Author Archives: Alexa Ortiz

About Alexa Ortiz

Alexa Ortiz graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Before receiving her graduate degree she was a practicing nurse for five years and has clinical experience in the field of both Cardiology and Neurology. In 2014 she received a Master of Science in Nursing specializing in nursing informatics from Duke University. Presently, she works as a Health IT Scientist at RTI International in the Center for Digital Health and Clinical Informatics. Despite no longer working in a clinical setting, she continues to maintain an active nurse license in the state of North Carolina. Her primary areas of research at RTI International focus on the clinical implementation of health information technology and the evaluation of consumer wearable devices.

The Power of Data – Takeaways from the 2021 All In National Meeting

By | December 10, 2021

“You can’t improve what you don’t measure” is a common phrase highlighting the importance and power of data. Indeed, the importance of data was the central theme of the 2021 All In National Meeting. In case you’re unfamiliar, the host of the national meeting is All In: Data for Community Health: a learning network of… Read More »

Tracking Community Benefit Spending

By | August 31, 2021

Nonprofit hospitals make up the majority of hospitals in the US. In exchange for their tax-exempt status, the federal government requires these hospitals to provide support in the form of community benefits.  Tracking community benefit spending and its impact is important to ensure that such spending aligns with community needs. Community benefit activities can include… Read More »

Telehealth in Jails and Prisons: Part 2

By | December 18, 2020

This is Part 2 of my interview with Saira Haque, PhD a telehealth expert and the Director of RTI’s Data Interoperability and Clinical Informatics program, and Nick Richardson, PhD a research analyst in RTI’s Applied Justice Research division. Part 1 is here. What are the benefits to using telehealth? Dr. Haque: As mentioned earlier, it… Read More »

Telehealth in Jails and Prisons: Part 1

By | December 21, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, telehealth is becoming increasingly ingrained within our healthcare system. This includes environments beyond the traditional office or hospital setting. With 2.3 million people currently residing in US jails or prisons, healthcare delivery to justice-involved individuals (JIIs) is an important component to consider. (Note: the term “justice-involved individual (JII)” refers to those… Read More »

Using Digital Technologies for COVID-19 Exposure Notification and Tracking

By | November 8, 2020

Our data says a lot about us – where we go, who we see, and what we do. And since our smartphones come with us everywhere, they are almost always collecting our data. To improve my understanding of how our data and devices can be used to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, I sat down with (over… Read More »

Health Equity: Lessons from AcademyHealth 2020

By | September 21, 2020

Health equity and the disparities within our health care system were the predominant themes at AcademyHealth’s 2020 Annual Research Meeting (ARM), which concluded on August 6th. As usual, health services researchers gathered to disseminate the latest evidence across a broad range of health care topics and discuss the most pressing issues in health services research… Read More »

COVID-19 & Violence Against Healthcare Workers

By | July 13, 2020

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, the pandemic has spotlighted the heroic efforts of our nation’s healthcare workers. Healthcare workers are providing much needed front-line patient care. However, in doing so, they also place themselves at risk of exposure to infectious disease, psychological distress, and burnout. But as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, another concern for… Read More »

Patient Matching: Fixing An Identity Problem in Our Medical Data

By | May 8, 2020

While working as a nurse, I remember one instance of caring for two patients who were twins. Along with the same birthday and the same last name, they both had very similar first names. The twins were roughly around the same height, the same weight, and also had the same hair color. At first glance… Read More »

How Secure is Your Health Data?

When was the last time you recall seeing your health information recorded on paper? Probably not recently.  As stressed in an earlier blog post, electronic health record (EHR) adoption is becoming commonplace for a majority of healthcare providers.  Your personal information that was once stored on stagnant paper records is now being captured in dynamic… Read More »

Unlocking the Potential of Our Electronic Health Record Data with Artificial Intelligence

By | September 26, 2019

Since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 incentivized the adoption and use of electronic health records (EHRs), EHRs have become ubiquitous in the health care industry.  Recent federal reports show about 84% adoption in hospitals and about 86% adoption in office-based practices. Patient information that was once captured on paper is now being regularly… Read More »

