From a process perspective, the traditional “big bang” CPOE implementation is a big bear. CPOE deployments historically have taken a lot of time, staff and financial resources. Much of this has been driven by system requirements for practice standardization, as well as highly complex system builds and configurations, including creation of an order catalog and order sets. In a “big bang”, the en...

The web is big. Really big. This is good because the Web now encompasses the entire history, culture, science, and achievements of the human race, not to mention JPEGs of every romantically eligible member of that race under the age of 35. This is bad because it is now too big to find anything. The ‘Hitch-Hikers Guide to Google’ is a collection of patterns that will be your guide through the In...

In the Showtime TV series “The Big C,” the main character is diagnosed with a deadly cancer—the “Big C.” In response, this suburban housewife suddenly takes out-of-character, impulsive actions—from buying a bright red sports car to putting a large pool in her tiny backyard to having an affair with a painter. She denies the severity of her disease and undergoes alternative treatment (such as bei...

The story of hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy is about to add one of its biggest chapters. From the serendipitous beginnings in the 1980s when investigators noted that interferon improves liver enzymes in non-A, non-B hepatitis, to the discovery and naming of the hepatitis virus, to the addition of ribavirin, to the pegylation of interferon, and now to the first direct-acting antivirals (DAA), t...

BACKGROUND Evidence for the value of pharmacists' interventions in the care of patients is strong and continues to grow, but the rate at which these new practice opportunities are being integrated into daily practice has not kept pace. The knowledge translation literature suggests that before effective change strategies can be implemented, a better understanding of the current environment must ...

Big Data is characterized not only by the enormous volume or the velocity of its generation, but also by the heterogeneity, diversity, and complexity of the data. —Suzi Iacono, US Interagency Big Data Senior Steering Group W hile 2012 saw Big Data entering American business and popular culture,1,2 the phenomenon was definitively not news to the scientific community nor to CiSE readers. For year...

Clearly, the excitement about Big Data is justified. The body of research — both academic and commercial — showing the benefits and competitive advantage of the data-driven culture has continued to grow in recent years. But the hype surrounding Big Data must also be balanced with pragmatic advice for organizations struggling in the fast-changing environment of more technology choices, budget co...

In popular books about science these days, big theories about Big Questions are everywhere. A scan through the science shelves of your local bookshop will produce titles such as “The Origins of Order”, “Dreams of a Final Theory”, “Consciousness Explained”, and many more, describing unifying theories about elementary particles, evolution, life, mind, and culture. Is the time now ripe for the div...

I n 2012, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) teamed up with the de Beaumont Foundation to cofund the Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC), which now comprises 20 city and county health departments across the country, including in the 10 largest metropolitan areas. Two additional large metropolitan health departments were invited to join the BCHC in 2014. Together, these 20 health departmen...