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Use of subjective information from the COPD home‐based device for improving provision of health care

Belde, M.M.J. (2009) Use of subjective information from the COPD home‐based device for improving provision of health care.

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Abstract:COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which is defined as “a lung disease characterized by chronic obstruction of lung airflow that interferes with normal breathing and is not fully reversible” (WHO, 2009). In the Netherlands 2% of the population has COPD (328.000 individuals). Six thousand people die of COPD every year (4% of all deaths). Novay is developing a home based device for COPD patients. It is a touch screen device which is placed at the patients’ home. On this device the patient answers questions about his health status daily, in the diary function, in which subjective information is emphasized. What other functions the device will have is not decided yet. The reasons to develop this home‐based device are two issues in the current situation: “a lack of insight in the real daily activities of the patients and crossorganizational communication among the involved members and health professionals” (Novay, 2008). The important elements in adoption and acceptance of an innovation (in this case a telehealth system) can be described in a flowchart. It starts with external variables which influence the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use. These last two elements can be divided in several factors. Perceived usefulness consists of: relative advantage; compatibility/FITT; observability; and staff needs assessment, involvement and support. Perceived ease of use consist of: complexity, trialability potential for reinvention, technical support, and staff changes required. These two factors have effect on the behavioral intention of the perceived users: it determines whether he is a supporter or an opponent of the innovation. And this behavioral intention estimates if the perceived user will actually use the new system, which can be observed after implementation. The main question of this study is: How can the subjective information from the diary function of the home based device be utilized by health professionals in health care provision to COPD patients? The study is executed in Enschede. Eight health professionals (four pulmonologists, three physiotherapists and one nurse practitioner) are interviewed in order to map their expectations and views on the home‐based device. The following conclusions can be drawn from the interviews: • The general view on the home‐based device is moderately positive; • The most important and most often mentioned advantage of the information from the home‐based device is overview and insight on the patients health status; • The information the health professionals need, give a complete view on how the patient is doing and how he feels about that (subjective information); • The information should be displayed in a graph or pie chart (it gives a clear view in one glance); • An action plan for the patient was identified as the most suitable solution to the possible problem of information overflow; • A frequently expressed worry is that the patients should be able and be motivated to fill in the device every day. II The most important recommendations derived from the conclusions are the following: • Demonstrate what the goal is of the home‐based device to the health professionals and what advantages the collected information gives them; • Include the overview‐function in the application; • Develop a long term plan for the post‐pilot stages; • Evaluate the definition of the target group; • Further research is necessary on the improvement of the communication and cooperation between the pulmonologist and the general practitioner.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
Novay
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration MSc (60644)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/59946
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