Identifying benefits and concerns with using digital health services during COVID-19: evidence from a hospital-based patient survey
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Despite large-scale adoption during COVID-19, patient perceptions on the benefits and potential risks with receiving care through digital technologies have remained largely unexplored. A quantitative content analysis of responses to a questionnaire (N = 6766) conducted at a multi-site acute trust in London (UK), was adopted to identify commonly reported benefits and concerns. Patients reported a range of promising benefits beyond immediate usage during COVID-19, including ease of access; support for disease and care management; improved timeliness of access and treatment; and better prioritisation of healthcare resources. However, in addition to known risks such as data security and inequity in access, our findings also illuminate some less studied concerns, including perceptions of compromised safety; negative impacts on patient-clinician relationships; and difficulties in interpreting health information provided through electronic health records and mHealth apps. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Date Issued
2023-10
Date Acceptance
2023-11-14
Citation
Health Informatics Journal, 2023, 29 (4)
ISSN
0965-8335
Publisher
SAGE Publishing
Journal / Book Title
Health Informatics Journal
Volume
29
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
License URL
Identifier
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/14604582231217339
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2023-11-27