davidrothman.net

MedLib Blog Badge at Info.RxCases

Info.RxCases is a “companion to a new health information service that is being offered to patients and their families at the Herzl Family Practise Centre in Montreal, Quebec.”

Blogger Francesca Frati (previously mentioned here) writes:

The Patient health Information Service at Herzl (H-PHIS) opened its doors in early July of this year (2007) and is in the early developmental stages. The challenges faced by myself (the service’s coordinator), the staff, and the health care team at the HFPC are many and varied, as is to be expected when implementing a new and innovative service.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the InfoRx model is the presence and participation of the information professional/librarian at point of care. This new and multidisciplinary approach presents a distinctive challenge. Health and support staff are not always clear on what knowledge and skills a librarian brings to the team. Conversely, I must be able to recognize and adapt to the needs and character of the community and of the setting itself.

This blog was created in response to some very astute and constructive criticism. After presenting to the residents at their weekly rounds, I was approached by one of the partners at the clinic who suggested that rather than introducing myself and the service and then explaining how to use it, it would have been more effective to present some cases illustrating what the service has to offer to the residents and to their patients. I see this as a perfect example of the kind of disconnect that can happen when two very different professions come together. In essence I had presented the way I would have to my own professional colleagues, but this was not the most appropriate approach given my audience.

After giving it some thought it occurred to me that it could be useful, both for myself and the rest of the team, for me to present a weekly case here, and talk about some of the challenges we are faced with and how these might best be resolved. Hopefully this will introduce some transparency to the InfoRx process.

This is meant to serve as a record of, and forum for discussion about, our challenges and successes. It is hopefully also an opportunity for other information professionals to be inspired by one example of what can be accomplished outside of the library setting.

Such a great idea.

Why is David always on about this badgey stuff? Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!

Previously, I’ve noted the following blogs that display the MedLib Blog badge in their sidebars:

These blogs are:

about medical / health / health sciences / biomedical librarianship;
written by (a) medical librarian(s) or medical library paraprofessional(s);
maintained by a medical library; or
maintained by professional association of medical librarians and/or medical library paraprofessionals.

Hey! My blog has the MedLib Blog badge and you haven’t featured it here!

Sorry! I do try for omniscience, but frequently fall short of this goal. If I’ve missed the badge on your blog or if you’ve just added it, please let me know so I can link to it from here.

Why would I want to add the badge to my blog?

The badge links back to the masterlist of MedLib blogs to indicate the blog’s membership in the growing community (and sense of community) of MedLib blogs(/bloggers). (This should serve also as a reminder to add your blog to this masterlist, if appropriate.)