eHealth Conversations : using information management, dialogue, and knowledge exchange to move toward universal

The publication of eHealth Conversations, developed with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), represents a major step forward for the PAHO/WHO Strategy, since it explores ways of implementing regional mechanisms with free and equitable access to information and knowledge sharing. These initiatives aim to advance the goals of more informed, equitable, competitive, and democratic societies, where access to health information is considered a basic right. This publication is one of the instruments used by PAHO/WHO to develop the initiatives outlined in the Strategy, which coincides with the global eHealth strategy. One of the fundamental needs for the improvement of eHealth is the dissemination of information, and PAHO/WHO is assuming a leading role in this effort. The development of this new electronic publication is a key step in disseminating information that will be useful for decision makers on applying these technologies for the health of the Americas. This electronic book is one of the products of PAHO/WHO’s project: “eHealth Conversations: Using Information Management, Dialogue, and Knowledge Exchange to Move Toward Universal Access to Health.” Participants in these conversations included experts on electronic health and other specialties. Through virtual dialogues, the experts contributed with knowledge and reflections on the present and the future of eHealth in the Americas, analyzed the situation, and made recommendations for the implementation of electronic health initiatives. These recommendations are not only intended for PAHO/ WHO, but also for governments and the private sector. The aim of the project is to guarantee the convergence of local, national, and regional initiatives regarding the adoption and application of ICTs for public health, with special attention on critical issues in this field. It also intends to strengthen individual and collective capacities of health workers and institutions, connecting them in a network of on-line health networks, as well as to reinforce the PAHO/WHO eHealth program.Acknowledge the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) for its financial support in preparing this publication and developing the project titled “eHealth Conversations: Using Information Management, Dialogue, and Knowledge Exchange to Move Toward Universal Access to Health;

A methodological proposal based on the World Health Organization classification of interventions

UIDB/05021/2020 UIDP/05021/2020Coronavirus disease 2019 was identified as a pandemic and Brazil is one of the major epicentres. One of the Brazilian states affected is Ceará, where this research group works. This group was challenged by a Hospital stakeholder to develop a communication channel with the health professionals and the coronavirus disease 2019 patient's family. This article presents a part of this whole project. The main methodological approach was the user-centred design based on user experience elements. Benchmarking was applied to understand the state-of-art of Brazilian apps that were related to coronavirus disease 2019. The research process was based on a systematic approach that was carried out by a multidisciplinary team that worked through four work cycles (identification, classification, screening, analysis). This work was based on two main points: (a) World Health Organization digital health guidelines, specifically digital health interventions (b) System Usability Scale. As a result, apps features were gathered according to the digital health interventions and their experiences were analysed on System Usability Scale. This work has provided an overview of apps that were available and how they support the coronavirus disease 2019 context. Another valuable contribution is the understanding of how the industry was satisfying the user's needs. These two results can provide a holistic view for future product development that can be used in different contexts of health issues. One of the highlighted conclusions was that digital health interventions should be adapted to the local context because these World Health Organization guidelines were open. Moreover, the System Usability Scale is an effective method to compare different digital health solutions.publishersversionpublishe

Towards Interoperability in E-health Systems: a three-dimensional approach based on standards and semantics

Proceedings of: HEALTHINF 2009 (International Conference on Helath Informatics), Porto (Portugal), January 14-17, 2009, is part of BIOSTEC (Intemational Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies)The interoperability problem in eHealth can only be addressed by mean of combining standards and technology. However, these alone do not suffice. An appropiate framework that articulates such combination is required. In this paper, we adopt a three-dimensional (information, conference and inference) approach for such framework, based on OWL as formal language for terminological and ontological health resources, SNOMED CT as lexical backbone for all such resources, and the standard CEN 13606 for representing EHRs. Based on tha framewok, we propose a novel form for creating and supporting networks of clinical terminologies. Additionally, we propose a number of software modules to semantically process and exploit EHRs, including NLP-based search and inference, wich can support medical applications in heterogeneous and distributed eHealth systems.This work has been funded as part of the Spanish nationally funded projects ISSE (FIT-350300-2007-75) and CISEP (FIT-350301-2007-18). We also acknowledge IST-2005-027595 EU project NeO

