A study on the adoption and perceived utility of mobile healthcare by primary healthcare workers / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To understand the current situation of mobile healthcare adoption and perceived utility of primary healthcare workers, and to provide strategic suggestions for primary medical and health institutions to reduce their burden, increase efficiency and empowerment through informatization.Methods:In July 2019, 91 employees of different positions from 11 primary medical and healthcare institutions were interviewed on the topic of " adoption and perceived utility of mobile healthcare" . Nvivo11 qualitative research software was used to code and catalogue the interview records. Response rate, penetration rate and contingency table were used to describe the distribution of perceived utility.Results:Mobile healthcare is widely adopted by primary healthcare workers in the surveyed areas, mainly including smart phone applications and portable medical devices; the response rates of perceived utility positive and negative utility were 78.97% and 21.03% respectively, and the top five perceived utilities were work innovation, work efficiency improvement, network effect, data-driven resource allocation and technology overload, with a cumulative response rate of 73.80%. There were statistical differences in perceived utility among different posts. The penetration of management and public healthcare personnel was higher than others.Conclusions:The development of mobile healthcare is in the primary stage, evolving into an integrated stage. The initial effects for innovation and efficiency have emerged. The high utility of network effect, resource allocation and clinical decision support is more promising. Meanwhile, the double-edged sword effects of mobile healthcare call for attention, as such challenges in development as technology overload, technology investment and digital divide should be treated with caution and care.