Research Interests
- Human-centered design of novel visualizations of healthcare data
- Data-driven methods for identification of patients for specific treatment interventions
- Creation of decision support and education apps for medical decision making
- Communication of quantitative information in healthcare settings
Impact
Dr. Pete Wegier is the Humber River Hospital Research Chair in Optimizing Care Through Technology. He leads a number of large-scale digital healthcare implementation projects across Ontario.
HOMR
Dr. Wegier co-leads HOMR, a project to improve the early identification of patients who would benefit from a palliative approach to care. HOMR is an accurate, reliable, and automated mortality prediction tool that identifies admitted patients at elevated risk of death in the coming 12 months and prompts clinicians to assess and address their unmet palliative needs. HOMR has been implemented at a number of Ontario hospitals and found to be both feasible and acceptable, and its introduction was associated with an increased incidence of early GOC discussions and PC consultation. It is currently being implemented in over a dozen hospitals across the province.
Patient decision aids
Dr. Wegier has developed a novel way to communicate probabilistic information to patients through simulated experiences. ARISE (Aiding Risk Information learning through Simulated Experience) allows patients to repeatedly experience simulated outcomes, based on known statistical distributions of possible outcomes, using a simple visual web app. Initial research investigated found ARISE could help individuals better understand the accuracy of screening tests, producing more accurate understanding of statistical information than any compared method.
Clinical decision support systems
Working with a team of physicians, psychologists, engineers, and usability experts, Dr. Wegier has developed a data visualization display for shared decision making for physicians and their hypertensive patients. Research has identified the predictive value of home blood pressure (BP) measurements; however, raw numerical data is difficult to interpret and may lead to information overload. Visualization of home BP data is the solution, but current electronic health record systems do not have adequate capabilities for informative visualizations. Dr. Wegier co-led the design of a medication timeline to help physicians better understand all the medications a patient is currently taking, as well as research into how patients perceive hypertensive control when BP data is visualized.
Other Affiliations
Research Chair in Optimizing Care Through Technology, Humber River Hospital