Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: May 17, 2024
Date Accepted: Feb 7, 2025
Use of eHealth Tools in Advanced Home Care - An Exploration of Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives: A Qualitative Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
The rising demand for advanced home care services, driven by an aging population and the preference for aging in place, presents both challenges and opportunities. While advanced home care can increase the cost-effectiveness of healthcare and improve patient outcomes, there remain gaps in understanding how various eHealth technologies can be optimized to enhance these services. eHealth tools offer the potential for personalized, coordinated care that increases patient engagement and improves the overall experience. Yet their impact on the healthcare professional-patient relationship is not well documented.
Objective:
This study explores the healthcare professionals’ perspectives on using eHealth tools in advanced home care and its impact on patient relationships.
Methods:
20 healthcare professionals from 9 clinics specializing in advanced home care were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The discussions centered on their experiences with two eHealth tools: a mobile documentation tool and a mobile pre-consult form. The data was analyzed through content analysis to identify recurring themes.
Results:
Five categories relating to the use of eHealth tools and their impact on patient relationships emerged from the analysis: 1) positive experiences and benefits, 2) challenges and difficulties with eHealth tools, 3) interactions between healthcare professionals and patients, 4) integration into the daily workflow, and 5) future directions. Most healthcare professionals expressed positive experience with the mobile documentation tool, citing enhanced efficiency, improved documentation quality, and enhanced patient safety and security. While all users found the mobile pre-consult form beneficial, its utility was constrained by patient-related factors. Difficulties with the eHealth tools originated from tool-related issues, organizational challenges or patient-related complexities. Notably, the eHealth tools did not change the fundamental nature of the healthcare professionals’ relationship with patients despite their use.
Conclusions:
The study underscores the importance of eHealth tools in enhancing advanced home care. While most of the healthcare professionals in the study had a positive attitude toward using the eHealth tools, understanding the challenges they encounter is crucial for improving user acceptance and success in implementation. The research confirms that while eHealth tools modify care delivery techniques, they do not impact the core dynamics of the relationships between healthcare providers and patients.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.