Vaping and E-Cigarettes: An Interview with Tobacco Researcher Jessica Pepper

By | April 3, 2019

Vaping and the use of e-cigarettes, especially among teenagers, has been in the news frequently in recent months. But what does the research-based evidence have to say about these new devices?  I sat down with Jessica Pepper, PhD, MPH, a top published author in the field of e-cigarette research, to learn more about the prevalence… Read More »

Finding Happiness As We Age

How happy are you? That’s a tricky question and there’s a lot that can impact your answer.  According to a 2016 article in The Economist, these include factors like your financial status, health, relationships and education.  One factor that might also have a big influence on your answer is your age.  As a society, we… Read More »

Social Media and our Mental Health

By | September 26, 2019

Do you use social media? If so, how many social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn) are you a member of? With about 40% of the world’s population already on some form of online social media, even if you don’t use it, you’ve probably heard of it.  Devoting several hours each day to… Read More »

Helping People with ASD Find the Right Information: Interview with Speech Pathologist Lauren Ross

By | December 4, 2018

If you have a question, how do you find the answer? Many of us do a quick Google search or search out the answer at a library.  However, people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families face many challenges and barriers when trying to locate information. A recent episode of the (highly recommended) podcast… Read More »

Point-Counterpoint: the Apple Watch’s ECG function

Welcome to Point-Counterpoint – the BLOG Edition! In this series — as in the series by the same name in the journal — authors stake out positions on current issues, highlighting the pros and cons. In this Point-Counterpoint, we discuss the new Apple Watch’s electrocardiogram (ECG) technology, launched with the Apple Watch Series 4. The… Read More »

Expressing Dissatisfaction with Health Care is Hard for Vulnerable Populations

By | September 27, 2018

Are you happy with your healthcare provider?  Most people are happy, even if they’re unhappy with the health care system as a whole.  But if you’re unhappy with your doctor or your care, how likely are you to say so or search out a new healthcare provider? Visiting your doctor can be intimidating; so much so,… Read More »

Who responds to health behavior change interventions and why?

The New York Times recently posted an article about the return on investment around public health interventions and how American life expectancy at birth increased by 30 years in the time from 1900 to 1999.  The article went on to stress that these additional years of life can largely be attributed to advances in public… Read More »

The Primary Care Workforce: A Brief Review

As the older population in the US continues to grow, simultaneously increasing the need for healthcare services and providers, patients these days might be more likely to see a physician assistant (PA) or a nurse practitioner (NP), as opposed to an physician (MD); but what’s the difference? Let’s start out with some key facts: how… Read More »

Should time management take a back seat to energy management?

Growing up we were encouraged to learn how to manage our time.  Many of us were told that time management was the key to successful careers, personal lives, and finding the balance between the two.  A cursory search online of time management brings you to a world of articles, blog posts, and books on time… Read More »

The Role of Crowdsourcing in Research

Crowdsourcing is defined as “a sourcing model in which individuals or organizations obtain goods and services, including ideas and finances, from a large, relatively open and often rapidly evolving group of internet users. Crowdsourcing spreads work among participants to achieve a cumulative result.”  Some well-known examples of crowdsourcing include the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the traffic… Read More »

Five principles for developing digital clinic-based, behavior-change health interventions

 In this post, we describe five principles that guided the development of Positive Health Check, a clinic-based digital health intervention for HIV-positive patients, aimed at making it acceptable and feasible in a clinic setting.

Is your activity tracker a medical device?

Activity tracker technology has come a long way.  The first Fitbit released in 2009 only measured movement, sleep, and calories burned.  In contrast, the Fitbit Ionic smartwatch released in 2017 has a much broader range of functions, including heart rate monitoring, personal coaching, and built-in GPS. Consequently, with this change in functionality comes a change in potential uses for… Read More »

What are compassion practices, and can they play a part in improving healthcare?

Working in the healthcare profession can be both physically and emotionally draining for anyone, no matter their role or job title. Over half of physicians in the US [PDF] experience symptoms of burnout, and studies estimate a large percentage of nurses experience emotional exhaustion and have a higher prevalence of depression when compared to other US workers.  Exhaustion… Read More »

The Aging Physician

There are some occupations where employees are mandated to receive age-based skills and cognitive testing. For example, the National Business Aviation Association has a mandatory retirement age of 65 for airline pilots. Additionally, firefighters, employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, air traffic controllers, and nuclear material couriers are all subject to age-based regulations. These agencies impose age-based… Read More »

Mobile Apps to Improve Medication Adherence

What do you use your cell phone for on a daily basis? Many people would say using social media, texting, and placing phone calls– but have you ever considered your smartphone as a tool to improve medication adherence?  Our phones are an integral part of our lives, and consequently, researchers, clinicians, and patients have all… Read More »

How Accurate is Your Activity Tracker?

