The Role of Health Technology in Transforming Healthcare Delivery and Enhancing Spending Efficiency ​

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziyad S. Almalki ◽  
Duaa A. Simsim
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Healthcare Costs ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Healthcare Spending ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Health Technologies

Objectives: Advances in technology are changing the way healthcare services are delivered. The adoption of different health technologies has significantly improved health access and efficiency. In addition, health-technology adoption can help immensely in improving health outcomes and enhancing public and private healthcare spending efficiency. However, the role of health technology in transforming healthcare delivery and enhancing spending efficiency is not well understood. In this paper, we reviewed the role of emerging technologies in delivering health services that promote health outcomes, improve productivity of the healthcare provider, and reduce healthcare costs. Methods: A narrative review was conducted of published articles as well as grey literature on application of technology in delivering medical care. Studies that met the following criteria were included: addressed a relevant aspect of technology in healthcare delivery; written in English; published between 1994 and June 2020; qualitative and quantitative study designs, systematic reviews, and primary and secondary research. Main results and conclusions: Utilizing technologies in delivering health services showed promise in improving health outcomes, enhancing healthcare productivity, and reducing overall healthcare costs. However, before these technologies are implemented, reimbursement and equity are two main issues that need to be addressed.

Exploring the Role of Service Quality and Knowledge for Mobile Health Services

2020 ◽  
pp. 1632-1653
Author(s):  
Nabila Nisha ◽  
Mehree Iqbal ◽  
Afrin Rifat ◽  
Sherina Idrish
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Facilitating Conditions

The use of mobile technology-based services has made healthcare delivery more accessible and affordable in recent times. In fact, mobile health services today act as an effective means of providing healthcare knowledge to users directly from providers. However, the cynical behavior of users regarding this medium of healthcare services often encircles around the quality of such services. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of service quality and knowledge among other underlying factors that can influence future use intentions of m-Health services in the context of Bangladesh. The conceptual model of the study identifies that certain aspects of service qualities like reliability, privacy, responsiveness, empathy and information quality along with facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, performance expectancy and social influence plays an important role in capturing users' overall perceptions of mobile health services. Finally, the study highlights managerial implications, future research directions and limitations from the Bangladesh perspective.

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN DENMARK

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben Jørgensen ◽  
Anne Hvenegaard ◽  
Finn Børlum Kristensen
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
The State ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Health Technologies

The Danish healthcare services are mainly provided by public sector institutions. The system is highly decentralized. The state has little direct influence on the provision of healthcare services. State influence is exercised through legislation and budget allocations. The main task of the state is to initiate, co-ordinate, and advise. Counties, which run the hospitals, also decide on the placement of services. The hospital sector is controlled within the framework of legislation and global budgets. General practitioners occupy a central position in the Danish healthcare sector, acting as gatekeepers to the rest of the system. The system works well, and its structure has resulted in steady costs of health care for a long period. There is no regulatory mechanism in the Danish health services requiring use of health technology assessment (HTA) as a basis for policy decisions, planning, or administrative procedures. However, since the late 1970s a number of comprehensive assessments of health technology have formed the basis for national health policy decisions. In 1997, after years of public criticism of the quality of hospital care and health technologies, and on the basis of a previously developed national HTA strategy, a national institute for HTA (DIHTA) was established. There seems to be a growing awareness of evidence-based healthcare among health professionals and a general acceptance of health economic analyses as a basis for health policy decision making. This progress is coupled with growing regional HTA activity in the health services. HTA seems to have a bright future in Denmark.

Barriers to and facilitators of the uptake of digital health technology in cardiology: a systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Whitelaw ◽  
D Pellegrini ◽  
H.G.C Van Spall
Keyword(s):  
Digital Health ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Clinical Workflow ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Patient Level ◽  
Use Of Technology

Abstract Background Digital health technology has the potential to revolutionize the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery. However, the uptake of digital health technology has been low in clinical practice. The factors that contribute to the limited adoption of digital health technology, particularly in cardiology, are unclear. Purpose We identified and synthesized the barriers to and facilitators of digital health technology uptake in cardiology, with a focus on provider- and patient- level barriers and facilitators. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL databases for studies published January 2000 - December 2019 that reported barriers to and/or facilitators of digital health technology adoption in cardiology. Two reviewers screened and extracted data independently. We conducted a thematic analysis to identify major themes pertaining to digital health technology uptake by both providers and patients. Results The search identified 3062 unique studies, of which 23 qualitative studies met eligibility criteria. Seventeen studies included semi-structured interviews and 6 included focus groups. Five (22%) studies reported provider-level facilitators, which included technology usability, integration into clinical workflow, and improved patient outcomes. Eighteen (78%) studies reported patient-level facilitators, which included ongoing technical support, improved access to healthcare services, and improved self-management. Six (26%) studies reported provider-level barriers, which included lack of integration into clinical workflow, increased healthcare costs, and lack of validation and reliability of technology. Finally, 19 (83%) studies reported patient-level barriers which included lack of knowledge about technology, limited internet access, and physical impairments making use of technology difficult. Conclusions Identifying barriers to and facilitators of digital health technology could help improve its uptake in cardiology. The findings of this study can be used to inform researchers, clinicians, and stakeholders who wish to develop and implement digital health technologies that meet the needs of providers and patients. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Exploring the Role of Service Quality and Knowledge for Mobile Health Services

