title: World Workshop on Oral Medicine VI: Utilization of Oral Medicine-specific software for support of clinical care, research, and education: current status and strategy for broader implementation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the current scope and status of Oral Medicine-specific software (OMSS) utilized to support clinical care, research, and education in Oral Medicine and to propose a strategy for broader implementation of OMSS within the global Oral Medicine community.
  
  
  METHODS
  An invitation letter explaining the objectives was sent to the global Oral Medicine community. Respondents were interviewed to obtain information about different aspects of OMSS functionality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten OMSS tools were identified. Four were being used for clinical care, one was being used for research, two were being used for education, and three were multipurpose. Clinical software was being utilized as databases developed to integrate of different type of clinical information. Research software was designed to facilitate multicenter research. Educational software represented interactive, case-orientated technology designed for clinical training in Oral Medicine. Easy access to patient data was the most commonly reported advantage. Difficulty of use and poor integration with other software was the most commonly reported disadvantage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The OMSS presented in this paper demonstrate how information technology (IT) can have an impact on the quality of patient care, research, and education in the field of Oral Medicine. A strategy for broader implementation of OMSS is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: brailo@sfzg.hr.
authors.forename: Vlaho
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brailo
authors.affiliation: Division of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Francis John
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Firriolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Takako Imai
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Chirurgiche ed Odontoiatriche, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Varoni
authors.affiliation: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Nottingham University Hospitals, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sykes
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McCullough
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, School of Stomatology, Peking University, Peking, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Dental School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sklavounou
authors.affiliation: Section of Oral Medicine, Clinical Oral Physiology, Oral Pathology and Anatomy, Faculty Of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Siri Beier
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Lockhart
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Central Hospital, Karlstad, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mattsson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Odontology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jontell
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D048048:Dental Informatics; D006801:Humans; D019451:Information Management / Q000639:trends; D007256:Information Systems / Q000639:trends; D019242:Oral Medicine / Q000193:education; D012984:Software