Applied Health Informatics Program Projects

To remove the barriers related to time and expense involved in creating online asynchronous content, Profs. Hants Williams and Rajiv Lajmi were recently awarded an Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG) from SUNY to create the Cloud LeArning Studio, or CLAS. CLAS is a new, innovative platform that utilizes deep learning AI technology to create life-like, digital avatars of content creators (e.g., course educators) to create digital-first, educational content.

AvoMD improves clinical decision-making by digitizing and optimizing the latest clinical evidence for point-of-care usage and adoption. Two teams of AHI students participated in AvoMD's hackathon in October 2023. Both teams used AvoMD's AvoBuilder no-code/low-code tool to create potential provider-workflow solutions. The first team created a general discharge checklist designed to assist healthcare providers in discharging post-op patients, and won the hackathon! The second team created a pulmonary complication outpatient support system.

The National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT) is a nonprofit organization that engages underserved populations in the development and use of health information technology to support and sustain health equity and economic viability. AHI students worked with NHIT, Tyler Technologies, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and a diverse group of “storytellers” to develop the NHIT Data Fusion Center, a public-private initiative to translate social determinants of health data into actionable community stories for local governmental, civic and educational leaders.

Parsley Health is a care delivery company that leverages technology and a holistic approach to medicine to get the full picture of a patients' health to prescribe a plan for long-term healing. AHI students work with Parsley Health on a variety of projects and business-related activities ranging from clinical research, EMR-related enhancements, to workflow and outcome optimization.

Yosi Health helps healthcare organizations streamline the patient check-in process, minimize in-person contact, and maximize practice revenue. AHI students work with Yosi Health on product enhancement and client KPIs related to the utilization of its services, across a diverse set of healthcare organizations to decrease no-shows, missed appointments, and time to complete initial on-boarding and general administrate work.

Led by Professor Rajiv Lajmi, the Long Island Digital Inclusion Coalition is a collaborative group of Long Island community organizations, libraries, government entities, education institutions and businesses focused on addressing the three “pillars” of the digital divide – internet access, device access, and digital skills readiness – on Long Island. AHI students built a dashboard tool to display available digital literacy programs and resources across New York State.

Several AHI students participated in MIT's Engineering Health Equity Hackathon. Students developed solutions to address pervasive healthcare access and SDOH issues.

Teams of AHI students work with Dr. Hannah Mercier's rehabilitation research laboratory in the Department of Occupational Therapy on smartphone-based research activities related to community participation, social engagement, and health among individuals with neurological conditions. Students have helped Dr. Mercier to automate participant recruitment, enrollment and progress through the study.

AHI students also worked with Dr. Mercier on a smartphone-based research platform used to examine exercise, mood, and community participation among people with SCI (measured with HR monitors, exercise log cards, smartphone sensors, and ecological momentary assessment surveys) to analyze and produce data visualizations.

AHI students worked with various SLP teams to develop survey instrument, collect data, statistical analysis and data visualization/presentation. Posters were presented at the School of Health Professions’ Annual Research Day.

Projects included:

• Effect of stigma, self-perception and generation on a person’s likelihood of utilizing hearing aids;
• Job satisfaction of pediatric SLP practitioners in medical and educational settings;
• Parent motivations behind teaching “baby signs”;
• Exploring the impact of technologies and services available to deaf/hard of hearing students in mainstream schools;
• Investigating parents’ cultural beliefs related to seeking intervention services for their children; and
• Assessing the level of burnout syndrome affecting SLP practitioner mental health.

AHI students assessed the Stony Brook Trauma Center Falls Prevention Program's data management practices and developed a Python-based solution to automate and optimize operational and administrative tasks. AHI students and faculty also helped the program to develop a new website to create awareness about falls prevention among older adults.

AHI students created a survey instrument for a potential telehealth experience to assess seniors in underserved communities’ telehealth experiences and expectations in contributing to their overall health awareness.

AHI students created a mock EMR for DPT students to learn from clinical cases and gain hands-on experience. Mockup of clinical cases to be entered on sample patients in Cerner Powerchart.

Research and mock setup of student performance tracking process in Smartsheet to consolidate various student performance tools and data collection systems into a sustainable, faculty-friendly tracking system.

Under the supervision of Patricia Cooper, JD, RN, CHC, Chief Compliance Officer for Stony Brook Medicine, AHI students created a dashboard using Microsoft SharePoint® and Power BI® to track work plan items and projects undertaken by the department.

The Opening Word is a non-profit literacy, ESOL, and job readiness program on Long Island dedicated to providing immigrant non-English speaking women with the skills required to succeed in the workforce. AHI students assessed the organization's technology, network and back-office infrastructure at all three of their locations, and provided modernization recommendations.

With support from the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM), the “Connect 2 UR Health” wellness fair provided seniors in Southampton with interactive, age-specific and hands-on iPad training sessions on relevant health conditions to assist seniors to manage their health and increase health literacy. Licensed health providers from Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and students from the School of Health Professions organized and participated in the event.