The Use of Smartphone Applications (Apps) for Enhancing Communication With Surgical Patients: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Background. The widespread use and development of smartphones and mHealth apps has the potential to overcome communication deficiencies in health care. Objective. To carry out a literature review of studies that evaluate patients’ experience on the use of perioperative mHealth apps. Methods. An up-to-date systematic review on studies assessing patients’ use of mHealth apps for communicating with the health care team in the perioperative period was performed following the PRISMA statement. Results. Ten studies (in 11 articles) were identified: 8 feasibility studies and 2 randomized controlled trials. Nine studies included apps used for postoperative monitoring while 1 study also provided preoperative guidance. Discussion. An analysis of barriers and motivations of patients and health care professionals to the use of perioperative mHealth apps was performed. Barriers included patients’ lack of confidence when using apps and potential lack of time from health care professionals to monitor information submitted by patients. Motivations included patients’ sense of being looked after and potential cost-effectiveness and increased efficiency of health care services. This analysis led to the concept of the “ideal app” that would need to be developed following adequate protocols and security standards. Features of the ideal app include preoperative advice on medications and investigations, information on surgery, and a remote follow-up tool to improve safety and to minimize unnecessary clinic appointments and associated costs. Conclusion. There is an overall positive impression of the use of perioperative mHealth apps. However, further studies are required to assess the impact that they have on patients’ care and healthcare professional services.

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P070: Mixed effectiveness of emergency department diversion strategies: a systematic review

CJEM ◽

10.1017/cem.2017.272 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 19 (S1) ◽

pp. S102

Author(s):

S.W. Kirkland ◽

A. Soleimani ◽

B.H. Rowe ◽

A.S. Newton

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Emergency Department ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Study Data ◽

Care Utilization ◽

Alternative Source ◽

Increased Risk ◽

The Impact

Introduction: Diverting patients away from the emergency department (ED) has been proposed as a solution for reducing ED overcrowding. The objective of this systematic review is to examine the effectiveness of diversion strategies designed to either direct patients seeking care at an ED to an alternative source of care. Methods: Seven electronic databases and grey literature were searched. Randomized/controlled clinical trials and cohort studies assessing the effectiveness of pre-hospital and ED-based diversion interventions with a comparator were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently screened the studies for relevance, inclusion, and risk of bias. Intervention effects are reported as proportions (%) or relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Methodological and clinical heterogeneity prohibited pooling of study data. Results: From 7,306 citations, ten studies were included. Seven studies evaluated a pre-hospital diversion strategy and three studies evaluated an ED-based diversion strategy. The impact of diversion on subsequent health services was mixed. One study of paramedic practitioners reported increased ED attendance within 7 days (11.9% vs. 9.5%; p=0.049) but no differences in return visits for similar conditions (75.2% vs. 72.1%; p=0.64). The use of paramedic practitioners was associated with an increased risk of subsequent contact with health care services (RR=1.21, 95% CI 1.06, 1.38), while the use of deferred care was associated with no increase in risk of subsequently seeking physician care (RR=1.09, 95% CI 0.23, 5.26). While two studies reported that diverted patients were at significantly reduced risk for hospitalization, two other studies reported no significant differences between diverted or standard care patients. Conclusion: The evidence regarding the impact of pre-hospital and ED-based diversion on ED utilization and subsequent health care utilization is mixed. Additional high-quality comparative effectiveness studies of diversion strategies are required prior to widespread implementation.

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A Systematic Review of Usability Challenges and Testing in Mobile Health

International Journal of Accounting and Financial Reporting ◽

10.5296/ijafr.v5i2.8004 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tareq Ali Al-Saadi ◽

Tamer Mohammed Aljarrah ◽

Anahed Mudheher Alhashemi ◽

Azham Hussain

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Mobile Communications ◽

Digital Libraries ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Usability Testing ◽