The Contribution of Digital Technologies to Service Delivery: An Evidence Review

The explosion in digital connectivity, globalisation and the rapid growth in digital technologies over the last two decades has revolutionised the way that businesses perform and compete globally. Governments around the world have been put under strong pressure to transform themselves into electronic governments, in recognition of the efficiencies brought about by the appropriate use of information communication technologies (ICTs) in businesses and the need for development. The aim has been to maximise the state’s capacity to serve its stakeholders: namely citizens, business, employees and other government and non-government agencies. E-government or digital government has been a significant feature of public sector reform in recent years in both developed and developing countries with a substantial amount of resources dedicated to the development of necessary systems and infrastructure. Yet the transformational potential of digital for development risks not being replicated in the real world. Large-scale and sustainable use of ICTs for education is not yet being realised in developing countries, despite the fact that digital technologies have the potential to reduce costs and strengthen education systems. In the field of health care, mHealth systems are reaching significant scale in many developing countries but there is still a lack of concrete evidence with which to fully assess the economic impact of these technologies. This report explores and assesses the evidence for the impact and use of digital technologies in development, identifying cross-cutting themes that are important for use, implementation and scale-up. These include funding and infrastructure, policy commitments by government, skills and leadership.UK Department for International Developmen

The perception of primary health care's physicians in adoption of electronic health record-Timor Leste

Introduction: Electronic health record becomes the 21st-century innovation trend in developing countries. This digital system provides accurate, real data in real-time access, decreases paper-based documentation, enables access to patient’s previous health status and easy for follow-up, reduces of health status duplication and, allows accessible data sharing among health professionals in the primary health care setting. Purpose: This research aimed to identify and understand the perceptions of primary health care physicians in adopting the electronic health record in the Timor Leste context, specifically to identify benefit, barrier, and satisfaction of this system. Method: A cross-sectional online questionnaire survey was based on the study objectives administered to the medical doctor in primary health care level in Timor Leste who, received an electronic health record training and had an opportunity to utilize in the period between 2015 to 2017. The form was composed of 4 sections (sociodemographic information, benefit, barrier, and satisfaction), rated on a five-point Likert-scale. The samples were calculated by G*Power 3.1.9.4. The reliability was tested by Cronbach’s alpha. The statistical analysis with α= .05, CI= 95%. Result: The online questionnaire was distributed among 193 general physicians with, 84.5% responded rates. Most of the participants had young ages that acknowledge the importance of EHR in the primary health care sector. The majority perceived the most benefit of the EHR: decreased paper-based documentation, facilitated accessibility to patient data recorded previously, provided real-time data access, and reduction on health data duplication. However, barriers remain on the eHealth system indicated by a medical doctor, such as the necessity of frequent revision to technological development, compatibility of web browser, connectivity, and cost in adopting it. Overall, the physician in primary care settings perceived satisfaction toward the digital system. The eHealth was useful, appropriate, and essential for their work area, improved patient safety, elevated quality care, and enabled better communication among health professionals. There were statistically significant differences among ages toward benefit, the ability to use computer toward barrier and place using computer toward satisfaction of EHR usage. The positive slope of the benefit (β= .498; t= 11.361), had a statistically significant predictor on satisfaction on EHR implementation but barrier had negative statistical significance toward satisfaction (β = -.086; t= -1.794). The adjusted (R2= 51.0%). Conclusion: The satisfaction of EHR was influenced by the benefit perceived while utilizing the system and reducing the barrier. Political commitment, financial support, friendly user application, improved quality of internet connection and had a positive attitude toward EHR were crucial for successful implementation.open석