Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Understanding Search Engines to Improve Your Searches

A larger number of physicians are now relying on Google to help them find information sources to help them diagnose or treat their most difficult cases. In this article we explain how to make online searches more effective by writing better search queried, thus reducing the time it will take to find articles, information sources and websites relevant to what you are looking for.

Firstly let’s understand what a search engine is and how it works. A search engine is a system that searches the Internet. Search Engines help users sort through the huge amounts of information on the Internet to find what they are looking for. A user type-in words or phrases also called a “search query”, and the search engine looks for those words or phrases in Web sites and returns a listing of links to relevant pages as a result.

One of the challenges which most people face when using search engines is that a large number of results in response to a search query are unrelated to what the user is intending to research. There are, however, some ways to make searching more effective.

Try to meet the search engine halfway by refining your search before you begin.

It is important before starting a search to spare a thought in your mind over what sort of information you want. Split your search topic into key concepts and let each be a search phrase. Enter the smallest possible subset that describes what you want. The words you choose will determine the information you find. Try to use words that are specific and describe what you are looking for in unique ways.

Example: If you want to find articles on “Acute Pain in the Chest “, don't enter the keyword "articles". See what more can you do with the keyword "Pain in Chest." 

A search for Articles on Acute Pain in the Chest can be carried out using the search phrase:
“Articles on Acute Pain in the Chest”

But the following search result will actually turn out to be better
“Acute Pain in the Chest”

Anticipate the answers

Before searching, try to imagine what the ideal page you would like to access would look like. Think about the words the articles heading would contain. Think about what words which would be contained in the first couple of sentences of the article that you would consider useful. Use those words, or that phrase, when you enter your query.

Keeping this in mind, if you can rewrite the previously entered search query to something which contains a part of the what the final page would contain, you are bound to get even more accurate and thus more meaningful results. 

A medical article on such a topic must contain the words cardiac, heart.
So refine your query still, search for Articles on Acute Pain in the Chest, using the search phrase:
Acute Pain in the Chest cardiac heart

Tip: Adding some words which should be expected to be found in the ideal content to your search phrase will help the search engine provide more relevant results.

Use the available search refining options

Search engines in addition to basic keyword searches allow you to refine your searches using advanced techniques.
These techniques are actually quite simple. Let us look at these below

USING BOOLEAN OPERATORS

Search engines allow the use of Boolean Operators to refine a search. Here the search Query is made up of keywords connected by OR, AND or NOT. You can search more effectively by using these connecting words which are supported but most online databases and search engines.

Using AND will retrieve all records containing both words on either side of AND
E.g Diabetes AND Naturopathy
This will retrieve all records containing the words Diabetes and also the word Naturopathy

Using OR will retrieve all records containing either or both words on either side of OR
Cancer OR Malignancy
This will retrieve all records containing the words Cancer and also the records containing the word Malignancy

Using NOT will retrieve all records containing the left word/phrase and Not containing the words/phrase on the right side of NOT
For e.g. If you want to find out about Alzheimer's care and community resources, you want to filter out the results which will come for Alzheimer's and be about the symptoms and prognosis. To obtain results only pertaining to support and community groups and not detailing the symptom the search query can read
"Alzheimer's" AND "support groups" AND "resources" AND NOT "symptoms."

IMPLIED BOOLEAN

In many search engines, the plus and minus symbols can be used as alternatives to full Boolean AND and AND NOT. The plus sign (+) is the equivalent of AND, and the minus sign (-) is the equivalent of AND NOT. There is no space between the plus or minus sign and the keyword.

For e.g.
If a specific term must exist in your search result, use the + symbol before the term in your search query
+ Doctors + Chicago
This will return all links with both Doctors and Chicago on the page.

If you want to exclude a term from your search results use the – symbol before the term in your search query
+Doctors +USA –Chicago
This will return all links with Doctors and USA but not Chicago.

PHRASE SEARCHING

Phrase searching is a powerful search technique for significantly narrowing your search results. If you want to perform a more specific search place quotation marks around it and search the phrase instead of the individual words. This tells the search engine to only retrieve documents in which those words appear side-by-side.

For e.g.: If we are searching for nursing schools in chicago and we use the search query
“Chicago nursing schools”
This will retrieve pages with the words in the exact order as specified within the double quotes.

FILETYPE SEARCH

File type searches empower you to search for information in the file formats that you desire. In case you are looking for powerpoint presentations on DNA Sequencing, the following search query will narrow the searches down to the ones which are available as power point presentations
filetype:ppt +DNA +Sequencing

URL SEARCH

The Url search limits the results to pages where the keyword appears in the website address. A Url search can narrow very broad results to web pages devoted to the keyword topic.
For e.g. Searching for asthama related pages from the Medlineplus database can be carried out as follows
url:"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/" AND asthama

WILDCARDS
Wildcards such as * which refer to anything can be used to add flexibility to searches.
For e.g in case the search query is
(hiv or aids) and pregnan*
The search engine will Use the * to mean anything . Thus the results will contain both tose links which contain the keyword pregnant as well as those links which contain the keyword pregnancy

Take advantage of “Find Similar Sites”

A useful option that many search engine sites are now offering is that one can "find similar sites," to the ones that come up in a search result listing. Essentially what the search engine is offering is a way to help the search engine move in the right direction.