Smart Phones ◽

Portable Devices ◽

The Impact

Nowadays, the combining of advanced mobile communications and mobile account now in portable devices named "smart phones" has becomes more great uses. Among of these include health care professionals. Few studies in the challenge, blurred reality challenge facing the patient and developer alike in the usability of mobile health. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the usability challenges in mobile health and usability testing. The systematic review was using for collecting the prior studies that relation with our study. This study concentrates on the three digital libraries Google scholar, ACM and IEEE, as well as, the researcher selected the studies between 2007 and 2015. The results from this systematic were selected 11 studies of 106 based on the inclusions criteria. In more details, the usability challenges found that 27% offered User Interface, 22% tasks and screen size, 16% insert media and 13% network. On the other hand, usability use found that, 46% of the selected studies the usability use of formal type of 45% informal and 9% mixed formal and informal. Sum up, the use of smart phones is getting more on health care and day out. Medical applications make smart phones useful tools in the practice of evidence-based medicine at the point of care, in addition to its use in mobile clinical communications. This study will making a contribution to the researchers to extract over the impact of the challenges on usability testing and the types of usability in mobile health.

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The impact of project ECHO on physician preparedness to treat opioid use disorder: a systematic review

Addiction Science & Clinical Practice ◽

10.1186/s13722-021-00215-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hunter M. Puckett ◽

Jenny S. Bossaller ◽

Lincoln R. Sheets

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Underserved Populations ◽

Medical Condition ◽

The United States ◽

Opioid Use Disorder ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Project Echo ◽

The Impact

AbstractOpioid use disorder (OUD) is a medical condition that has evolved into a serious and deadly epidemic in the United States. Both medical and psychological interventions are called for to end this growing epidemic, but too few health care professionals are trained to treat OUD. One proven model of training physicians and cross-disciplinary teams in treating a variety of disorders is exemplified by Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a collaborative tele-mentoring program in which specialists train health-care workers to treat medical conditions, especially those that affect underserved populations. This systematic review found that Project ECHO has the potential to effectively extend current services to patients suffering from OUD, but that there is also a gap in knowledge regarding this type of training. The articles that we reviewed all presented evidence that Project ECHO improves healthcare provider preparedness to treat OUD, especially in regard to improving knowledge and self-efficacy.

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Immersive Virtual Reality in Health Care: Systematic Review of Technology and Disease States

JMIR Biomedical Engineering ◽

10.2196/15025 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. e15025 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Aaron J Snoswell ◽

Centaine L Snoswell

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Acute Treatment ◽

Feasibility Studies ◽

Health Condition ◽

Health Conditions ◽

Immersive Virtual Reality ◽

Technical Specifications

Background Immersive virtual reality (IVR) presents new possibilities for application in health care. Health care professionals can now immerse their patients in environments to achieve exposure to a specific scene or experience, evoke targeted emotional responses, inspire, or distract from an experience occurring in reality. Objective This review aimed to identify patient-focused applications for head-mounted IVR for acute treatment of health conditions and determine the technical specifications of the systems used. Methods A systematic review was conducted by searching medical and engineering peer-reviewed literature databases in 2018. The databases included PubMed, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Association for Computing Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Scopus, and Web of Science. Search terms relating to health and IVR were used. To be included, studies had to investigate the effectiveness of IVR for acute treatment of a specific health condition. IVR was defined as a head-mounted platform that provides virtual and auditory immersion for the participant and includes a minimum of 3 degrees of orientation tracking. Once identified, data were extracted from articles and aggregated in a narrative review format. Results A total of 58 studies were conducted in 19 countries. The studies reported IVR use for 5 main clinical areas: neurological and development (n=10), pain reduction through distraction (n=20), exposure therapy for phobias (n=9), psychological applications (n=14), and others (n=5). Studies were primarily feasibility studies exploring systems and general user acceptance (n=29) and efficacy studies testing clinical effect (n=28). Conclusions IVR has a promising future in health care, both in research and commercial realms. As many of the studies examined are still exploring the feasibility of IVR for acute treatment of health conditions, evidence for the effectiveness of IVR is still developing.

