improvement of the experience of Care, Increase population health (health awareness and disease prevention) & reduce per Capita Cost.

Give an example of a global resource on eHealth

Management of patient information: Trends and challenges in Member States - ISBN 978 92 4 150464 5

Give an example of a local resource on eHealth

Philippines eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan 2014-2020

What are the three parts of the eHealth Strategy Toolkit

National eHealth Vision, National eHealth Action Plan, National eHealth Monitoring and Evaluation.

How many national eHealth components are there?

Seven components, Leadership and governance; Strategy and investment; ICT service and application; Infrastructure; Standards and interoperability; Legislation, Policy and compliance; Workflow.

What two broad sorts of measures are needed to support monitoring and evaluation?

Demonstrating and communicating progress and results that will produce trust and support by showing what impact eHealth is delivering .

Name two types of eHealth systems Home telecare & Teleradiology

Give four specific stakeholders in a health organization of your choice.

World Health Organization: a. World health Organization, Philippines b. National Government c. Local Government d. Individuals and Families

Do positive feedback loops increase or decrease the rate of change in an organization?

They can both, increase and decrease change depending on the participation of all stakeholders, because the levels of each components are complex. It can be achieved if we have collected quality data, if policies and interventions are done in a timely manner, after which monitoring and evaluation is done accordingly. Change will follow if it can be done swiftly, since there are many factors affecting it, sometimes it also hinders movement, if a concern is encountered we often go over it instead of finding appropriate solutions.

In developing eHealth Action Plans we need to engage stakeholders. Name something that needs to be done. I think awareness of the expected outcome and it's benefits will help in the action plan, identifying government roles as well as stakeholders roles and responsibilities are also crucial to engage them in action plans.

AeHIN Academy Webinar 2: Institutional Readiness Quiz

Does your country have a national eHealth strategy?

Yes. The Department of Health, built the Philippine eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan, recently updated to 2014-2020 framework.

Does your country have a formal governance structure for eHealth?

Yes. The Department of Health spearhead the Technical Working Group and The Steering Committee with cooperation with other government and private institutions.

Which of the four broad types of eHealth Action Line will be of most interest to citizens?

I think Filipinos will be interested most in Solutions. Since most of them will be asking the "need" for eHealth, ways to adopt to it, make it cost effective and accessible.

Does ISO 38500 look at IT from a demand or supply standpoint?

Demand, how can we us IT. It looks at IT from a business standpoint, looking from the top-down.

Which of the six ISO 38500 principles will be of most relevance to users?

Human Behavior, training and skills enhancement of personnel are key aspects of change. Services and solutions needs to be accepted in order to flourish and thrive.

Are ethics part of COBIT 5?

Yes. One of the principles of COBIT 5 is enabling a holistic approach, one of the enablers is culture, ethics and behavior.

Which of the COBIT 5 Principles is most aligned with ISO 38500?

Governance, both ISO 38500 and COBIT 5 put high regards to the success of IT enterprise in the governance framework. Someone needs to oversee the HIS, evaluating, directing and monitoring use.

Is "Detect and resolve unauthorized access to eHealth systems" an example of IT Goal, a Process Goal or an Activity Goal?

Process Goal

How many levels of accreditation are there in ITILv3?

There are four accreditation levels: a) Foundation b) Intermediate c) Expert d) Master.

IS ISO/IEC 200000 intended for individuals or organizations? For organizations, there are various ways to comply with ISO 20000, but the widely used approach is to follow ITIL recommendations.

References:

A. Marcelo, A., The Philippine eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan: the Story of its Evolution B. Philippine eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan 2014-2020

C. Herbosa, T., delivering an overview of the Philippine eHealth Startegic Framework and Plan (bit.ly/PeHSFPvideo)

D. Usman, E., WHO cites PH for its advanced e-Health Plan http://www.mb.com.ph/who-cites-ph-for-its-advanced-e-health-plan/

E. Why do we need COBIT5? http://www.csi-india.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=6d3e2cd0-8004-48b7-91ab-b2823215dbcd&groupId=10157

F. Webinar 1 and 2 http://www.aehinacademy.org/course/view.php?id=4

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Pillars of Change

The room for growth is vast for eHealth in our country, we have learned from previous projects and situations that an objective no matter how vital can fail if no support from all the stakeholders are met. We have been fortunate that individuals who want to advance the eHealth condition in our country are now involved with making the Philippine eHealth Strategic Framework an architecture that can achieve it's goal in the future. The framework considered to guide it is COBIT 5. Known for its principles to make IT enterprise, comprehensive, and holistic.

Pools of information are available in many regions of our country, both private and public sectors, with collaborative efforts we can make these information useful by making it accessible to the public. The trust of the citizens are important and by making a government regulation, the system will be beneficial for all. Involvement from private sectors and multinational companies will also ensure that finance is coursed through right channels. It can be self-sustaining and dynamic, ready for the changes and revisions for improvement.

