JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Electronic health (eHealth) is increasingly becoming an indispensable part of health practice and policy-making strategies. However, the use of eHealth tools in clinical practice and perceptions of eHealth among medical students and health professionals in Vietnam are not well understood.

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate the perceptions and practices of eHealth and its associated factors among medical students and health professionals.

Methods:

An online cross-sectional study was conducted on 523 medical students and health professionals. Information about practices and perceived barriers and benefits of eHealth application in clinical practices was collected. Multivariate Tobit and Logistic Regression Models were utilized for determining associated factors with perceptions and practices.

Results:

61.6% of participants used eHealth tools in clinical practices, with moderate levels of eHealth literacy. The score of perceived benefits of eHealth tools was low. The most common barrier for eHealth utilization was “Human resource for IT” (45.9%), followed by “Security and risk control capacity” (43.2%) and “No training in eHealth application” (42.6%). Age, eHealth literacy, and using the internet for updating medical knowledge were positively associated with using eHealth tools in clinical practices.

Conclusions:

eHealth tools were moderately used in clinical practices, and the benefits of eHealth were underestimated among health professionals and medical students in Vietnam. Renovating the current medical education curriculum to integrate eHealth principles should be required to equip essential skills for health professionals and medical students in rapid digital transformation.