Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jun 13, 2023
Date Accepted: Feb 28, 2024
Information Technology (IT)-related barriers and facilitators to the implementation of a new European eHealth solution: the digital Survivorship Passport (SurPass) v2.0
ABSTRACT
Background:
To overcome knowledge gaps and optimise long-term follow-up care for childhood cancer survivors, the concept of the Survivorship Passport (SurPass) has been invented. Within the European PanCareSurPass project, the semi-automated and interoperable SurPass (v2.0) will be optimised, implemented and evaluated at six LTFU care centres representing six European countries and three distinct health system scenarios: I) national electronic health information systems: Austria and Lithuania; II) regional/local electronic health information systems: Italy and Spain; III) cancer registries/hospital-based electronic health information systems: Belgium and Germany.
Objective:
To identify and describe barriers and facilitators for SurPass v2.0 implementation with respect to semi-automation of data input, interoperability, and data protection/privacy and cybersecurity.
Methods:
Information and Technology (IT) specialists from the six long-term follow-up care centres participated in an online, semi-structured survey targeted at IT-related barriers and facilitators to SurPass v2.0 implementation.
Results:
13/20 invited IT specialists (65%) participated. The main barriers and facilitators across all three health system scenarios related to (semi-)automated data input and interoperability included (un)aligned electronic health information systems infrastructure and the use of interoperability frameworks and international coding systems. The main barriers and facilitators related to data protection/privacy and cybersecurity included pseudonymisation of personal health data and data retention.
Conclusions:
The current study provides essential insights into the Information and IT-related influencing factors that need to be taken into account when implementing the SurPass v2.0 in clinical practice. We recommend the adoption of Health Level Seven Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources and data security measures such as encryption, pseudonymisation, and multi-factor authentication to protect personal health data where applicable. The results of this study are not only applicable to SurPass implementation, but also the implementation of other eHealth solutions.
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