1 Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
2 Aja University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Health Inf Manag. 2017 Jan;46(1):32-41. doi: 10.1177/1833358316661065. Epub 2016 Aug 6.
To date, several models have been developed to evaluate e-health readiness in healthcare organisations; however, no specific tool has been designed to assess or measure e-health readiness.
The aim of this research was to design an e-health readiness assessment tool and to apply this tool to two Iranian hospitals to assess their readiness for the implementation of e-health.
The study, which was undertaken in 2012, consisted of three phases: (i) review of existing models of e-health; (ii) design of an e-health readiness assessment tool; and (iii) trial of the assessment tool in two Iranian hospitals. Phase 1 consisted of a literature review that informed the development of the tool. In phase 2, we developed an e-health readiness assessment tool with feedback using two questionnaires from 40 employees from two teaching hospitals in Iran. In phase 3, we applied the tool to the same two Iranian teaching hospitals. Participants who completed the questionnaires were from management, health information technology, medical and nursing backgrounds and were familiar with e-health. A purposive sampling method was used to invite them to take part in the study. Data from the questionnaires were analysed using factor analysis and descriptive statistics.
Five dimensions and twenty-one indices were selected to be included in the e-health readiness tool. The 5 dimensions and their relative importance were e-health readiness (16%), information and communication technology (ICT) functions (15%), environmental readiness (20%), human resources readiness (29%) and ICT readiness (20%). The total e-health readiness scores for hospital A and hospital B were 0.22 and 0.4, respectively (a score of 1 is the ideal).
It is important to assess the e-health readiness of hospitals to save time and money and be able to better prepare for ICT implementations. The e-health readiness assessment tool provides a relatively simple method for assessing hospitals and provides essential information to assist healthcare facilities focus preparations and planning for e-health implementations.
迄今为止，已经开发出了几种模型来评估医疗机构中的电子健康准备情况；但是，还没有专门的工具来评估或衡量电子健康准备情况。
本研究旨在设计一种电子健康准备情况评估工具，并将其应用于两家伊朗医院，以评估它们实施电子健康的准备情况。
这项研究于 2012 年进行，包括三个阶段：（i）审查现有的电子健康模型；（ii）设计电子健康准备情况评估工具；（iii）在两家伊朗医院试用评估工具。第 1 阶段包括文献综述，为工具的开发提供了信息。在第 2 阶段，我们使用来自伊朗两所教学医院的 40 名员工的两份问卷，通过反馈开发了电子健康准备情况评估工具。在第 3 阶段，我们将该工具应用于这两所伊朗教学医院。完成问卷的参与者来自管理、健康信息技术、医疗和护理背景，并且熟悉电子健康。采用目的抽样法邀请他们参加研究。使用因子分析和描述性统计分析对问卷数据进行了分析。
选择了五个维度和二十一个指标，包括在电子健康准备情况评估工具中。这五个维度及其相对重要性分别为电子健康准备情况（16%）、信息和通信技术（ICT）功能（15%）、环境准备情况（20%）、人力资源准备情况（29%）和 ICT 准备情况（20%）。医院 A 和医院 B 的电子健康总准备情况评分为 0.22 和 0.4（1 分为理想）。
评估医院的电子健康准备情况对于节省时间和金钱，并能够更好地为 ICT 实施做好准备非常重要。电子健康准备情况评估工具提供了一种相对简单的方法来评估医院，并提供了必要的信息，以帮助医疗保健机构集中准备和规划电子健康的实施。
