JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The integration of mobile health (mHealth) tools—technological devices that support healthcare services—into the routines of healthcare workers (HWs) holds potential to enhance healthcare delivery. In particular, mHealth tools for patient data monitoring allow HWs to quickly access patient health information and detect early warning signs of potential issues. However, while interest in telemedicine and mHealth has rapidly grown in recent years, limited research has explored HWs' attitudes toward these tools or their feature preferences.

Objective:

This study aims to: (i) assess HWs' attitudes toward mHealth tools, (ii) identify socio-economic factors influencing these attitudes, (iii) determine HWs' preferences for features of a novel mHealth platform for patient data monitoring, and (iv) examine whether HWs' baseline attitudes impact their feature preferences.

Methods:

The study employ an integrated approach combining Item Response Theory (IRT) and Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) to evaluate HW attitudes and preferences. Data come from a web conjoint survey distributed to an international cohort of HWs across Europe.

Results:

Findings indicate that HWs generally hold a positive attitude toward technological devices. Socio-economic characteristics, including factors such as age, experience, and educational background, significantly influence these attitudes. Additionally, the specific features of an mHealth platform for patient data monitoring highly impact HWs' willingness to incorporate such tool into their daily practice.

Conclusions:

This study shows that health workers generally support the use of mHealth tools, which have the potential to improve healthcare efficiency and patient outcomes through enhanced monitoring and timely interventions. To facilitate adoption, policymakers should strengthen infrastructure, enact supportive legislation, and tailor interventions for groups less inclined to use these tools. Aligning mHealth platform features with HW preferences is crucial, as it directly impacts HWs' willingness to integrate these tools into daily routines, ultimately benefiting patients. Future research should examine additional factors influencing HW adoption and address organizational and infrastructural barriers to optimize mHealth implementation and improve patient care.