Challenges in Using IT Systems for Collaboration in Healthcare Services

Abstract

Frail elderly people refer to multi-diseased and vulnerable patients in need of medication and healthcare. These patients require healthcare from several different healthcare organizations, including hospital care, primary care, and municipal care services. This situation is challenging the capacity of healthcare organizations to manage inter-professional collaboration for person-centered care. This paper aims to identify challenges associated with collaboration between different healthcare organizations, related to the use of IT systems in the daily work practice. The paper was based on a qualitative study, which included three focus group interviews, each lasting for two hours. Each focus group consisted of a hospital physician, a primary care physician, a hospital nurse, a primary care nurse, a municipal home care nurse or an assistant officer, a physical or occupational therapist, and a family member representative. The interviews were analyzed with thematic analysis. Challenges identified in the study include insufficient information exchange, inconsistencies in communication, differences in the use of IT systems, and deficient coordination. The work processes that aim to promote collaboration between different healthcare organizations need to be better organized, and the use of IT systems needs to be better aligned.

Identifying Motives for Implementing eHealth by using Activity Theory

“…Certain rules, which are more or less known by those working in the activity, form the basis for the activity [10]. Labor has previously been clearly divided, but now, as the tools and content of the activity are changing, the division of labor also changes.…”

“…The implementation of eHealth technology is affected by contextual factors such as organizational issues, technological infrastructure and human actions [8][9][10]. Working life, work practice, and the professional requirements needed for providing healthcare services will be transformed due to an increasing demand for healthcare, and new ways of providing healthcare services based on eHealth will be required [11].…”

Quality of Life: The Interplay between Human Behaviour, Technology and the Environment

“…In a special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health on "Quality of Life: The Interplay between Human Behaviour, Technology and the Environment", a total of eighteen papers [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] were recently published on different topics that are related to this subject matter.…”

“…Of the published papers, four papers [6][7][8][9] were on age-friendly environments, describing the relation of how the environment and technology influences people as they age. A total of seven papers [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] were published regarding how technology can support (older) people in their daily lives in various ways. Three papers [17][18][19] were published on special care environments and their design, and how the design influences the users of such environments.…”

“…The paper by Petrovčič et al [10] is the first of a series of seven papers [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] on the use of technology by community-dwelling older people, as well as in long-term care facilities and among younger cohorts. The paper presents the results from a population-based survey from Slovenia on the predictors of seniors' interest in assistive applications (apps) on smartphones.…”