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The Impact of Health Care Restructuring on Nosocomial Infections and Transmission of Antimicrobial Resistant Organisms

Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1155/2001/931796 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 271-274

Author(s):

J Conly ◽

Lynn Johnston

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Health Care Expenditures ◽

Outpatient Basis ◽

The Past ◽

Canadian Health ◽

Canadian Health Care ◽

The Impact

The past decade has seen a dramatic change in Canadian health care as the treatment of many patients shifts from the hospital setting to the home or other alternative health care settings (1). Complex advances in technology and significant changes in the funding environment have also precipitated many changes in the functional capacity of our health care system. The portion of the total Canadian health care expenditures that has been allocated to hospitals and other institutions has declined steadily over the past two decades (2,3). This reduction in institutional-based funding reflects the need to develop a system that improves the use of out-of-hospital sites for delivery of health care services and decreases reliance on the specific institutional component of the health care sector. Recent data reveal that Canadian hospital discharge rates have decreased by 14% between 1994 and 1998, and there has been a reduction in the length of stay from 7.4 to 7 days (4). In conjunction with a reduction in the number of hospital beds, there has been a massive shift in the proportion of surgeries that are performed on an outpatient basis. Further developments in the delivery of care include the increased use of telehealth, which allows health care professionals to provide increasingly complex services centralized hospital sites to outlying areas.

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The Antecedents and Consequences of Health Care Professional–Patient Online Interactions: Systematic Review

Journal of Medical Internet Research ◽

10.2196/13940 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (9) ◽

pp. e13940 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lili Shang ◽

Meiyun Zuo ◽

Dan Ma ◽

Qinjun Yu

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Future Research ◽

Online Interaction ◽

Health Care Settings ◽

Online Interactions ◽

Care Services ◽

Antecedents And Consequences

Background Online health care services effectively supplement traditional medical treatment. The development of online health care services depends on sustained interactions between health care professionals (HCPs) and patients. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the demands and gains of health care stakeholders in HCP-patient online interactions and determine an agenda for future work. Objective This study aims to present a systematic review of the antecedents and consequences of HCP-patient online interactions. It seeks to reach a better understanding of why HCPs and patients are willing to interact with each other online and what the consequences of HCP-patient online interactions are for health care stakeholders. Based on this, we intend to identify the gaps in existing studies and make recommendations for future research. Methods In accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, a systematic retrieval was carried out from the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus electronic databases. The search results were confined to those papers published in English between January 1, 2000 and June 30, 2018. Selected studies were then evaluated for quality; studies that did not meet quality criteria were excluded from further analysis. Findings of the reviewed studies related to our research questions were extracted and synthesized through inductive thematic analysis. Results A total of 8440 records were found after the initial search, 28 papers of which were selected for analysis. Accessibility to HCPs, self-management, and unmet needs were the main triggers for patients to participate in online interaction. For HCPs, patient education, career needs, and self-promotion were the major reasons why they took the online approach. There were several aspects of the consequences of HCP-patient online interactions on health care stakeholders. Consequences for patients included patient empowerment, health promotion, and acquisition of uncertain answers. Consequences for HCPs included social and economic returns, lack of control over their role, and gaining more appointments. HCP-patient online interactions also improved communication efficiency in offline settings and helped managers of online health care settings get a better understanding of patients’ needs. Health care stakeholders have also encountered ethical and legal issues during online interaction. Conclusions Through a systematic review, we sought out the antecedents and consequences of HCP-patient online interactions to understand the triggers for HCPs and patients to participate and the consequences of participating. Potential future research topics are the influences on the chain of online interaction, specifications and principles of privacy design within online health care settings, and roles that sociodemographic and psychological characteristics play. Longitudinal studies and the adoption of text-mining method are worth encouraging. This paper is expected to contribute to the sustained progress of online health care settings.

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Contextualizing co-production of health care: a systematic literature review

International Journal of Public Sector Management ◽

10.1108/ijpsm-07-2015-0125 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 72-90 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

