MIS Student Projects Available

Electronic Laboratory Manual
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ImageQuest Implementation
The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has in place a product called ImageQuest. ImageQuest is an application that allows for capturing images, annotating the images, organizing and cataloging the images, and producing reports that include full-color images.

ImageQuest was purchased so that clinical faculty could produce reports featuring full-color images and clinical diagnosis information to send to referring clinical physicians. The previously available reports were text-only which did not allow the recipients to see what the report was describing.

A student is sought to review the implementation of ImageQuest in the department. The project would involve working with faculty to determine what is needed to make the system as useful and user-friendly as possible. The needs assessment would lead to recommendations for change, implementation of change, documentation of procedures, and training of users.

Online Analytical Processing for Blood Bank Utilization

In this project, we will use online analytical processing (OLAP) tools to investigate the following:

1. Cross match/ Transfusion (CT) ratio: CT ratio for each physician, and for each service. If a physician or a service is found to have a poor CT ratio, warning report can be issued to correct the problem. Many attending physicians expressed the need to get this information to educate their residents.

2. Patient groups that use more blood components: looking for groups of outliers in blood usage (groups of patients in certain service, with certain procedure, and with certain diagnosis). The transfused blood components include: red cells, platelets, plasma, cryoprecipitate.

3. Indication for transfusion: auditing transfusion cases to see if transfusion was actually indicated (pre-transfusion Hgb <10 for red cell transfusion, pre-transfusion platelet count <100,000 for platelet transfusion, etc.).

Workstation for Coagulation Interpretation

In this project, we will enhance existing workstation tools used in interpretation of coagulation panels. These tools consist of:
1. A telnet connection: to retrieve pending cases and to report interpretation results.

2. A Web-based module for coagulation interpretation: which provides flowcharts guiding the user through the algorithms of laboratory investigation to obtain appropriate interpretation. The interpretation materials can be conveniently copied and pasted into the telnet session for release.

3. Training modules: (a) Comprehensive information on coagulopathy with synopsis of disorders and decision-support programs; (b) Forum for discussion on interesting coagulation cases and topics.

These tools should be enhanced and expanded with users' input (pathology residents and faculty) to be more useful and user-friendly in routine clinical activities.