Home // International Journal On Advances in Life Sciences, volume 8, numbers 1 and 2, 2016 // View article

Digital Users in Pre-Digital Hospital Organisations? An Analysis on the Readiness for Electronic Communication Between a Hospital and Surgical Patients

Authors:
Kari Dyb
Conceição Granja
Stein Roald Bolle
Gunnar Hartvigsen

Keywords: e-readiness; electronic communication; ICT; health policy; hospitals; surgical departments; healthcare workers; patients; electronic health record; health authority; Norway

Abstract:
Are hospitals and surgical patients ready for electronic com-munication prior to surgery? This paper discusses the readi-ness for electronic communication between surgical patients and a university hospital in Norway. The first step in our study approach was to map the main actors involved in pre-operative planning and electronic communication. This work mapped six diverse main actors and revealed the need for multiple ap-proaches to address the e-readiness of the different actors. The study approach consists of the following: (1) a study of the most recent health reforms in Norway, focusing on e-readiness from political and policy perspectives; (2) an in-depth empirical observation and interview study of the pre-operative planning process at a university hospital, focusing on the readiness for two-way electronic communication prior to surgery; (3) a quali-tative interview study of patients’ experiences with surgical cancellations, focusing on the patients’ readiness for electronic communication; (4) an inquiry into the readiness of the hospi-tals’ electronic health record system to integrate two-way com-munication and (5) a study of the readiness for electronic pa-tient–hospital communication from the perspective of the re-gional health authority’s ICT operational unit. The results are reported in six analytical categories based on the identification of the main actors in the field. The authors’ conclusion is that Norwegian health policy strongly promotes electronic collabo-ration and that patients and healthcare workers are ready to use new electronic tools. However, the hospital as an entity, together with the electronic health record system and the au-thority’s ICT operational unit—all of which are important actors in the field—are currently not ready for electronic com-munication between patients and the hospital.

Pages: 39 to 49

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2016. Used with permission.

Publication date: June 30, 2016

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2660