Rocco Palumbo

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Medical Model ◽

Content Type ◽

Care Services ◽

Provision Of Care ◽

The Way

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contextualize the concepts of “service co-production” and “value co-creation” to health care services, challenging the traditional bio-medical model which focusses on illness treatment and neglects the role played by patients in the provision of care. Design/methodology/approach – For this purpose, the author conducted a systematic review, which paved the way for the identification of the concept of “health care co-production” and allowed to discuss its effects and implications. Starting from a database of 254 records, 65 papers have been included in systematic review and informed the development of this paper. Findings – Co-production of health care services implies the establishment of co-creating partnerships between health care professionals and patients, which are aimed at mobilizing the dormant resources of the latter. However, several barriers prevent the full implementation of health care co-production, nurturing the application of the traditional bio-medical model. Practical implications – Co-production of health care is difficult to realize, due to both health care professionals’ hostility and patients unwillingness to be involved in the provision of care. Nonetheless, the scientific literature is consistent in claiming that co-production of care paves the way for increased health outcomes, enhanced patient satisfaction, better service innovation, and cost savings. The establishment of multi-disciplinary health care teams, the improvement of patient-provider communication, and the enhancement of the use of ICTs for the purpose of value co-creation are crucial ingredients in the recipe for increased patient engagement. Originality/value – To the knowledge of the author, this is the first paper aimed at systematizing the scientific literature in the field of health care co-production. The originality of this paper stems from its twofold relevance: on the one hand, it emphasizes the pros and the cons of health care co-production and, on the other hand, it provides with insightful directions to deal with the engagement of patients in value co-creation.

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The Antecedents and Consequences of Health Care Professional–Patient Online Interactions: Systematic Review (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13940 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Lili Shang ◽

Meiyun Zuo ◽

Dan Ma ◽

Qinjun Yu

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Future Research ◽

Online Interaction ◽

Health Care Settings ◽

Online Interactions ◽

Care Services ◽

Antecedents And Consequences

BACKGROUND Online health care services effectively supplement traditional medical treatment. The development of online health care services depends on sustained interactions between health care professionals (HCPs) and patients. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the demands and gains of health care stakeholders in HCP-patient online interactions and determine an agenda for future work. OBJECTIVE This study aims to present a systematic review of the antecedents and consequences of HCP-patient online interactions. It seeks to reach a better understanding of why HCPs and patients are willing to interact with each other online and what the consequences of HCP-patient online interactions are for health care stakeholders. Based on this, we intend to identify the gaps in existing studies and make recommendations for future research. METHODS In accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, a systematic retrieval was carried out from the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus electronic databases. The search results were confined to those papers published in English between January 1, 2000 and June 30, 2018. Selected studies were then evaluated for quality; studies that did not meet quality criteria were excluded from further analysis. Findings of the reviewed studies related to our research questions were extracted and synthesized through inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS A total of 8440 records were found after the initial search, 28 papers of which were selected for analysis. Accessibility to HCPs, self-management, and unmet needs were the main triggers for patients to participate in online interaction. For HCPs, patient education, career needs, and self-promotion were the major reasons why they took the online approach. There were several aspects of the consequences of HCP-patient online interactions on health care stakeholders. Consequences for patients included patient empowerment, health promotion, and acquisition of uncertain answers. Consequences for HCPs included social and economic returns, lack of control over their role, and gaining more appointments. HCP-patient online interactions also improved communication efficiency in offline settings and helped managers of online health care settings get a better understanding of patients’ needs. Health care stakeholders have also encountered ethical and legal issues during online interaction. CONCLUSIONS Through a systematic review, we sought out the antecedents and consequences of HCP-patient online interactions to understand the triggers for HCPs and patients to participate and the consequences of participating. Potential future research topics are the influences on the chain of online interaction, specifications and principles of privacy design within online health care settings, and roles that sociodemographic and psychological characteristics play. Longitudinal studies and the adoption of text-mining method are worth encouraging. This paper is expected to contribute to the sustained progress of online health care settings.

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The Impact of War on Population Health

MacEwan University Student eJournal ◽

10.31542/j.muse.173 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Turkan Ahmet

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Status ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Negative Effects ◽

The Past ◽

Care Services ◽

Physical Environments ◽

The Social ◽

Personal Experiences ◽

The Impact

The past few decades of ongoing war in Iraq has had a dramatic impact on the health of Iraq’s population. Wars are known to have negative effects on the social and physical environments of individuals, as well as limit their access to the available health care services. This paper explores the personal experiences of my family members, who were exposed to war, as well as includes information that has been reviewed form many academic sources. The data aided in providing recommendations and developing strategies, on both local and international levels, to improve the health status of the populations exposed to war.

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