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabila Nisha ◽  
Mehree Iqbal ◽  
Afrin Rifat ◽  
Sherina Idrish
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Managerial Implications

The use of mobile technology-based services has made healthcare delivery more accessible and affordable in recent times. In fact, mobile health services today act as an effective means of providing healthcare knowledge to users directly from providers. However, the cynical behavior of users regarding this medium of healthcare services often encircles around the quality of such services. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of service quality and knowledge among other underlying factors that can influence future use intentions of m-Health services in the context of Bangladesh. The conceptual model of the study identifies that certain aspects of service qualities like reliability, privacy, responsiveness, empathy and information quality along with facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, performance expectancy and social influence plays an important role in capturing users' overall perceptions of mobile health services. Finally, the study highlights managerial implications, future research directions and limitations from the Bangladesh perspective.

scholarly journals It’s Not the Model, It’s the Way You Use It: Exploratory Early Health Economics Amid Complexity Comment on "Problems and Promises of Health Technologies: The Role of Early Health Economic Modelling"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Partington ◽  
Jonathan Karnon
Keyword(s):  
Health Economic ◽  
Complex Interventions ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Economic Modelling ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Significant Disagreement ◽  
Early Health ◽  
Health Economic Modelling

In a review recently published in this journal, Grutters et al outline the scope and impact of their early health economic modelling of healthcare innovations. Their reflections shed light on ways that health economists can shift-away from traditional reimbursement decision-support, towards a broader role of facilitating the exploration of existing care pathways, and the design of options to implement or discontinue healthcare services. This is a crucial role in organisations that face constant pressure to react and adapt with changes to their existing service configurations, but where there may exist significant disagreement and uncertainty on the extent to which change is warranted. Such dynamics are known to create complex implementation environments, where changes risk being poorly implemented or fail to be sustained. In this commentary, we extend the discussion by Grutters et al on early health economic modelling, to the evaluation of complex interventions and systems. We highlight how early health economic modelling can contribute to a participatory approach for ongoing learning and development within healthcare organisations.

scholarly journals Digi-HTA: Health technology assessment framework for digital healthcare services

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jari Haverinen ◽  
Niina Keränen ◽  
Petra Falkenbach ◽  
Anna Maijala ◽  
Timo Kolehmainen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
The State ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Digital Healthcare ◽  
And Robotics

Health technology assessment (HTA) refers to the systematic evaluation of the properties, effects, and/or impacts of health technology. The main purpose of the assessment is to inform decisionmakers in order to better support the introduction of new health technologies. New digital healthcare solutions like mHealth, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics have brought with them a great potential to further develop healthcare services, but their introduction should follow the same criteria as that of other healthcare methods. They must provide evidence-based benefits and be safe to use, and their impacts on patients and organizations need to be clarified. The first objective of this study was to describe the state-of-the-art HTA methods for mHealth, AI, and robotics. The second objective of this study was to evaluate the domains needed in the assessment. The final aim was to develop an HTA framework for digital healthcare services to support the introduction of novel technologies into Finnish healthcare. In this study, the state-of-the-art HTA methods were evaluated using a literature review and interviews. It was noted that some good practices already existed, but the overall picture showed that further development is still needed, especially in the AI and robotics fields. With the cooperation of professionals, key aspects and domains that should be taken into account to make fast but comprehensive assessments were identified. Based on this information, we created a new framework which supports the HTA process for digital healthcare services. The framework was named Digi-HTA.

scholarly journals Improving Access and Utilization of Maternal Healthcare Services through Focused Antenatal Care in Rural Ghana: A Qualitative Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Haruna ◽  
Gordon Dandeebo ◽  
Sylvester Z. Galaa
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
Antenatal Care ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Maternal Healthcare ◽  
Focused Antenatal Care

