Authors:
Charulata Ramaprasad
1
and
Arkalgud Ramaprasad
2
Affiliations:
1
University of Chicago, United States
;
2
University of Illinois at Chicago, United States
Keyword(s):
Noncompliance, Semiotics, Medical Errors, Electronic Medical Records.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Biomedical Engineering
;
Cardiovascular Technologies
;
Cognitive Informatics
;
Computing and Telecommunications in Cardiology
;
Data Engineering
;
Design and Development Methodologies for Healthcare IT
;
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Health Engineering and Technology Applications
;
Health Information Systems
;
Information Systems Analysis and Specification
;
Knowledge Management
;
Medical and Nursing Informatics
;
Ontologies and the Semantic Web
;
Society, e-Business and e-Government
;
Support for Clinical Decision-Making
;
Web Information Systems and Technologies
Abstract:
‘Noncompliant’ (NC) patient is a common label in medical records. While it encapsulates many dimensions of undesired patient behavior, the semiotics by which it is generated and applied is unclear: What data indicate noncompliance? How are the data analyzed and interpreted to label a patient as noncompliant? How does the label frame the physician’s thinking? How does it affect the physician’s diagnosis, treatment, instructions and actions? How does it affect medical outcomes? This lack of semiotic clarity can result in medical errors. We provide a framework (a) for conceptualizing the semiotics of NC, and (b) to understand the sources of potential medical errors. We illustrate the framework with a case study. The framework can be used to manage noncompliance effectively and reduce medical errors, especially with EMRs.