<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong> Surveillance for surgical site infections (SSIs) after ambulatory surgery in children requires a detailed manual chart review to assess criteria defined by the National Health and Safety Network (NHSN). Electronic health records (EHRs) impose an inefficient search process where infection preventionists must manually review every postsurgical encounter (&lt; 30 days). Using text mining and business intelligence software, we developed an information foraging application, the SSI Workbench, to visually present which postsurgical encounters included SSI-related terms and synonyms, antibiotic, and culture orders.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong> This article compares the Workbench and EHR on four dimensions: (1) effectiveness, (2) efficiency, (3) workload, and (4) usability.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong> Comparative usability test of Workbench and EHR. Objective test metrics are time per case, encounters reviewed per case, time per encounter, and retrieval of information meeting NHSN definitions. Subjective measures are cognitive load using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Task Load Index (NASA TLX), and a questionnaire on system usability and utility.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong> Eight infection preventionists participated in the test. There was no difference in effectiveness as subjects retrieved information from all cases, using both systems, to meet the NHSN criteria. There was no difference in efficiency in time per case between the Workbench and EHR (8.58 vs. 7.39 minutes,  = 0.36). However, with the Workbench subjects opened fewer encounters per case (3.0 vs. 7.5,  = 0.002), spent more time per encounter (2.23 vs. 0.92 minutes,  = 0.002), rated the Workbench lower in cognitive load (NASA TLX, 24 vs. 33,  = 0.02), and significantly higher in measures of usability.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong> Compared with the EHR, the Workbench was more usable, short, and reduced cognitive load. In overall efficiency, the Workbench did not save time, but demonstrated a shift from between-encounter foraging to within-encounter foraging and was rated as significantly more efficient. Our results suggest that infection surveillance can be better supported by systems applying information foraging theory.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>To describe the use of digital images captured by parents or guardians and sent to clinicians for assessment of wounds after pediatric ambulatory surgery.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Subjects with digital images of post-operative wounds were identified as part of an on-going cohort study of infections after ambulatory surgery within a large pediatric healthcare system. We performed a structured review of the electronic health record (EHR) to determine how digital images were documented in the EHR and used in clinical care.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>We identified 166 patients whose parent or guardian reported sending a digital image of the wound to the clinician after surgery. A corresponding digital image was located in the EHR in only 121 of these encounters. A change in clinical management was documented in 20% of these encounters, including referral for in-person evaluation of the wound and antibiotic prescription.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Clinical teams have developed ad hoc workflows to use digital images to evaluate post-operative pediatric surgical patients. Because the use of digital images to support follow-up care after ambulatory surgery is likely to increase, it is important that high-quality images are captured and documented appropriately in the EHR to ensure privacy, security, and a high-level of care.</p>