The five Ws for information visualization with application to healthcare informatics

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Informatics
• Data Visualization
• Medical Record Systems

Background:

• Journalistic 'Five Ws' (Who, What, When, Where, Why) framework is effective for information gathering.
• Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) contain vast patient data that can be challenging to access efficiently.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a visual information display framework representing the 'Five Ws' for healthcare informatics.
• To enhance the usability of information within Electronic Medical Records (EMRs).
• To reduce the time and effort required for physicians to access patient information for diagnostic conclusions.

Main Methods:

• Developed a system using cooperating visual information displays to represent the 'Five Ws'.
• Visualized the patient using a radial sunburst integrated with a stylized body map for health conditions.
• Represented the 'when, what, why' as an interactive, multistage flowchart (date, symptom, data, diagnosis, treatment, outcome).

Main Results:

• The framework successfully represents patient information using visual displays.
• Demonstrated improved access to medical patient information through multiple examples.
• Significantly lowered the time and effort needed to access information for diagnostic conclusions.

Conclusions:

• The proposed visual framework enhances EMR usability by organizing complex patient data.
• This approach facilitates quicker and more efficient access to critical medical information for physicians.
• The system shows potential to improve diagnostic efficiency and patient care outcomes.