Summarizing:

  • Try to meet the search engine halfway by refining your search before you begin.
  • Adding some words which should be expected to be found in the ideal content to your search phrase will help the search engine provide more relevant results.
  • Use the available search refining options.
  • Use Boolean Searches
  • Use Phrases to create more specific search queries
  • Use Wildcards to add flexibility to your searches
  • Use File type searches to narrow your search to the file formats that you desire
  • Use Unique Terms When Possible to Retrieve More Specific Results
  • Take advantage of “Find Similar Sites”



Searching Online for Health Information

Many Physicians nowadays are relying on Google to help them find information sources which help them diagnose or treat their most difficult cases. Its no surprise then that a large number of physicians feel that regularly accessing the Internet has helped improve their practice as well as patient care.

A study by Google released in November 2009, found that 86% of physicians use the Internet to gather health, medical or prescription drug information, and 71% said they start with a search engine. It further showed that 57% use search terms related to conditions, 36% use terms related to treatments and trials, and 33% look for branded medication.

A more recent survey by Wolters Kluwer Health found that two-thirds of physicians use Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo to look for information related to the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

In this article we look at ways to locate Quality Health Information Online. We will look at the popular search engines and then list popular sites catering to different categories of Health Information.  

Search Engines:

A search engine is a system that searches the Web. Search Engines help users sort through the huge amounts of information on the Web to find what they are looking for. Users type-in words or phrases, and the search engine looks for those words or phrases in Web sites.
A broad search engine is not recommended to locate health information, but it is helpful to find specific websites which contain quality health information. Also, google and other search engines serve as a great starting point in case you forget the URL of a previously visited website.
  1. Google  http://www.google.com/
  2. Bing http://www.bing.com
  3. Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com
  4. Search within HonCode Certified Websites: http://www.hon.ch/HONsearch/Pro/hunt.html
Patient Health Information Sites:

Searching medical literature is important to get information on clinical terms, symptoms and treatment options. Patients frequently use websites to locate health information. This is a cause of concern for many physicians as a misinformed patient may end up being their biggest woe. 

As such it is important that physicians guide them in the direction of Websites with High quality and authentic information.  Here is a small list of such websites.
  1. MedlinePlus http://medlineplus.gov/
  2. Merck Manual: Home Edition for Patients http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/index.html
  3. Merck Manual: Online Medical Library for Professionals http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/index.html
  4. MedicineNet http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp
  5. Mayo Clinic http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/
  6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/
Sites Specifically tailored to Medical Students
  1. Student Doctor Network: http://studentdoctor.net/
  2. E-Meducation http://www.e-meducation.org/
Sites which explain Medical Terms:
  1. MedTerms: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/hp.asp
  2. MedicalLexicon : http://www.medilexicon.com/

Websites which provide Information related to Medications:

The following websites contain information about  prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines which includes side effects, common dosages, drug-drug interactions, special precautions and more.
  1. MedlinePlus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html
  2. DailyMed http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/
  3. Drugs.com http://www.drugs.com/
  4. FDA Index to Drug Safety Information http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm111085.htm
Medical Journals and Articles
  1. PubMed http://pubmed.gov/
  2. PubMed Central http://pubmedcentral.nih.gov
  3. Medscape http://www.medscape.com/
  4. MdLinx http://mdlinx.com/
  5. Free Medical Journals http://www.freemedicaljournals.com
  6. JAMA http://jama.ama-assn.org
  7. New England Journal of Medicine http://content.nejm.org
  8. BioMed Central http://www.biomedcentral.com
In the next article we will look at techniques to help search the web more effectively so as to get better and faster results. In case you feel there are websites which should be included in the lists above which I have missed out, please feel free to mention them in the comments below or connect with me (@nrip) via twitter.

Link to the next article: Understanding Search Engines to Improve Your Searches

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Technology and The Patient

True engagement comes about through two-way, mutually beneficial conversations.

Technology must look to create multiple ways to facilitate both formal and informal Patient- Doctor Communication. The telephone made a huge impact on the way we communicate, and so did email. Newer technologies must be used to offer ease of use, increase reach and lower costs. Many providers today communicate with their patients using skype, google chat and even facebook. Technologies must build on such success stories.

Doctor–Patient Communication will also benefit if technology vendors link Communication mechanisms to Provider Information Sources and Health Information Exchanges

-- Provide integrations of these mechanisms with clinical and diagnostic software(EMR's, EHR's , etc)
-- Emailing of schedules and reports to patients is a must.
-- Using SMS to send Medical alerts, reminders, and schedules
-- Go the extra distance and use Social Media to provide alerts and reminders to patients via Facebook Messages, Twitter DM's, etc

For years, patients have liked to work in groups, to support each other, to help themselves cope with illnesses which their near and dear ones don’t understand, to seek advice from others who have similar ailments. 

Bringing people together in collaborative dialogue to explore social conditions that are the major influences of health and illness generates deeper collective awareness and community-driven action.

Since Individuals don’t see their lives partitioned into an online and offline world, Online communities should be given as much value as offline ones. A variety of Online Communities must come up for connecting patients quickly and privately with others who share similar health experiences. A fantastic example of one such community is Patients Like Me

Technology today exists not only in the form of created online communities but also online community frameworks; These allow just about anyone with an idea for a group or community to set up an online network, full with video and audio chats, whiteboarding, discussion forums and groups and all the other good stuff.

This helps create an integrated digital ecosystem which simultaneously addresses both individual and social dimensions of health. In effect this

-- Allows Patients to engage with each other
-- Allows Providers to engage with this medium