Designing Multimedia Quality-based Advanced Videoconferencing Applications for Telemedicine over the Internet

Telemedicine and related healthcare technologies aim to provide efficient healthcare to improve the well being of patients and bring medical expertise at a lower cost to people who are geographically separated. This field has evolved over the past thirty years and today most telemedicine applications still use expensive leased telecommunication circuits to provide secured reliable connections. With the ubiquity of the Internet, it is now possible to deliver healthcare through Internet-based telemedicine applications to a wider population. However, the unreliable connection properties of packet-based systems and their vulnerability to various impairments that can occur at the physical, network, and application levels hamper the quality of Internet-based telemedicine applications. This research developed a taxonomy that identifies several key telemedicine dimensions to help patients, providers and program administrators understand the effort. The next phases of the study will create new objective/subjective multimedia quality models exclusively for telemedicine over the Internet using an experimental design over an emulated testbed. These models will be developed for telediagnosis in ophthalmology and mental health with extensive experiments using real-world telemedicine multimedia sessions obtained from the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care and VA. Finally, an intelligent videoconferencing software will be developed with real-time quality feedback functionality based on the quality models developed during this study. This new artifact will help practitioners in the field to pursue telemedicine confidently with the knowledge of real-time quality conditions under which they operate

Effects of User Interface Design and Task Complexity Level on User Experience in an mHealth Application

User interface (UI) is a crucial component of any application, including mHealth apps, as UI directly affects the user–app interaction, which then determines the concrete user experience with the app. This paper presents the results of an experimental study that examines the effects of data entry UI types and task complexity on user experience within the context of a mobile app. We used a 2 (touch technique: tap vs. slide) X 2 (target direction: vertical vs. horizontal) X 2 (task complexity: simple vs. complex) design. Our findings indicate that UI design in terms of touch technique and target direction, as well as task complexity have a significant impact on the task completion time. As for error rate, however, we did not find any significant differences by UI design or task complexity level

Effective Use of User Interface and User Experience in an mHealth Application

The effect of user interface (UI) design decisions on system usability has been discussed in information system literature. These discussions evolved into investigating the effectiveness of UI and how it affects a system user’s performance, as well as his or her perception of the system as a whole. This paper investigates the role of UI design on facilitating effective use in the context of mobile applications. Based on the Effective Use Theory, we test four different UIs developed for frequent data input tasks in a mobile platform using a controlled experiment and a follow-up survey. Our findings indicate that UI design in terms of touch technique (tap vs. slide) and target direction (vertical vs. horizontal) has a significant impact on the task completion time, as well as the app UIs’ perceived usability and likability. We discuss both theoretical and empirical implications of the results and suggest future research directions

A Systematic Review of Technology Interventions for Justice-Involved People

More than 2.3 million people are held in incarceration in the US with a high recidivism rate, high substance use disorders (SUD) percentage, and 3 times higher HIV infection than normal Americans. Unfortunately, this group receives inadequate preparation opportunities and assistance during their reentry into their communities. Smartphones and other mobile devices are widely accessible for justice-involved people (JIP) post-incarceration despite the variations of socioeconomic groups. Mobile phone ownership reached 96% in 2019 in the US, 71% of the low-income population have smartphones. Hence, technology interventions may be a way to reach out to this group and effectively intervene and assist them with their needs. Multiple technology intervention studies for the post-incarceration period were identified for JIP. To the best of our knowledge, there are no systematic reviews that evaluated the effectiveness of the current technology interventions targeting the needs of JIP post-incarceration. The purpose of this research is to identify the gaps in the current knowledge base and determine new research questions to advance the technology interventions targeting JIP post-incarceration. To achieve our goal, we conducted a systematic literature review following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist. The search queries include mobile phone or app or smartphone or “mobile app*” or mHealth or “mobile health” with incarcerat* or recidivis* or justice-involve* or jail or prison* or parole* or probat* or reentry, with either (SUD or OUD or substance use disorder*” or addict* or intervention) or (Job or employ* or housing or food or transport* or child* or *care or course* or financ* or support or educat*). We limited our search to (i) titles and abstracts, (ii) full-text English-language articles, (iii) published from 2010 (the smartphone era started in 2007 and had been prevailing since 2010) to 2021, (iv) in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. A total of 610 papers were identified, after removing duplicates and papers that do not meet the inclusion criteria, 22 papers were included for our literature review. Multiple technology interventions focused on SUD, HIV, other diseases, and their feasibility and effectiveness. Only a few interventions targeted job search, technical literacy, and case management. No study focused on other important areas, such as housing, financial support, childcare, food, and transportation. Three main research themes were identified: access to treatment, access to employment, and self-management support. In conclusion, mobile technology interventions are feasible and effective in assisting people post-incarceration. However, studies that were applied in isolation may limit the effectiveness of new interventions, because all the factors are dependent on each other. A holistic technology intervention platform to addresses different needs and provide diverse assistance simultaneously to support a successful reentry is recommended for future research

