Search results

Efficient delivery of integrated healthcare requires solid alliances and collaboration with stakeholders on a regular basis. Due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it has become necessary to explore new ways of delivering integrated healthcare, and virtual clinics have offered one solution and are likely to continue due to the uncertainty with COVID-19. This study aims to explore clinicians’ experiences of how efficient virtual elective knee clinics (VEKC) are in an orthopaedic setting in comparison to traditional face-to-face clinics.

The study utilised a mixed-methods study to obtain qualitative and quantitative data. This involved an anonymous online survey in addition to in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with a purposive sample of multidisciplinary colleagues who work with the VEKC in an acute hospital.

Three overarching themes and nine sub-themes emerged in the qualitative analysis. Overall, clinicians in both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the study highlighted several ways that virtual clinics are efficient from both the patient and health service perspective. However, participants also highlighted barriers in relation to virtual clinics not being suitable for certain cohorts of patients and pathologies.

This is the first study in Ireland to provide valuable insights into the experiences of multidisciplinary clinicians using VEKC and their efficiency compared to traditional face-to-face clinics.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise a research study to examine leadership as a relational concept between leaders and followers. The context is within surgical practice examining how motivated consultant surgeons are to lead junior doctors and which type of leadership style they use. From a follower perspective, the motivation of junior doctors will be explored, and their leadership preferences will be correlated with those of the actual style of consultant surgeons.

In this paper, the authors provide a detailed description of the methods for an international quantitative research study, exploring sequentially how motivated consultant surgeons are to lead and how leadership styles impact on the motivation of junior doctors. The objectives, method and data collection of this study are explained, and the justification for each method is described.

The findings for this outline study illustrate how critical it is to redefine leadership as a relational concept of leader and follower to ensure adequate support is provided to the next generation of consultant surgeons. Without consideration of the relational model of leadership, attrition will continue to be a critical issue in the medical workforce.

The research limitations are that this is a proposed quantitative study due to the need to collect a large sample of data from surgeons across the UK, Egypt and Germany. This research will have immense implications in developing new knowledge of leadership as a relational concept in medicine and healthcare. This study additionally will impact on how leadership is conceptualised in the curriculum for specialist surgical practice.

The practical implications are that relational leadership is supportive of generating a supportive leadership culture in the workplace and generating more effective teamwork.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to look at a relational model of leadership in surgical practice between consultant surgeons and surgical trainees. This study will also identify any specific country differences between the UK, Germany and Egypt.

Arthroscopic osteochondroplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that has been used to treat femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, leading to significant improvements in patients’ clinical outcomes and quality of life. However, some studies suggest that inadequate bone resection can substantially alter hip biomechanics. These modifications may generate different contact profiles and higher contact forces, increasing the risk of developing premature joint degeneration. To improve control over bone resection and biomechanical outcomes during arthroscopic osteochondroplasty surgery, this study aims to present a novel system for measuring femoroacetabular contact forces.

Following a structured design process for the development of medical devices, the steps required for its production using additive manufacturing with material extrusion and easily accessible sensors are described. The system comprises two main devices, one for measuring femoroacetabular contact forces and the other for quantifying the force applied by the assistant surgeon during lower limb manipulation. The hip device was designed for use within an arthroscopic environment, eliminating the need for additional portals.

To evaluate its performance, the system was first tested in a laboratory setup and later under in-service conditions. The 3D printing parameters were tuned to ensure the watertighness of the device and sustain the intraoperative fluid pressures. The final prototype allowed for the controlled measurement of the hip contact forces in real-time.

Using additive manufacturing and readily available sensors, the present work presents the first device to quantify joint contact forces during arthroscopic surgeries, serving as an additional tool to support the surgeon’s decision-making process regarding bone resection.

Providing public healthcare to people is a major challenge for governments. In this sector, public-funded systems are grossly inadequate in India, and excessive commercialization and exploitation by the private sector are a stark reality. The cooperative healthcare model is emerging as an alternate system in Kerala with its strong service objective to challenge the woes of private healthcare. The cooperative hospitals in the state worked round the clock to serve the poor and needy during the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has also badly exposed the weakness of our healthcare system in the wake of challenges posed by an increase in demand for health services, especially in rural areas. The resultant rise in the cost of treatment has put severe strains on the people at a time when even their day to day jobs were in peril. India has a strong cooperative movement and world-class institutions to serve as models in each sector. The Thrikkakara Municipal Co-operative Hospital, located at Cochin in the Kerala State of India on which this case study is written was established by the Hospital Society Ltd. in 1999, as a project under the People’s Planning Programme of the Government. Today, it has grown into a medium-sized healthcare establishment with the prime objective ‘Modern healthcare to all at affordable costs’ and cater to an average of 700 outpatients a day. This case study reveals the inception, development over years, facilities available, operations, management, public interface, and outlook for the hospital to become a modern healthcare institution to serve the people still better.

The study aims to evaluate PubMed publications on ChatGPT or artificial intelligence (AI) involvement in scientific or medical writing and investigate whether ChatGPT or AI was used to create these articles or listed as authors.

