{"636549":{"#nid":"636549","#data":{"type":"news","title":"C4G BLIS Update Improves Usability, Could Prove Useful in Fight Against Disease Outbreaks","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn update to a laboratory information system used in countries across Africa is improving usability and could prove critical in response to future disease outbreaks.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2010, a group of researchers at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E, the CDC, and Ministries of Health in several African countries launched an open-source laboratory management system as part of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ptc.gatech.edu\/computing-for-good-college-of-computing\u0022\u003ECollege of Computing\u0026rsquo;s Computing-for-Good\u003C\/a\u003E (C4G) initiative. Designed to be ultra-configurable to meet variable needs of labs across developing countries with minimal training for staff, it quickly grew to become one of C4G\u0026rsquo;s biggest success stories.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than 10 nations in sub-Saharan Africa adopted the program, called the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/blis.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EBasic Laboratory Information System\u003C\/a\u003E (BLIS), giving areas with little or poor internet connectivity an easy-to-use system for many who had minimal computing experience. These countries, which had over 1 million patients at the time, were using paper-based systems to manage information on disease spread, local illnesses, and much more. As information and communications technologies have expanded in the area, however, many labs gained a standardized reports system that could track prevalence rates of infections, slowing their spread.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut a lot can change in just 10 years. What was once designed for personal computing interfaces is now desired for a wide range of new platforms. Although laptops are still the device of choice for the majority of nurses \u0026ndash; 79.6 percent reported in a study of a Nigerian hospital -- smartphones and tablets have seen a steady increase. The coming years will include many more innovations that render even those obsolete.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs users in the global south aspire to embrace mobile computing in clinical settings, a flexible interface, adaptable to everchanging applications, is needed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEnter: \u003Cstrong\u003EJung Wook Park\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Cstrong\u003EAditi Shah\u003C\/strong\u003E, a Ph.D. student in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ic.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E (IC) and former master\u0026rsquo;s student in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/scs.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Computer Science\u003C\/a\u003E (SCS), respectively. Along with SCS Professor \u003Cstrong\u003ESantosh Vempala\u003C\/strong\u003E and IC Principal Research Scientist \u003Cstrong\u003ERosa Arriaga\u003C\/strong\u003E, Park and Shah published research updating the current interface of C4G BLIS\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir updates focused on a handful of key areas, primarily mobile support. A responsive user interface framework supporting various screen sizes and resolutions was developed and evaluated by real users at hospitals in Africa currently using BLIS.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey compared user experience with the current interface on desktops and smartphones with a proposed interface on both and found that there was a significant improvement on both the desktop and smartphone.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When you bring in a new system, they may feel uncomfortable with it,\u0026rdquo; Park said. \u0026ldquo;If we didn\u0026rsquo;t do a great job, you might get the same score or lower at the beginning. Over time, we saw improvements of 32 and 34 percent on desktops and smartphones.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShah, now at Microsoft, offered plenty of help in the development of the system, and her experience with a visual impairment allowed her to provide perspective on accessibility, as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe implications of this research extend far beyond ease of use for nurses, however. Park identified a growing problem across the globe in health care: communication. As the current pandemic can illustrate, viruses and diseases can spread quickly across many different populations. It isn\u0026rsquo;t sufficient to have just local data to mount an appropriate response; teams around the world must be able to rapidly share information.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA system like C4G BLIS, with its improved user interface that can be used across multiple platforms depending on the local needs of various communities, can help that communication.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you notice something locally and maybe other areas of the country or continent notice something, how do you know if it is a pandemic?\u0026rdquo; Park posed. \u0026ldquo;You need to be able to share that information to manage the spread. By turning these local systems into a standardized cloud-based system, we can improve communication.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlready, Vempala said, he has heard reports from many labs that have adapted the flexible system to keep track of COVID-19 data in their communities.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe paper is titled \u003Cem\u003ERedesigning a Basic Laboratory Information System for the Global South\u003C\/em\u003E, and was presented at the International Telecommunication Union Kaleidoscope conference, earning a Best Paper award.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A system that has helped bring digital record keeping to hospitals across Africa has received a needed update for new platforms like smartphones and tablets."}],"uid":"33939","created_gmt":"2020-06-25 20:22:10","changed_gmt":"2020-06-25 20:22:10","author":"David Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-06-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-06-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"636548":{"id":"636548","type":"image","title":"Jung Wook Park and Aditi Shah","body":null,"created":"1593116182","gmt_created":"2020-06-25 20:16:22","changed":"1593116182","gmt_changed":"2020-06-25 20:16:22","alt":"Jung Wook Park and Aditi Shah","file":{"fid":"242182","name":"Shah and Park Image.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Shah%20and%20Park%20Image.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Shah%20and%20Park%20Image.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1093782,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Shah%20and%20Park%20Image.png?itok=qfxEI99m"}}},"media_ids":["636548"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1299","name":"GVU Center"},{"id":"431631","name":"OMS"},{"id":"50875","name":"School of Computer Science"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"184890","name":"cc-research; ic-hcc"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDavid Mitchell\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:david.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edavid.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}