A qualitative study of factors influencing ePHR adoption by caregivers and care providers of Alzheimer's patients:An extension of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model

Background and AimsAs the nowadays provision of many healthcare services relies on technology, a better understanding of the factors contributing to the acceptance and use of technology in health care is essential. For Alzheimer's patients, an electronic personal health record (ePHR) is one such technology. Stakeholders should understand the factors affecting the adoption of this technology for its smooth implementation, adoption, and sustainable use. So far, these factors have not fully been understood for Alzheimer's disease (AD)-specific ePHR. Therefore, the present study aimed to understand these factors in ePHR adoption based on the perceptions and views of care providers and caregivers involved in AD care. MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted from February 2020 to August 2021 in Kerman, Iran. Seven neurologists and 13 caregivers involved in AD care were interviewed using semi-structured and in-depth interviews. All interviews were conducted through phone contacts amid Covid-19 imposed restrictions, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were coded using thematic analysis based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. ATLAS.ti8 was used for data analysis. ResultsThe factors affecting ePHR adoption in our study comprised subthemes under the five main themes of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions of the UTAUT model, and the participants' sociodemographic factors. From the 37 facilitating factors and 13 barriers identified for ePHR adoption, in general, the participants had positive attitudes toward the ease of use of this system. The stated obstacles were dependent on the participants' sociodemographic factors (such as age and level of education) and social influence (including concern about confidentiality and privacy). In general, the participants considered ePHRs efficient and useful in increasing neurologists' information about their patients and managing their symptoms in order to provide better and timely treatment. ConclusionThe present study gives a comprehensive insight into the acceptance of ePHR for AD in a developing setting. The results of this study can be utilized for similar healthcare settings with regard to technical, legal, or cultural characteristics. To develop a useful and user-friendly system, ePHR developers should involve users in the design process to take into account the functions and features that match their skills, requirements, and preferences

Information Needs of Addicted Individuals: A Qualitative Case Study

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the information needs of addicts from the perspective of addicts. By identifying the experiences of the individuals involved in addiction and assessing the information they need, targeted educational interventions can be provided to meet their needs.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 addicts in two addiction outpatient clinics. Data were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis approach proposed by Graneheim and Lundman.Findings: The information needs of the interviewees included recognizing types of addictive substances and the degree of dependence on them, awareness of the physical and psychological symptoms of addiction to various addictive substances, awareness of various pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, physical and psychological symptoms of quitting addiction, awareness of the length of treatment, knowledge about the dose and degree of dependence on drugs, recognizing the causes of failure in quitting addiction, awareness of governmental and non-governmental services, and awareness of the psychological measures and care services necessary after quitting addiction.Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the knowledge and awareness of addicted individuals in various fields of addiction is low and it is necessary to provide education based on the information needs of these individuals. This requires the cooperation and efforts of policy makers, the Ministry of Education, welfare managers, and specialists in camps and addiction treatment centers. Specialists in addiction treatment clinics can use the information needs of addicts determined in this study to enrich the education of addicts

The Evaluation of Web-based Software for Sending Medication Adherence Reminders in Infectious Disease Patients

Background: Incomplete drug adherence can cause problems for patients as well as physicians and cost billions of dollars each year throughout the globe. One of the tools that can help patients and physicians is short text messaging (SMS). This research aims to design and implement the first web-based software specified for medicine use in Iran and test its feasibility to send short message reminders to infectious disease patients and also patient acceptance, and satisfaction. Methods: In this qualitative action research, initially a software was designed for sending text messages to patients and then 30 patients were chosen purposefully in four weeks and were sent short text messages exactly based on clinicians’ prescribed order. After completing a treatment course, each patient was interviewed and questions were asked to assess patient’s satisfaction. Results: The result showed that all of the patients who received the text messages, believed that this method in comparison to their previous experience has helped them to use their medicine on time and correctly and they were keen to use this service in the future. Conclusion: Short text messaging can be used as an effective tool to remind patients to take their medicine correctly, and increase their satisfaction and compliance. Keywords: Reminder system, Drug utilization, Text messaging, Cellular phone, Infectious disease

Estimating travel reduction associated with the use of telemedicine by patients and healthcare professionals: proposal for quantitative synthesis in a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A major benefit offered by telemedicine is the avoidance of travel, by patients, their carers and health care professionals. Unfortunately, there is very little published information about the extent of avoided travel. We propose to undertake a systematic review of literature which reports credible data on the reductions in travel associated with the use of telemedicine.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The conventional approach to quantitative synthesis of the results from multiple studies is to conduct a meta analysis. However, too much heterogeneity exists between available studies to allow a meaningful meta analysis of the avoided travel when telemedicine is used across all possible settings. We propose instead to consider all credible evidence on avoided travel through telemedicine by fitting a linear model which takes into account the relevant factors in the circumstances of the studies performed. We propose the use of stepwise multiple regression to identify which factors are significant.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our proposed approach is illustrated by the example of teledermatology. In a preliminary review of the literature we found 20 studies in which the percentage of avoided travel through telemedicine could be inferred (a total of 5199 patients). The mean percentage avoided travel reported in the 12 store-and-forward studies was 43%. In the 7 real-time studies and in a single study with a hybrid technique, 70% of the patients avoided travel. A simplified model based on the modality of telemedicine employed (i.e. real-time or store and forward) explained 29% of the variance. The use of store and forward teledermatology alone was associated with 43% of avoided travel. The increase in the proportion of patients who avoided travel (25%) when real-time telemedicine was employed was significant (<it>P </it>= 0.014). Service planners can use this information to weigh up the costs and benefits of the two approaches.</p

A New Revolution in Healthcare Transformation Using Hyper-Automation Technologies

As someone who has been following the development of hyper-automation technologies in healthcare, I wanted to write to you about the many optimistic outcomes that these technologies have already produced. I am writing to express my excitement about many potential and benefits of hyper-automation technologies in healthcare. Hyper-automation, which includes the use of smart technologies such as artificial intelligence, low-code/no-code (LCNC) platforms, machine learning, robotics and other technologies to automate and optimize processes, has the possibility to transform healthcare in many ways

Challenges and Opportunities of Digital Trust in the Healthcare Industry

I am writing to express my views on the topic of digital trust in the healthcare industry. With the rapid advancement of technology and the widespread use of electronic health records, it is crucial to understand the impact of digital trust on healthcare. In this letter, I will discuss the importance of digital trust in healthcare, the important challenges faced by the healthcare industry in building and maintaining digital trust, and the potential solutions to address these challenges