By | June 7, 2017

The functionality and popularity of consumer-grade activity trackers (such as Fitbit) appear to be ever-increasing.  If you don’t personally own one, you probably know at least one or two people who do.  In an online survey of 1,000 respondents [PDF], conducted in 2016 by PwC, 45% owned a fitness band, with “Health” being the primary… Read More »

The Impact of Social Media in Healthcare

What’s the first thing you do when you get sick? For many people, a cursory search through various online resources is the initial step in gathering information toward obtaining a diagnosis.  The internet places an infinite number of health-related resources at our fingertips, many of which are consumed through social media. Presently, 74% of US… Read More »

Empathy: What We’re Lacking in End of Life Care

The population of the U.S is progressively becoming older; however, healthy aging is no longer an oxymoron.  The availability of preventative medicine and health promotion programs have extended how long people can live healthy lives without chronic disability. Those aged 65 and over are projected to reach 83.7 million by 2050 [PDF].  While modern medicine has become… Read More »

Continuity of Care vs. Nurse Shift Length

By | December 28, 2016

If you have ever been in a hospital, you are probably familiar with what seems like a continuously revolving door of staff members providing care.  With nurses making up the largest occupation in healthcare and the largest segment of hospital staff, continuity of nursing care for hospitalized patients is an important factor in the delivery of quality healthcare.… Read More »

Confusing the Confused: The impact of lacking professional interpretation services

By | November 23, 2016

Being hospitalized with a serious medical condition, surrounded by strange equipment, and listening to medical jargon you’ve never heard before is an intimidating situation for anyone. Compounding the uncertainty and stress of the situation would be not understanding the primary language spoken by your providers, not being able to read your procedure consents, and knowing… Read More »

Could Pokémon Go be your new fitness tracker?

By | September 19, 2016

Do you play Pokémon Go? Well if you don’t, I’m sure you know at least 2-3 other people who do.  Although I hadn’t ever played the game before writing this post, I can safely think of about 4 friends who have invested a significant amount of time and energy into their Pokémon collection thus far. If… Read More »

How do Medical Errors Affect Healthcare Professionals?

By | August 15, 2016

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine released a report called To Err is Human. This report estimated that 44,000 to 98,000 hospitalized patients die each year as a result of preventable medical errors. But how do medical errors affect healthcare workers? A recent article by Van Gerven and colleagues, published ahead of print in Medical Care, addresses that… Read More »

Autism and iPads: An Interview with Speech Language Pathologist Lauren Ross

By | July 14, 2016

In 2014 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that one in every 68 children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Consequently, there is a lot of discussion regarding potential causes of autism. However, for this post, I wanted to move away from this more commonly discussed topic and focus instead on how assistive technology (specifically iPads) are being… Read More »

Why aren’t you wearing your Fitbit?

By | June 9, 2016

Nobody can deny that the market for consumer wearable devices (such as Fitbit and Jawbone) is booming.  In 2015, a research firm estimated the number of activity trackers sold in the US to be over 13 million. Personally, I followed the fitness tracker trend and bought a Fitbit for both my husband and father as… Read More »

The Impact of Gasoline Costs on the Healthcare Industry

By | June 9, 2016

The higher the cost of gasoline, the higher the healthcare costs for the treatment of injuries caused by motorcycle crashes. In an article published ahead of print in Medical Care this week, He Zhu and colleagues discuss the association between gas prices in the United States, hospital costs, and utilization for both motorcycle and non-motorcycle related injuries. Remember… Read More »

What might be hindering patient portal usage?

By | June 9, 2016

Personally, I find patient portals to be convenient. It’s an easy way to send healthcare-related questions to my provider such as, “does this medication have any side effects?” or, “can you please refill my prescription?”  I perceive the primary benefit as not having to schedule an appointment or wait on hold for 15 minutes to… Read More »