RATE: An Ethnographic Data Collection and Review System. Stephanie Guerlain ... video for re-review or debriefing purposes. The ... laptop (Figure 1). Events ...
RATE: An Ethnographic Data Collection and Review System Stephanie Guerlain, PhD1, J. Forrest Calland, MD1 1 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA Abstract We have developed a Windows-based system, called RATE, to quickly and easily code communications and events when observing human performance. Free text comments can also be made. The system can be automatically synchronized with digital audio or video for re-review or debriefing purposes. The system has been used to analyze and train team communication and coordination during surgery and to analyze shift changes, and is freely available to download. Introduction We have developed a system for quickly and easily coding communications and events when observing human performance, with application to healthcare domains such as surgery and shift change. The system, called RATE, is a Visual Basic application with an Access back end. Observers can define categories of interest and then use the system to quickly mark when such events have occurred using a laptop (Figure 1). Events can be defined as "onetime" only, such as "Patient enters room" or as potentially recurring counts, such as "Needle stick". A conversation tracker enables marking who is talking to whom about what topic, using a fourcolumn pick list. Free text comments can also be made.
Figure 1. Data entry software. Conversations (who is talking to whom, type of communication and topic of communication) are marked in upper left half of the screen. One time events are marked in the Events column and multiply occurring events are marked in the Counts column. Customized data entry controls can be put into the lower left half of the screen.
If the analyst has also video or audio-recorded the scene, these time-stamped data elements can be used to scroll the audio and video file(s) to just before that event was marked by the analyst. This is useful for secondary analyses or for team training or debriefing purposes. The system has been used to analyze team communication and coordination during surgery1, to assist with training surgeons on crew resource management2 and to analyze shift changes3, and is freely available to download. References 1.
Guerlain S, Adams RB, Turrentine FB, et al. Assessing team performance in the operating room: Development and use of a “black-box” recorder and other tools for the intraoperative environment. J Amer Coll Surg. 2005; 200(1): 29-37
Figure 2. Playback/review software. One can synchronize up to four digital video feeds and 8 digital audio feeds with the time-stamped events that have been tracked, for data (re)analysis or debriefing. 2.
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Guerlain S, Turrentine F, Collins SR, et al. Crew resource management for surgeons: Feasibility and impact. Cogn, Techn Work 2008. Borowitz S, Waggoner-Fountain, LA, Bass EJ, Sledd, RM. Adequacy of information transferred at resident sign-out: a prospective survey. Qual. Saf. Health Care 2008;17;6-10.