Investigating User Satisfaction: An Adaptation of IS Success Model for Short-term Use

Research studies investigating the acceptance of information systems mostly focused on systems designed for long-term use without considering systems designed for one-time or short-term use. However, systems designed for short-term use are part of the health information technology portfolio. We propose a theoretical model inspired by the D&M IS success model to investigate user satisfaction, as a measure of acceptance, with a web-based decision aid designed for short-term use to support “goals of care” decision-makers. We hypothesize that media richness, perceived social presence, and trust affect system quality and information quality, which affects user satisfaction and implementation outcomes. We propose a mixed-methods study to test our hypotheses using eye-tracking, surveys, and interviews

Metrics for Measuring Internet-based Telemedicine Quality: An Empirical Investigation for Ophthalmology

Abstract-Our study focuses on the video component of multimedia applications with the goal of understanding the relationship between objective and subjective video quality measures and clinical decision making capability of the medical professionals on the receiving end, with Internet as the transmission channel. An actual telemedicine video sequence is used in this study. The quality of this sequence was degraded using network impairments and 14 degraded sequences plus the original sequence were presented to 15 subjects. Participants were asked to evaluate the quality of the sequences and their decision making capability based on the sequence under consideration. The results indicate that the quality score does not always correlate to the clinical decision making capability score. Same thing is also true for objective quality measures. Further research is needed to better understand the effects of video quality degradation on medical decision making in telemedicine environments

Influence of Personality Traits on the Continued Use of Fitness Apps

While fitness apps show promise to improve people’s health and well-being, studies have indicated a high dropout rate among their users. This study uses the expectation confirmation model (ECM) to examine post-adoption factors affecting continued use or dropout among users of fitness apps, with a specific focus on the impact of users’ personality traits (the “big five” traits) on the ECM model variables. We present our theoretical model and the results of our survey with 129 participants. We confirm that satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and confirmation of expectations resulting from use of fitness apps influence the continued use of the apps. Moreover, we show that conscientiousness and neuroticism, as traits, positively influence perceived usefulness. This study increases our understanding of the factors impacting continued use of fitness app

Dimensions of Work Practice Compatibilitty and Influences on Actual System Use: Examining Physician Use of Online Disability Evaluation System

This research investigated the effects of work practice compatibility (WPC) on user acceptance and continued use of an online disability evaluation system. The objectives were to examine the work practice compatibility and its effects on actual system use, to assess the patterns of use among the users, and to explore the implications for future system developments. An online web-based survey was distributed to a population of medical professionals, and 97 responses were obtained. Results of bivariate analysis suggested that WPC is an important indicator of actual and continual use. Further analysis revealed associations that give clear indications of the influence of WPC, training, and software features on the relationships between direct and sustained use of the system

Information Systems and Health Care XIV: Continuing Use of Medical Information Systems by Medical Professionals: Empirical Evaluation of a Work System Model

Physicians face an increasing variety of options for using information systems in the course of delivering and managing medical care. Although the technical capabilities of medical information systems are expanding rapidly, such systems cannot be expected to be truly effective unless they mesh with the broader work system that includes the physician\u27s work place and work routines. This research focuses on physicians\u27 intent for continued use of an online medical evaluation system as an indicator of the mesh between an information technology and medical work environments, and it draws contextual elements from technology acceptance and compatibility models to help explain the intent for continued use. Ninety-seven physicians throughout the U.S. participated in an extensive survey that provided a basis for analysis, and results showed general support for the acceptance model used in the study. The theoretical and managerial implications of the study center on the importance of understanding continued use of medical information systems with the help of work practice compatibility and acceptance models as they apply to the demanding environment of medical practice