Leaders’ support for using online symptom checkers in Finnish primary care: Survey study

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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Date
2021-11
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
13
1–13
Series
HEALTH INFORMATICS JOURNAL, Volume 27, issue 4
Abstract
Online symptom checkers (SCs) are eHealth solutions that offer healthcare organizations the possibility to empower their patients to independently assess their symptoms. The successful implementation of eHealth solutions, such as SCs, requires a supportive organizational culture and leadership. However, there is limited knowledge about the factors associated with leaders’ support for the use of SCs. The aim of the study was to identify the factors associated to primary care leaders’ support for SCs in triage and their experiences of the benefits and challenges related to the use of SCs. An online survey was used to collect data from 84 Finnish primary care leaders. The data were analyzed using statistical analysis methods and content analysis. Vision clarity, perceiving efficiency improvements, and considering the service to be beneficial for patients were associated with leaders’ support for the service (β ranging from 0.41 to 0.44, p < 0.001). Leaders’ support for the service was also associated with how well the leaders provided information about the service to their subordinates (β =0.22, p < 0.048). SCs present slightly more challenges than benefits regarding health professionals’ work. The developers of SCs should focus more on features that decrease health professionals’ workload as well as how the solution can benefit patients.
Description
Keywords
ehealth, leadership, Online symptom checkers, Triage advice, support, Health professionals, primary care
Other note
Citation
Laukka , E , Kujala , S , Gluschkoff , K , Kanste , O , Hörhammer , I & Heponiemi , T 2021 , ' Leaders’ support for using online symptom checkers in Finnish primary care: Survey study ' , HEALTH INFORMATICS JOURNAL , vol. 27 , no. 4 , pp. 1–13 . https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582211052259