| Author/Editor | Black, Ashly D; Car, Josip; Pagliari, Claudia; Anandan, Chantelle | |
| Title | The impact of eHealth on the quality and safety of health care: a systematic overview | |
| Type | članek | |
| Source | PLoS Med | |
| Vol. and No. | Letnik 8, št. 1 | |
| Publication year | 2011 | |
| Volume | str. e1000387 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Abstract | Background: There is considerable international interest in exploiting the potential of digital solutions to enhance the quality and safety of health care. Implementations of transformative eHealth technologies are underway globally, often at very considerable cost. In order to assess the impact of eHealth solutions on the quality and safety of health care, and to inform policy decisions on eHealth deployments, we undertook a systematic review of systematic reviews assessing the effectiveness and consequences of various eHealth technologies on the quality and safety of care. Methods and findings: We developed novel search strategies, conceptual maps of health care quality, safety, and eHealth interventions, and then systematically identified, scrutinised, and synthesised the systematic review literature. Major biomedical databases were searched to identify systematic reviews published between 1997 and 2010. Related theoretical, methodological, and technical material was also reviewed. We identified 53 systematic reviews that focused on assessing the impact of eHealth interventions on the quality and/or safety of health care and 55 supplementary systematic reviews providing relevant supportive information. This systematic review literature was found to be generally of substandard quality with regards to methodology, reporting, and utility. We thematically categorised eHealth technologies into three main areas: (1) storing, managing, and transmission of data; (2) clinical decision support; and (3) facilitating care from a distance. We found that despite support from policymakers, there was relatively little empirical evidence to substantiate many of the claims made in relation to these technologies. Whether the success of those relatively few solutions identified to improve quality and safety would continue if these were deployed beyond the contexts in which they were originally developed, has yet to be established. (Abs. trunc. at 2000 ch.) | |
| Descriptors | DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE QUALITY ASSURANCE, HEALTH CARE HEALTH POLICY COMPUTER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL |