Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications in Child Health (Health ...

13 Managing Pediatric Knowledge Resources in Practice 187
The timing of information needs in clinical workflow 7 may cause delays or lapses
in asking questions that require resource use.
13.2.3 Formulating Questions, Matching and Navigating
Information Resources
Once an information need is recognized and prioritized, the next step is formulating
a clinically answerable question 2 and selecting resources most likely to
provide useful answers. Frequently asked questions (such as drug dosages for
specific indications) may be answered more directly by a drug formulary rather
than a comprehensive pharmacology textbook. Questions about initial care for a
specific condition (estimating prognosis, deciding on a treatment plan, counseling
and educating families) may be better answered by a general than a specialty text.
Anticipated questions may be answered by a just-in-time “Infobutton” 8 to a knowledge
source such as MEDLINE abstracts to help support decisions.
13.3 Linking Information Needs to Resources
Selecting the “best” resource is becoming progressively difficult because of the
growing number of available information products. Becoming familiar with what
is available, what is useful and what is cost-effective is challenging. Frequently,
the most important (and first) resource consulted is a phone call to an established
network of professional colleagues.
What follows is a brief catalog of online information resources according to the
types of information needs clinicians may bring to them. These include resources
that match medical knowledge to questions about:
Clinical findings
Clinical constellations
General information on diseases
Information on pediatric specialties
Information for families
13.3.1 Clinical Findings
Clinical findings include history, physical examination and laboratory test results
that clinicians use to arrive at a diagnosis. Electronic resources can assist the clinician
by: (1) providing audio samples and photographs of auditory and visual data
and (2) linking findings to differential diagnoses.