Summaries of Independent Scientist (K) Awards

Porter, Stephen

Institution: Children's Hospital Boston
Grant Title: Informative Technology: Linking Parents and Providers
Grant Number: K08 HS011660
Duration: 4 years (2002-2006)
Total Award: $621,000

Project Description: This project has two main goals:

1. To develop and test an electronic interface based on user-perceived quality and the capture of valid data for asthma-specific history.
2. To present parent-derived information to providers in the context of current evidence-based guidelines and assess the effects of this electronically-supported collaboration on parents' reports of satisfaction and process measures of quality.

Career Goals: Dr. Porter is a Pediatric Emergency Medicine subspecialist committed to a career in clinical research emphasizing patient-centered quality improvement and collaborative information management between parents and pediatric providers. His career goals include the development and evaluation of informatics-based data management and decision support tools that link parent-derived information directly to the care process. He will pursue three core topic areas essential to his becoming an independent investigator:

• Quality improvement.
• Technology.
• Health communication.

Progress to Date: Dr. Porter's research produced an asthma kiosk—a multimedia bilingual interface that prompts parents to provide valid, detailed and relevant stream of health information directly to clinical providers during asthma care in the emergency room (ER). Dr. Porter was promoted to Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Additional, he completed his Masters degree in Human Factors and Information Design.

Future Plans: Dr. Porter successfully applied for R01 funding under Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funded health information technology (Health IT) value grants. His R01 work, entitled PARENTLINK—Better and Safer Emergency Care for Children, extends the work begun during his period of K08 support that focused on asthma to include the disease conditions of head injury, otitis media and urinary tract infections—all common pediatric conditions with a robust evidence base to guide decisionmaking.  The PARENTLINK project addresses how patient-centered health information technology may bridge gaps in data quality that lead to errors and poor quality of care.

Highlights and Specific Accomplishments:

• Professional Societies:
  • American Academy of Pediatrics.
  • Ambulatory Pediatric Association.
  • American Medical Informatics Association.

K-Generated Publications:

• Porter SC, Cai Z, Gribbons W, et al. The Asthma Kiosk: A Patient-Centered Technology for Collaborative Decision Support in the Emergency Department. JAMA 2004;11:458-67.
• Porter SC, Kohane IS, Goldmann DA. Parents as Partners in Obtaining the Medication History. JAMA 2005;12:299-305.

AHRQ Research Portfolio: Informatics; Quality and Patient Safety; Training.
AHRQ Goals: Safety and Quality

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