Value adding information distribution to a distributed network of organ donation professionals via content curation

Deborah Verran¹, Tim Kreukniet¹, Jonathan Gillis¹

¹DonateLife Network, Canberra, Australia

Introduction: One of the challenges of meeting the information needs of healthcare professionals is being able to stream appropriate content to them.  Content curation is one method via which information can be distilled along with being value added prior to distribution.

Methods: A strategy was developed for streaming information from the relevant academic literature to the DonateLife network across Australia. This involved the development of a portal on an information technology platform. Onto this site selected curated articles would be placed on a regular basis. The content curation was performed by a professional with expertise in organ donation aided by the medical director.

Results: The portal went live initially in November 2012. Following an initial introductory phase site metrics are now being monitored. Curated commentary on a total of 27 published articles has been posted.  The majority of articles are related to organ donation alone (54%), or on both organ donation and transplantation (28%). Categories of articles include scientific reports 41%, topic reviews 22%, qualitative literature 22%, guidelines 7.5% and case reports 7.5%. The most frequent topics for postings are donation after cardiac death 30%, donor management/selection 18.5%, surveying attitudes on organ donation 18.5%, donor infection 15% and other 18%.  Statistics for the site for a 4 month period have revealed a total of 330 page views via 90 unique visitors, averaging approximately 2 page views per day.

Conclusions. It is possible via both content curation and information technology to stream value added information to a distributed organ donation network. The type of information being streamed reflects the current needs and trends in organ donation. Preliminary metrics reveal moderate engagement with the tool by the network members.