This scoping review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A PubMed database search was performed for articles published between January 1 and November 29, 2023, using appropriate search terms; both authors performed screening and selection independently.

From the initial search results of 127 articles, 41 were eligible for final analysis. Articles were published in 34 journals. Editorials were the most common article type, with 15 (36.6%) articles. Authors originated from 27 countries, and authors from the USA contributed the most, with 14 (34.1%) articles. The most discussed topic was AI tools and writing capabilities in 19 (46.3%) articles. AI or ChatGPT was involved in manuscript preparation in 31 (75.6%) articles. None of the articles listed AI or ChatGPT as an author, and in 19 (46.3%) articles, the authors acknowledged utilizing AI or ChatGPT.

Researchers worldwide are concerned with AI or ChatGPT involvement in scientific research, specifically the writing process. The authors believe that precise and mature regulations will be developed soon by journals, publishers and editors, which will pave the way for the best usage of these tools.

This scoping review expressed data published on using AI or ChatGPT in various scientific research and writing aspects, besides alluding to the advantages, disadvantages and implications of their usage.

This paper aims to determine the gender composition of journal editorial boards in the field of library and information science and to identify trends in the gender composition of different editorial roles and the country of affiliation and occupation of people fulfilling these roles.

In an analysis of 13 selected Library Information Science journals published by the Emerald Publishing group, data relating to 549 editors and editorial board members were obtained from the Open Editors online database. Data were assessed by role, gender, country and continent of their affiliation, and occupation.

Women were found to be under-represented as editors and editorial board members in 10 of the 13 journals. This was most evident in the highest-ranking role of editor or editor-in-chief. The majority of editors and editorial board members were from English-speaking countries located in Europe and the Americas, followed by Asia. The vast majority of editorial personnel belonged to the teaching and learning profession, with relatively few support staff, or researchers taking on these roles.

The findings of this study highlight the gender inequality in prestigious and career-advancing academic roles across multiple research areas. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such research has yet been conducted in the field of library and information science.

Drawing on a dynamic capability view, this study develops a decision support model that determines the most suitable configuration of strategies and challenges to adopt additive manufacturing (AM) to expedite digital transformation and performance improvement of the surgical and medical device (SMD) supply chain.

To investigate the research objective, a multi-method and multi-study research design was deployed using quality function deployment and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis.

The study finds that only resilience strategies or negation (i.e. minimisation) of challenges are not enough; instead, a configuration of resilience strategies and negation of challenges is highly significant in enhancing performance.

SMD supply chain decision-makers will find the decision support model presented in this study as beneficial to be resilient against various challenges in the digital transformation of service delivery process.

This study builds new knowledge of the adoption of AM technology in the SMD supply chain. The decision support model developed in this study is unique and highly effective for fostering digital transformation and enhancing SMD supply chain performance.

This case study involves interviews with radiologists of various hospitals and with company personnel. Both primary and secondary data sources have been used. The first-hand perspective from the radiologists highlighted the challenges they face concerning time and the patient load. The company personnel highlighted using machine learning for used cases to make the platform more robust and accurate. This case has been tested with MBA students.

An emerging health-care artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, DeepTek.AI, wants to expand its reach in the radiology market. The company intends to leverage technology to assist radiologists in diagnostics. India's health-care sector faces the challenge of needing more trained doctors and nurses to meet the ever-increasing needs of patients. This case study revolves around the radiologists' concerns about implementing the new technology and its ease of use. The features and benefits of integrating AI in diagnostics are the need of the hour, but the reliability of results needs to be ascertained for adopting it.

This case was written for marketing applications and practices, trends in marketing, marketing strategy and technology adoption in marketing courses at the post-graduate level. Consumer adoption of finance, hospitality, travel and health-care technology is vital for increasing the company's market share and growth prospects. The students will have an opportunity to understand the challenges and the opportunities.

Three-dimensional (3D)printed skulls for neurosurgical training are increasingly being used due to the widespread access to 3D printing technology, their low cost and accuracy, as well as limitations and ethical concerns associated with using human cadavers. However, little is known about the risks of airborne particles or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released while drilling into 3D-printed plastic models. The aim of this study is to assess the level of exposure to airborne contaminants while burr hole drilling.

3D-printed skull samples were produced using three different materials (polyethylene terephthalate glycol [PETG], white resin and Bone^STN) across three different 3D print processes (fused filament fabrication, stereolithography [SLA] and material jetting). A neurosurgeon performed extended burr hole drilling for 10 min on each sample. Spot measurements of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) were recorded, and air samples were analysed for approximately 90 VOCs.

The particulate matter for PETG was found to be below the threshold value for respirable particles. However, the particulate matter for white resin and Bone^STN was found to be above the threshold value at PM10, which could be harmful for long periods of exposure without personal protective equipment (PPE). The VOC measurements for all materials were found to be below safety thresholds, and therefore not harmful.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the safety of 3D-printed materials for burr hole surgical drilling. It recommends PETG as a safe material requiring minimal respiratory control measures, whereas resin-based materials will require safety controls to deal with airborne particles.