JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Designing for Connected Health systems presents opportunities and challenges as healthcare increasingly relies on information and communication technology. Projects in this field address critical aspects such as patient-centered care, sustainability, and interdisciplinary collaboration while navigating user engagement, workflow integration, and regulatory compliance complexities. Hence, there is a need to collate opportunities and challenges in designing Connected Health Systems.

Objective:

This paper explores the opportunities and challenges of designing Connected Health systems by examining six diverse projects and synthesizing insights from an expert workshop discussion.

Methods:

An iterative qualitative approach was employed, involving paper submissions, presentations, facilitated discussions, and a gallery walk discussion during the workshop. Each project was analyzed for its contributions to Connected Health, focusing on innovative methodologies, outcomes, and the challenges faced during designing and implementation.

Results:

Six projects that explored various facets and design methods used in Connected Health were presented and discussed. Various opportunities and challenges for designing in Connected Health context were identified. Six opportunities were identified when designing in Connected Health namely improving data integration and usability, enhancing collaboration across stakeholders, user-centered and iterative design process, addressing complexity in socio-technical systems, sustainability, and adopting digital infrastructures for seamless communication. Five challenges were identified in designing Connected Health systems namely exchange of information, interoperability, and communication; ethical consideration, rules and regulations; understanding design, evaluation, and standards; actionable data, reliability, quality, trust in data; and stakeholder involvement.

Conclusions:

The expert workshop highlighted valuable opportunities to improve Connected Health systems by emphasizing patient-centered, sustainable, and collaborative design approaches. At the same time, it brought to light several challenges that need to be addressed. Overcoming these challenges will require adopting iterative and inclusive design processes that prioritize the needs of users and organizations.