Improved access to and utilization of various maternal healthcare services have been seen as the panacea to poor maternal and child health outcomes characterizing many developing countries. Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) replaced the regular antenatal care model about a decade and a half ago. This study sought to document empirical outcomes of how the FANC approach translates access and utilization of maternal health services into positive maternal health outcomes. We utilized a descriptive qualitative design and analysis. We applied key informant interviewing to collect data from 206 respondents consisting of 140 women in their fertility age and 66 health workers across 14 communities in the study district. We found that FANC has been widely implemented across the district with most of the required services integrated into the existing healthcare delivery system. Overall, there has been successful implementation of FANC in the district, resulting in several benefits including the increased utilization of maternal healthcare services, acceptance of family planning, increased skilled delivery, and utilization of postnatal care (PNC) services. This notwithstanding, a number of issues need to be addressed to improve FANC services. These include provision of adequate infrastructure, essential supplies, communication and transportation systems, and manpower and adoption of positive sociocultural practices. No effort should be spared in providing these to sustain the successes and ensure sustainability of FANC.

scholarly journals Scoping Review on Maternal Health among Immigrant and Refugee Women in Canada: Prenatal, Intrapartum, and Postnatal Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Khanlou ◽  
N. Haque ◽  
A. Skinner ◽  
A. Mantini ◽  
C. Kurtz Landy
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Access To Health Services ◽  
Childbearing Age ◽  
Refugee Women ◽  
Immigrant And Refugee

The last fifteen years have seen a dramatic increase in both the childbearing age and diversity of women migrating to Canada. The resulting health impact underscores the need to explore access to health services and the related maternal health outcome. This article reports on the results of a scoping review focused on migrant maternal health within the context of accessible and effective health services during pregnancy and following delivery. One hundred and twenty-six articles published between 2000 and 2016 that met our inclusion criteria and related to this group of migrant women, with pregnancy/motherhood status, who were living in Canada, were identified. This review points at complex health outcomes among immigrant and refugee women that occur within the compelling gaps in our knowledge of maternal health during all phases of maternity. Throughout the prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods of maternity, barriers to accessing healthcare services were found to disadvantage immigrant and refugee women putting them at risk for challenging maternal health outcomes. Interactions between the uptake of health information and factors related to the process of immigrant settlement were identified as major barriers. Availability of appropriate services in a country that provides universal healthcare is discussed.

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN IRELAND

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 449-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ahern ◽  
Nessa O'Doherty
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Hospital System ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
New Public Health

Ireland's health system is primarily funded from general taxation and is publicly provided, although private health care retains a considerable role. It is a unique structure, a mixture of universal health service free at the point of consumption and a fee-based private system where individuals subscribe to private health insurance that covers some of their medical expenses. The recent history of the Irish health services saw consolidation of existing services and an expansion into new areas to adapt to changing practices and needs. There has also been a drive to extract maximum efficiency so as to maintain the volume and quality of patient services at a time of very tight financial constraints. Introduction of new health technologies continued to accelerate. New technologies tended to spread rapidly before systematic appraisal of their costs and benefits. When the state is involved in funding the public hospital system, acceptance of new technology is a matter for discussion between agencies and the Department of Health and Children. Decisions about spending annual “development funding” have generally not been based on careful assessment of proposals for new technology. In 1995, a healthcare reform put new Public Health Departments in Health Boards in a prime position in Ireland's health services organization. These departments now emphasize evidence-based medicine. While Ireland does not have a national health technology assessment (HTA) program, there are plans to form an advisory group on HTA in 1998. HTA is seen as a significant element of future health policy in Ireland.

scholarly journals Examining Stakeholder’s Views On Refugee Healthcare Needs, Current Barriers in Accessing Healthcare Services and Future Healthcare Direction in New Zealand: A Qualitative Phenomenological Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bafreen Sherif ◽  
Ahmed Awaisu ◽  
Nadir Kheir
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Personnel ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
Healthcare Needs

Abstract Background The annual New Zealand refugee quota was increased to 1500 places from 2020 onwards as a response to the global refugee crisis. The specific healthcare needs of refugees are not clearly understood globally and communication between healthcare providers and refugees remains poor. Methods A phenomenological qualitative methodology was employed to conduct semi-structured interviews among purposively selected stakeholders who work in refugee organisations and relevant bodies in New Zealand. Results The participants indicated the need for a national framework of inclusion, mandating cultural competency training for frontline healthcare and non-healthcare personnel, creation of a national interpretation phone line, and establishing health navigators. Barriers to accessing health services identified included some social determinants of health such as housing and community environment; health-seeking behaviour and health literacy; and social support networks. Future healthcare delivery should focus on capacity building of existing services, including co-design processes, increased funding for refugee-specific health services, and whole government approach. Conclusion Policymakers and refugee organisations and their frontline personnel should seek to address the deficiencies identified in order to provide equitable, timely and cost-effective healthcare services for refugees in New Zealand.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document