Quezon Hall, UP Diliman. Image Credit: Prisci Val Balanhaqui

Governance is essential, it will secure the state of eHealth and give Health Information System the foundation it needs be accepted by the public. Furthermore, make a health care equitable for all, people from all walks of life should be able to access quality and accessible health care. The policy made by leaders in different areas of Information System, can serve as a guide to where we are headed, constant monitoring and evaluation is needed to protect the society from wrongful people with ulterior motives. For great buildings and architecture, pillars are needed to support its foundation. Weak and unstable, one pillar can collapse the framework, and the effects could be catastrophic. We need a foundation where eHealth can be achieved, not only for a short amount of time, but one that can weather all the elements headed its way for many years to come.

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Culture of Innovation

Culture, is what gives every country its flavor. History brings a large component to its foundation, our country developed its culture from different influences molding together. Learning more about history is fundamental to bringing appropriate change to the future.

As we have learned, change is usually met with resistance at first. It is paramount to introduce changes gradually and bring about understanding to everyone involved. Sustainability of Information Systems are barred with many challenges, it is met by making strategies that will help people make the necessary improvement to the current practice.

Innovation, as it arrives in a developing country can be an alienating process. Unless the residents understand and support the innovation, it is more likely to fail than succeed. I believe that in order to do this we should exercise the "Top down, Bottom up Design". One governing agency to set the standard, implement a policy, monitor and evaluate the information system being deployed. Donors are often key to brining the financial and technological capacity to spur that change forward. They will coordinate with the governing agency concerning strategic plans to make the project take off, including ways to make the program financially secured when the donors lift their aide. The software developers should immerse themselves in the working environment of the client so that they can have an idea how it can fit their routine. Adaptation to the program should prove efficiency to their work flow not hinder their priorities. Ideas from people are welcomed and sifted to come up with the best possible solutions. Developers will make a software tailor-fit to the needs of the end users leaving room for improvements and upgrades. It must also be secured and robust, ready to combat potential system failures and national disasters. End users must be well trained, motivated individuals that are cooperative in making progress through utilising the information system. In return, knowledge derived from these are fed to the governing agency to produce quality health care delivery.

Innovation is hard, a struggle for developing countries like ours. Although faced with this reality, we can all work together in achieving the goal of making quality and accessible health care for every Filipino. We should just be open to new ideas and factor in ways we can help our nation. Sustainability is a part of innovation, and innovation is not just an idea, device or a process, it should be part of our culture.

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Uphill Climb

Mountaineers are known to be fearless individuals, they attempt to scale the highest peak and overcome their limits, even costing their lives. Compared to them, we Health Care Professionals are also daring beings, learning to fight and prevent diseases, on top of promoting health practices in our chosen profession. We learn it's hard to overcome the threshold with few tools and mechanism, yet by knowing it's core is how we'll be competent.

Photo Credit: Alamy

The mountaineers plan their mission ahead, surveying the peaks, packing the needed equipment to prepare in the harsh conditions. They make the expedition safe by training, trying out new methods to make the climb maneagable, making use of shelters that serve as place of preparation for the harder ascend.

The framework that affects Health Informatics in our country isn't so different in contrast with how mountaineers operate. There should be a regulating and governing body, not everyone is allowed to make their own way, permission and authorization are needed. A team leader is elected, planning and assigning strategies to it's members that will best serve the goal to reach the top. They shall apply methods in both ascending and descending the slopes, both is important to the safety of individual not to mention the group. Hazards like falling rocks, ice and avalanche are encountered, but back up plans are in place to protect group. Similar to infrastructures in Informatics, risk of attack on the system, privacy and safety issues are also a concern. Mountaineering is not an affordable sport, gears, trianings, and authorization needs funding for its realization.

Moreover, I believe that one can not reach the top if he works alone. Help from various sectors both government and private are required for rise to the summit. The crest of success is achieved when we put our passion in our goal, though the path may be steep, obstacles might come our way, and as though we think we've passed our breaking point, that we arrive on top. The hardest climb is the most worth it, a great triumph for the Health of this nation.

You can also see the interactive map here

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The Intricate Web of Informatics

Spiders are amazing creatures, they are small in size, some even minute but they have the strength that lies in their predatory skills. I think of them as patient, hard working and mysterious members of the animal kingdom.

Copyright:Thomas Shahan

Like spiders who are vast in species, Health is also intricate, composed of multiple definitions as to service, delivery and how it impacts people. It is paramount to our survival to immerse ourselves in it, grasping how each sector affects another, to understand it's complexity and adapt to it.

This assigment lead to the understanding of the interconnectivity of Informatics, eHealth and Global Health. Similar to a spiders' elaborate web, the meaning and relationship of the scope of Informatics and it's link to Global health is dependent with each other. You move and the web vibrates, you'll find yourself in engulfed in information, from research to application.

Copyright: Jaruba

The tricky courtship rituals of this anthropod is similar to how Health Policies are created, different scholars from diverse fields come together to agree upon its contents and how to implement it. Spider venoms are harmful, but it is now used to develop medicines and non-polluting pesticides. If health does not undergo through the correct process it shall be harmful as well.

It is little to no arguement that interconnectivity is vital to fulfillment of solutions. I hope like the spiders' impeccable eye sight, we as students can also see the right path on how to derive solutions and manage survival.