JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The accelerated development of ICTs has made healthcare one of the pioneering fields in the incorporation of these tools. New technologies have been applied; the existing ones have been sophisticated and improved, and the concept of e-Health has expanded These advances and expansion of e-Health, however, do not seem to have served to adapt the supply of services to users’ demand; rather, supply seems to be governed by other variables.

Objective:

The main objective of this work is to review the existing differences between user demands and the supply of e-Health services in Spain and their causes.

Methods:

A Survey of Use and Attitudes towards e-Health in Spain was applied by phone to a sample of 1,695 people of legal age, taking into account sociodemographic profile characteristics (sex, age, habitat, educational level). The confidence level was of 95%, and a margin of error of ±2.45 for the whole sample.

Results:

The large majority of respondents (80%) attach significant importance to all the services offered. Among users surveyed, 16.52% were willing to make new service demands to regional websites.

Conclusions:

The mismatch between supply and demand for online health services may be due to various causes, among which the following would stand out: returns on investment, lack of knowledge of these demands on the part of the administration, low levels of organization of users and their scarce presence in the design processes of these policies; and that e-Health has been oriented, mainly, towards professionals and managers. The gaps in the access and use of these services and the unmet demands mainly affect people with lower capacities, since they are the ones who have the greatest difficulties in meeting their needs by alternative means.