The adoption of quality assurance in e-Health acquisition for rural hospitals in the Eastern Cape Province

The evolution of e-health has the potential to assist in the management of scarce resources and the shortage of skills, enhance efficiencies, improve quality and increase work productivity within the healthcare sector. As a result, an increase is seen in e-health solutions developments with the aim to improve healthcare services, hospital information systems, health decision support, telemedicine and other technical systems that have the potential to reduce cost, improve quality, and enhance the accessibility and delivery of healthcare. However, unfortunately their implementation contiues to fail. Although there are several reasons for this, in this study a lack of project quality management is viewed as a key contributor to the failure of e-health solutions implementation projects in rural hospitals. This results in neglected aspects of quality assurance (QA), which forms an integral part of project quality management. The purpose of this study is to develop a Genertic Quality Assurance Model (GQAM) for the successful acquisition (i.e. development and implementation) of e-health solutions in rural hospitals in the Eastern Cape Province to enable improved quality of care and service delivery. In order to develop and test this model it was necessary to identify the QA methodologies that are currently used in rural hospitals and to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their impact on project success. The study is divided into four phases; in each phase different study designs were followed. The study used triangulation of qualitative and some elements of quantitative research approaches, in terms of which a case study approach was adpoted to answer the research questions. This study did indeed develop a GQAM that can be used to ensure e-health solution success in rural hospitals. Furthermore, to aid in the implementation of this model, a set of QA value chain implementation guidelines were developed, as a framework, to inject the nodel into typical (SDLC) phases

Naturalistic driving studies : the effectiveness of the methodology in monitoring driver behaviour

Naturalistic Driving Studies (NDS) is a research methodology that has the potential to improve existing approaches for collecting data about driver behaviour and performance in normal driving conditions. Analysis of naturalistic driving data in normal driving conditions provides a possibility of big data sets that can be used to understand the characteristics that lead to vehicle crashes and/or near crashes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of NDS to improve driver behaviour and adherence to road rules. Making use of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a theoretical framework, the study managed to illicit responses from both drivers and management, in companies where the technology is used, to show that NDS provides the company and drivers with information that can improve driving ability. Overall, the results provide a clear indication that by making use of the data generated through use of NDS, it is possible to identify risky driver behaviour, which can inform the design and implementation of driver improvement projects.Papers presented at the 36th Southern African Transport Conference, CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa on 10-13 July 2017.Transportation research board of the national academie

Using a Theoretical Framework to Investigate Whether the HIV/AIDS Information Needs of the AfroAIDSinfo Web Portal Members Are Met: A South African eHealth Study

eHealth has been identified as a useful approach to disseminate HIV/AIDS information. Together with Consumer Health Informatics (CHI), the Web-to-Public Knowledge Transfer Model (WPKTM) has been applied as a theoretical framework to identify consumer needs for AfroAIDSinfo, a South African Web portal. As part of the CHI practice, regular eSurveys are conducted to determine whether these needs are changing and are continually being met. eSurveys show high rates of satisfaction with the content as well as the modes of delivery. The nature of information is thought of as reliable to reuse; both for education and for referencing of information. Using CHI and the WPKTM as a theoretical framework, it ensures that needs of consumers are being met and that they find the tailored methods of presenting the information agreeable. Combining ICTs and theories in eHealth interventions, this approach can be expanded to deliver information in other sectors of public health