Spierings Jelle Friso, Willinge Gijs Johan Antoon, Twigt Bas Anne, Repping Sjoerd, Kokke Marike Cornelia, van Veen Ruben, van der Velde Detlef
Department of Trauma surgery, St. Antonius Ziekenhuis Utrecht, Soestwetering 1, Utrecht, 3543 AZ, The Netherlands.
Department of Trauma Surgery, OLVG, Jan Tooropstraat 164, Amsterdam, 1061 AE, The Netherlands.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Dec 18;24(1):1606. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11259-7.
As in many other countries, the Dutch emergency healthcare system is under pressure due to increasing numbers of patients, limited budgets, and constrained (human) resources (TraumaNet AMC 19 May, 2016; Int J Emerg Med 6:41, 2013). eHealth, enlarged by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been advocated to substitute face-to-face care to alleviate the pressure of the burden of care (Ministry of Health Welfare and Sport, 2022; Dutch Society of Hospitals, 2022). In order for eHealth solutions to be adopted in daily practice, is it essential to assess healthcare professionals' attitudes toward its usefulness. As this is currently lacking, this study explores the use of eHealth in daily practice, opportunities of eHealth, implementation barriers, and desired functions and features amongst healthcare professionals working in Dutch orthopedic surgery and traumatology.
A cross-sectional, web-based survey among the 605 members of the Dutch Society of Trauma Surgery and related healthcare professionals on the attitudes towards eHealth in daily practice was performed between November 4, 2021, and March 31, 2022. The survey consisted of five sections with 42 questions, including close-ended questions, multiple-choice questions, 5-point Likert Scales, Visual Analogue Scales, and free-text questions.
Of the 111 responding healthcare professionals, 59/111 (53%) were male, and the median age was 40 years (IQR 26 to 67). Almost all participants owned smartphones (109/111, 98.2%). Most participants reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had influenced their attitude towards the usefulness of eHealth positively (80/111, 72%). Most participants (59%) would use a digital alternative instead of face-to-face follow-up if proven a safe technology, and expect that 64% of all patients would prefer a digital option. Most healthcare professionals stated that eHealth could reduce healthcare costs (94/111, 85%) and improve patient satisfaction (81/111, 73%) but is hindered most by a lack of financial support during implementation (57/111, 51%), followed by complex laws and regulations (54/111, 49%).
Results of this cross-sectional survey show that attitudes of orthopedic surgery or traumatology-related healthcare professionals toward the usefulness of eHealth are positive and may have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though healthcare professionals believe eHealth could reduce costs and improve patient satisfaction, daily clinical use remains low possibly due to a lack of long-term and short-term financial support and complex laws and regulations.
与许多其他国家一样，由于患者数量增加、预算有限以及（人力）资源受限，荷兰的紧急医疗系统面临压力（创伤网络AMC，2016年5月19日；《国际急诊医学杂志》6:41，2013年）。因新冠疫情而得到扩展的电子健康已被倡导用于替代面对面护理，以减轻护理负担带来的压力（卫生、福利和体育部，2022年；荷兰医院协会，2022年）。为了使电子健康解决方案能够在日常实践中得到应用，评估医疗保健专业人员对其有用性的态度至关重要。由于目前缺乏这方面的研究，本研究探讨了荷兰骨科手术和创伤学领域的医疗保健专业人员在日常实践中对电子健康的使用情况、电子健康的机遇、实施障碍以及期望的功能和特性。
在2021年11月4日至2022年3月31日期间，对荷兰创伤外科学会的605名成员及相关医疗保健专业人员进行了一项基于网络的横断面调查，以了解他们对日常实践中电子健康的态度。该调查由五个部分组成，共42个问题，包括封闭式问题、多项选择题、5点李克特量表、视觉模拟量表和自由文本问题。
在111名回复的医疗保健专业人员中，59/111（53%）为男性，年龄中位数为40岁（四分位间距为26至67岁）。几乎所有参与者都拥有智能手机（109/111，98.2%）。大多数参与者报告称，新冠疫情对他们对电子健康有用性的态度产生了积极影响（80/111，72%）。如果被证明是一种安全的技术，大多数参与者（59%）会使用数字替代方式而非面对面随访，并预计所有患者中有64%会更喜欢数字选项。大多数医疗保健专业人员表示，电子健康可以降低医疗成本（94/111，85%）并提高患者满意度（81/111，73%），但在实施过程中，最受缺乏资金支持的阻碍（57/111，51%），其次是复杂的法律法规（54/111，49%）。
这项横断面调查的结果表明，骨科手术或创伤学相关医疗保健专业人员对电子健康有用性的态度是积极的，并且在新冠疫情期间可能有所增强。尽管医疗保健专业人员认为电子健康可以降低成本并提高患者满意度，但由于缺乏长期和短期的资金支持以及复杂的法律法规，其在日常临床中的使用仍然较低。
