Information needs of case managers caring for persons living with HIV
- 1Columbia University, School of Nursing, New York, USA
- 2Laboratory for Informatics Development, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- 3University of British Columbia School of Nursing, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- 4Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Informatics, New York, USA
- Correspondence to Dr Rebecca Schnall, Columbia University, School of Nursing, 617 W 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA; rb897{at}columbia.edu
- Received 21 June 2010
- Accepted 13 December 2010
- Published Online First 26 January 2011
Abstract
Objective The goals of this study were to explore the information needs of case managers who provide services to persons living with HIV (PLWH) and to assess the applicability of the Information Needs Event Taxonomy in a new population.
Design The study design was observational with data collection via an online survey.
Measurements Responses to open-ended survey questions about the information needs of case managers (n=94) related to PLWH of three levels of care complexity were categorized using the Information Needs Event Taxonomy.
Results The most frequently identified needs were related to patient education resources (33%), patient data (23%), and referral resources (22%) accounting for 79% of all (N=282) information needs.
Limitations Study limitations include selection bias, recall bias, and a relatively narrow focus of the study on case-manager information needs in the context of caring for PLWH.
Conclusion The study findings contribute to the evidence base regarding information needs in the context of patient interactions by: (1) supporting the applicability of the Information Needs Event Taxonomy and extending it through addition of a new generic question; (2) providing a foundation for the addition of context-specific links to external information resources within information systems; (3) applying a new approach for elicitation of information needs; and (4) expanding the literature regarding addressing information needs in community-based settings for HIV services.
- Information needs
- continuity of care record (CCR)
- continuity of care document (CCD)
- case management
- continuity of patient care
- HIV/AIDS
Footnotes
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Funding The study was supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research (P30NR010677) and the Health Resources and Services Administration Grant (D11HP07346). JJC is supported by intramural research funds from the NIH Clinical Center and the National Library of Medicine. The development of the Information Needs Event Taxonomy was funded by R01LM007593.
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Competing interests None.
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Ethics approval Ethics approval was provided by the Columbia University Medical Center.
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Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
