The ninth biennial Omaha System International Conference was held in Eagan, MN on April 21 and 22, 2017. Participants from many countries and disciplines representing a continuum of users from novice to expert engaged in lively conversations about new developments in Omaha System applications in practice, education, software development, and research. A highlight of the event was the opportunity to begin the process of examining terms and definitions for a revision of the Omaha System terminology that will be published in the forthcoming third edition of the Omaha System book. There were 23 posters that exemplified the global community's investment in Omaha System learning and excellence from the perspectives of practice, education, and research. The conference received excellent reviews. Constructive feedback from participants will guide planning for the 2019 conference.
The host school for this year's conference was the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS) Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing & Health Sciences. Dr. Barbara Joyce from UCCS shared novel efforts to examine community data through innovative partnership with the Colorado Springs Park and Recreation Department as well as UCCS nursing students working to improve population health at the community level. Fellow keynoters included Scott Randall (Champ Software, North Mankato, MN) who shared IT security challenges for health care and personal privacy, and Adriana Galvan (Guadalupe Alternative Programs, St Paul, MN) who shared the consumer perspective.
As part of her presentation, Galvan emphasized the importance of information management in healthcare, especially for consumers who may have limited health literacy. She described the use of the Omaha System for consumers and the "MyStrengths MyHealth" app (copyrighted and publicly available) based on a draft version of the Omaha System for consumers in English and Spanish. The app allows anyone (aged 18 or older) to document a problem-specific health snapshot based on the Omaha System's four domains and 42 problems. This app is novel in that it includes strengths as well as challenges and needs, and thus provides a comprehensive holistic perspective on health. The Omaha System data gathered from use of the app is standardized in alignment with the 2005 Omaha System terms, and may be incorporated within electronic platforms for improved communication in health care settings and beyond.
Three awards were presented for Excellence in Omaha System Practice, Education, and Research as follow: to Gail Peterson, RN, BSN, Public Health Nurse, Polk County Health Department, Balsam Lake, Wisconsin, USA (Practice); to Madeleine Kerr, PhD, RN, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Education); and to Frances F. K. Wong PhD, RN, FAAN, FHKAN, Associate Dean, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, Professor, School of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong (Research). Their combined expertise, experience, and passion for the Omaha System are awe inspiring, and the awards were much deserved.
Educators Barbara Joyce and Mary Reynolds-Keegan described incorporating the Omaha System within courses and assignments in order to assist students to grasp the important fundamental informatics competencies exemplified by the Omaha System's sound taxonomic principles. This theme was echoed by Kari Miller from Optum (Eden Prairie, MN), who encouraged participants as she described how applying the sound principles of the Omaha System within the iCue platform has improved care management and reduced documentation time. "My nurses tell me they feel like nurses again," enthused Miller. In addition, Nicole Brown described a statewide initiative for children with special healthcare needs incorporating the Omaha System into state health department data and evaluation processes. Rhonda Perrin Oakes discussed using the Omaha System in hospice and palliative care documentation in alignment with rules and regulations, while Trisha Smith provided a view from the state of Kansas. Such diverse applications were exemplars of major advances in use of the Omaha System across jurisdictions and settings.
Some of the most exciting developments in use of the Omaha System are happening in countries such as the Netherlands, where approximately 20,000 nurses are now using the Omaha System. Jennie Mast and colleagues from the Netherlands led participants in a rousing chorus of "Oma, Omaha" - a song that was composed and sung at the 2016 Dutch congress in celebration of using the Omaha System to improve health and health care. The excitement of global adoption in Asian countries was shared by attendees Taiki Iwamoto from Japan, and Frances Wang for China and Hong Kong. Likewise, Kay Poulsen from New Zealand shared that enthusiasm for the Omaha System continues for Maori and Pakeha alike, with conversations across the islands extending toward use of the Omaha System in numerous settings. Greetings were extended to the conference by Merve Altiner Yas of Turkey, where the Omaha System has been published in a new book by Secginli and colleagues, and from Igor Nestrasil of the Czech Republic where faculty and students are extending the work of using the Omaha System in community settings.
In conjunction with the conference, the Omaha System Partnership Business Meeting was held, and awards were presented to Diane R. Thorson, MS, RN, PHN, Otter Tail County Public Health (Community Research Partner), Kathryn H. Bowles, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, University of Pennsylvania (Senior Methodologist); Melissa Horning, PhD, RN (Early Career Methodologist); Grace Gao DNP, RN, (Student Methodolgist - PhD); Sasank Maganti, B-Tech (Student Methodologist - MS); and Emily Lawrence, Taylor Maki, Ryan Schneider, Annika Stromme, and Elizabeth Weirich (Student Methodologists - Bachelor's). This unique practice-based research network is a collaborative effort that welcomes new members from practice, education, research, and software.
Using Omaha System data to discover meaningful new knowledge to improve health was a major theme of the conference. Nicola Marsden-Haug, epidemiologist from Kitsap County, Washington, provided exemplars of using county data generated by public health nurses for population health assessments and reports. The Omaha System Partnership provided a panel of data-users who shared innovative use of data to learn and transform information to knowledge and wisdom. Katie Stanton described using the Omaha System in Epic during a student-run community clinic. Kristin Erickson described using community level data to show outcomes of obesity interventions. Jeanna Holt described student-led data analysis across a continuum of student programs and research interests. Melissa Horning described partnering with public health nurses to understand their nutrition interventions and outcomes of public health nursing services. Eliezer Bose described using novel data mining techniques to reduce the documentation burden for nurses. The panel encouraged everyone to become more involved in using data to improve health care quality and population health. This theme was underscored by participants who were eager to connect with the partnership for methodological support in use of their data.
In reflecting on the past 16 years since the first Omaha System International Conference, Martin shared thoughts of gratitude for the many amazing and transformational changes that have taken place since the first Omaha System International Conference in 2001. "I never would have dreamed these developments," she said, and continued with a challenge to participants to engage with new colleagues, use data, and keep envisioning the next steps for health care transformation using the Omaha System. Martin and chapter authors Bowles, Erickson, Holt, Kerr, Monsen, Plemmons, and Sowers, together with volunteers from the Omaha System Community, will use feedback from conference participants as they embark upon the task of bringing the Omaha System terminology up to date for use by multidisciplinary health care professionals as well as consumers. Interested persons who wish to volunteer to participate in this process or to submit comments regarding terms and definitions may contact the authors.