All that Glitters is not Gold : Six Steps before Selecting and Prioritizing e-Health Services

Since the market for e-health applications is constantly growing, it is getting an ever more complex endeavor to select and prioritize the right service offering given a particular situation. In examining the extant literature, it was revealed that little emphasis is actually placed on how to analyze contextual or environmental factors prior to the selection and prioritization of e-health services. With this paper, we therefore propose a formative framework consisting of six fundamental yet very pragmatic steps that may support decision makers in identifying the most important contextual pre-requisites that e-health services need to fulfill in order to be considered as effective for their environment to be implemented

Brokers as Catalysts for the E-Health Market

In this study we use the experiences from the service industry and explore pre-requisites of the e-health market which will need to achieve to stimulate both sides of the market (vendors, healthcare organizations, government, institutions, corporations and services organizations) to interact with each other and develop demand driven services and social innovations. The results presented in this paper may be of interest for decision makers, industries (e.g. software or technology designers), small and medium enterprises (SME) and entrepreneurs with an interest in becoming a part of the e-health market, and for consumers (e.g. healthcare personnel and patients) that are willing to influence the market through their choices. The outcomes of the study shown that the role of virtual brokers is essential to the further development of a sustainable e-health market globally because its role as catalyst for interaction between the two-sides of the markets, its effects on the reduction of competitive constrains, its effects on the accessibility to broader network of actors and its effects on the support of public-private exchanges of knowledge and experience

Perspective Chapter: Digital Assistive Technologies

The use of digital technologies has been described as a facilitator integrating services and offering facilities to support individuals with impairments. In this chapter we identify level of advancement, trends, and challenges in the growing area of digital assistive technologies. Interview with experts and a literature search were performed. The outcomes of this study shown that the generic use and adoption of technologies involves complexity and changes in several aspects and, specifically, requires changes in the overall practice environment. However, the real challenge is not to identify technologies or to prioritize products, policies, or praxis, rather it is to build infrastructures, to match levels of maturity with products or services, and to reduce the technical, and socio-economic inefficiencies that constrain the further development of the area

Organization-wide adoption of computerized provider order entry systems: a study based on diffusion of innovations theory

Background: Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems have been introduced to reduce medication errors, increase safety, improve work-flow efficiency, and increase medical service quality at the moment of prescription. Making the impact of CPOE systems more observable may facilitate their adoption by users. We set out to examine factors associated with the adoption of a CPOE system for inter-organizational and intra-organizational care. Methods: The diffusion of innovation theory was used to understand physicians and nurses attitudes and thoughts about implementation and use of the CPOE system. Two online survey questionnaires were distributed to all physicians and nurses using a CPOE system in county-wide healthcare organizations. The number of complete questionnaires analyzed was 134 from 200 nurses (67.0%) and 176 from 741 physicians (23.8%). Data were analyzed using descriptive-analytical statistical methods. Results: More nurses (56.7%) than physicians (31.3%) stated that the CPOE system introduction had worked well in their clinical setting (P andlt; 0.001). Similarly, more physicians (73.9%) than nurses (50.7%) reported that they found the system not adapted to their specific professional practice (P = andlt; 0.001). Also more physicians (25.0%) than nurses (13.4%) stated that they did want to return to the previous system (P = 0.041). We found that in particular the received relative advantages of the CPOE system were estimated to be significantly (P andlt; 0.001) higher among nurses (39.6%) than physicians (16.5%). However, physicians agreements with the compatibility of the CPOE and with its complexity were significantly higher than the nurses (P andlt; 0.001). Conclusions: Qualifications for CPOE adoption as defined by three attributes of diffusion of innovation theory were not satisfied in the study setting. CPOE systems are introduced as a response to the present limitations in paper-based systems. In consequence, user expectations are often high on their relative advantages as well as on a low level of complexity. Building CPOE systems therefore requires designs that can provide rather important additional advantages, e. g. by preventing prescription errors and ultimately improving patient safety and safety of clinical work. The decision-making process leading to the implementation and use of CPOE systems in healthcare therefore has to be improved. As any change in health service settings usually faces resistance, we emphasize that CPOE system designers and healthcare decision-makers should continually collect users feedback about the systems, while not forgetting that it also is necessary to inform the users about the potential benefits involved.Original Publication:Bahlol Rahimi, Toomas Timpka, Vivian Vimarlund, Srinivas Uppugunduri and Mikael Svensson, Organization-wide adoption of computerized provider order entry systems: a study based on diffusion of innovations theory, 2009, BMC MEDICAL INFORMATICS AND DECISION MAKING, (9), 52, .http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6947-9-52Licensee: BioMed Centralhttp://www.biomedcentral.com/. On the day of the defence date the original title of this article was "Adoption of computerized provider order entry systems: An organization-wide study based on diffusion of innovations theory"

Sociala innovationer i välfärden : Förutsättningar för ett E-hälsokonto

Svensk sjukvård står inför stora framtida utmaningar i att möta ett ökat vårdbehov i takt med att befolkningen ökar och blir allt äldre. Fram till år 2030 beräknas behovet av vård och omsorg stiga med ungefär 50 procent. Sociala innovationer kan vara ett nytt sätt att inkludera den enskilde individen i utveckling och produktion av tjänster inom välfärden för att bemöta denna utveckling. Rapporten Sociala innovationer i välfärden belyser aspekter som ännu inte uppmärksammats i debatten och fokuserar på förutsättningarna för ett E-hälsokonto och tillhörande E-hälsotjänster. E-hälsotjänster utvecklas för att förbättra livskvaliteten hos individer och medför samtidigt nya arbetsprocesser och referensramar i välfärdssektorn. I rapporten diskuterar författaren frågan om det finns incitament för entreprenörer och företag att investera i utveckling av E-hälsotjänster. Även ekonomiska, sociala, administrativa eller branschspecifika regleringar på området belyses liksom vilka sociala innovationer som faktiskt efterfrågas. På omslag: Uppdrag välfärd, entreprenörskapsforum, Fores, Leading Health Care.</p

E-services for the social inclusion of people with disabilities : A literature review

BACKGROUND: It is assumed that e-services support persons with disabilities in their everyday life by improving communication and interaction with healthcare organizations and whilst facilitating their social inclusion. AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the contribution of e-services in terms of how they diminish barriers and constraints on social inclusion. METHOD: A literature review was performed, covering the period between 2010 and 2016 (6 years). Only studies that discussed the social inclusion of people with disabilities or presented prototype solutions to this problem were included. RESULTS: The results of this study show that there is a lack of theoretical framework which can be used to measure the effectiveness of the e-services or innovations in the area of e-services in the contexts that were examined. The existing research studies are normally generic and do not discuss whether the requirements that are imposed on a particular e-service differ depending on (i) type of disability, (ii) the ICT-maturity or skill of the end-user, or (iii) context in which the e-service will be used. In general, previous research in this area claims that e-services do assist people with disabilities access to society (defined as the community in which they live), even when no evidence is actually presented about the impact such services have in this area of the end-user's life. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study present us with new knowledge about the types of ICT-based innovations and e-services that have been proposed to facilitate the social integration of people with disabilities.