Frick Nicholas R J, Möllmann Henriette L, Mirbabaie Milad, Stieglitz Stefan
Department of IT-Strategy, MAINGAU Energie GmbH, Obertshausen, Germany.
Department of Oral-, Maxillo- and Plastic Facial Surgery, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
JMIR Med Inform. 2021 Feb 1;9(2):e25183. doi: 10.2196/25183.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed the private lives of millions of people but has significantly affected the collaboration of medical specialists throughout health care systems worldwide. Hospitals are making changes to their regular operations to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 while ensuring the treatment of emergency patients. These substantial changes affect the typical work setting of clinicians and require the implementation of organizational arrangements.
In this study, we aim to increase our understanding of how digital transformation drives virtual collaboration among clinicians in hospitals in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
We present the lessons learned from an exploratory case study in which we observed the introduction of an information technology (IT) system for enhancing collaboration among clinicians in a German hospital. The results are based on 16 semistructured interviews with physicians from various departments and disciplines; the interviews were generalized to better understand and interpret the meaning of the statements.
Three key lessons and recommendations explain how digital transformation ensures goal-driven collaboration among clinicians. First, we found that implementing a disruptive change requires alignment of the mindsets of the stakeholders. Second, IT-enabled collaboration presupposes behavioral rules that must be followed. Third, transforming antiquated processes demands a suitable technological infrastructure.
Digital transformation is being driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the rapid introduction of IT-enabled collaboration reveals grievances concerning the digital dissemination of medical information along the patient treatment path. To avoid being caught unprepared by future crises, digital transformation must be further driven to ensure collaboration, and the diagnostic and therapeutic process must be opened to disruptive strategies.
新冠疫情不仅改变了数百万人的私人生活，还显著影响了全球医疗系统中医学专家之间的合作。医院正在改变其常规运营，以减缓新冠病毒的传播，同时确保对急诊患者的治疗。这些重大变化影响了临床医生的典型工作环境，需要实施组织安排。
在本研究中，我们旨在加深对数字转型如何在危机时期（如新冠疫情期间）推动医院临床医生进行虚拟协作的理解。
我们介绍了一项探索性案例研究的经验教训，在该研究中，我们观察了德国一家医院引入的用于加强临床医生之间协作的信息技术（IT）系统。结果基于对来自不同科室和学科的医生进行的16次半结构化访谈；对访谈进行了归纳，以更好地理解和解释陈述的含义。
三个关键经验教训和建议解释了数字转型如何确保临床医生之间目标驱动的协作。首先，我们发现实施颠覆性变革需要利益相关者的思维方式保持一致。其次，基于IT的协作以必须遵守的行为规则为前提。第三，转变过时的流程需要合适的技术基础设施。
数字转型由新冠疫情推动。然而，基于IT的协作的快速引入揭示了在患者治疗路径上医学信息的数字传播方面存在的问题。为避免未来危机时措手不及，必须进一步推动数字转型以确保协作，并且诊断和治疗过程必须对颠覆性策略开放。
