Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate MAWID mobile application developed by the Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia, which is used for primary care hospitals appointments management and for tracking and tracing COVID-19. Participants and Methods An online questionnaire-based survey was used for collecting data related to three major factors including Ease of Use, Satisfaction, and Benefits of MAWID application among its users. Out of total 2542 participants, 345 participants completed only a part of the survey, and 204 participants did not use the application. After removing, 549 invalid responses, a final sample of 1993 was included for the data analysis. Results 82.1% of the participants referred MAWID as easy to use application, 79.8% were highly satisfied with the application, and majority of the participants reflected potential benefits of using the application. T-test results have revealed that significant differences existed between males and females, and young and older participants in relation to the Ease of Use and Satisfaction levels associated with MAWID application. Conclusion Mobile applications can be very effective in delivering the healthcare services during pandemics. However, there is a need for regular evaluation and assessment to trach the change in users′ needs and update the app according to the changing requirements.

Background The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of Saudi Arabian citizens towards telemedicine during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional survey was designed to carry out this study. The electronic survey, prepared using Google Forms, was distributed to 1500 randomly selected citizens of Saudi Arabia. A total of 330 participants completed and returned the questionnaire. Basic statistics were used to describe the data. Results The majority of the respondents (73.9%) were female. More than half of them (54.8%) were >35 y of age and had graduate or postgraduate degrees (65.5%). A total of 96.7% of the respondents were Saudis. Most of the participants (70.0%) were familiar with the term ‘telemedicine’ and thought that telemedicine (92.1%) could reduce transportation costs. Of the respondents, 58.8% had not seen a telemedicine system before and 67.0% indicated that they had not previously used telemedicine services. A total of 87.3% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that telemedicine was a useful tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, more than half of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that telemedicine facilitates the diagnosis of people (58.8%), increases communication (58.2%), reduces clinic visits (85.9%) and performs tasks quickly (70.3%). Also, 51.5% of the respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that telemedicine affects patient privacy. Conclusions The outcomes indicated that most of the participants had a positive attitude towards the use of telemedicine as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. They believed that telemedicine saves time, labour and costs and is an effective tool to treat coronavirus patients at a safe distance. However, the government should develop programs to raise awareness in the population about the use of telemedicine for the treatment of various diseases that afflict the Saudi Arabian people. Likewise, a legal framework must be implemented to protect the privacy of patients and healthcare providers.

Accreditation is a widespread culture internationally and nationally. The effectiveness of compliance with accreditation standards was positively correlated with health care settings’ performance in multiple aspects: leadership, professional performance, patient safety and organizational culture. There is limited knowledge of the national compliance rate with accreditation standards. Therefore, it is important to assess the hospital compliance with accreditation rate in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia (KSA) and its related factors. This paper presents a quantitative cross-sectional study. Data were extracted from the annual Essential Safety Requirement (ESR) survey database from the Central Board for Accreditation of Health care Institutions (CBAHI) research center during the period 2016 to 2018. Hospitals that started their operation after the first ESR survey round in 2016 or shut down during the study period were excluded. The hospital scoring was on a scale of 0 to 100 and classified as follows: score 2 if the hospital satisfactory compliance (Fully Met) was ≥ 80% and score 1 if particular compliance (Partially Met) was ≥ 50% to < 80%. Then, a score of 0 indicated insufficient compliance (Not Met) when < 50% and a score of not applicable (NA) if the standard does not apply to the hospital. A total of 437 hospitals were surveyed in 20 regions in the KSA and had an overall compliance rate on average that was higher among private hospitals than among public hospitals (77% vs. 66%). Overall, private hospitals had a significantly better compliance rate than public hospitals (mean rate = 84% vs. 68%, respectively, P = 0.019). Large hospitals had more compliance with some standards than smaller hospitals. After adjusting for the year of the survey report, the private hospital type was more compliant than the public hospital. This study supports mandatory accreditation programs for both public and private health sectors, with increased monitoring by the concerned parties (i.e., CBAHI and the Ministry of Health). The authors encourage the application of accreditation for specialized and independent health services.

Purpose The objective of the present study is to explore the perceptions of patient safety culture (PSC) among King Fahd University Hospital’s (KFUH) employees and to develop recommendations to overcome the factors that impede the integration of PSC in the study setting. Methods This is a cross-sectional study that assessed the level of PSC at KFUH. This study used the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture tool from all KFUH healthcare workers (n=900) in 2018. Findings The response rate of the study was 67%. Findings show that KFUH excelled in three PSC composites: continuous organizational learning, feedback and communication about error, and frequency of events reported. In contrast, staffing, teamwork within units, and non-punitive response to error yielded low composite scores. Originality/Value The strength of the present study was the use of a valid questionnaire that has been used widely in the literature with a large sample size, which yielded valid results. It is, to our knowledge, the first research study that analyzes health workers’ perceptions on patient safety culture in a teaching hospital in Eastern Province in KSA and compares it with Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Saudi Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC). Results from the study highlight the need to employ an adequate number of workers, implement continuous patient safety training programs, and adopt safety programs and policies.

Background: This study aims to assess and compare patient trust in public vs private physicians and to determine the factors that can affect the level of trust in the context of the KSA. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the KSA to assess patient trust in physicians. A questionnaire was administered in both Arabic and English to patients above 18 years of age via online channels. Results: A statistically significant difference was found between the level of trust in public vs private physicians, where the public physicians showed higher patients' trust scores compared to private physicians, where the mean was 2.51 (SD=0.60) and 2.29 (SD=0.56), respectively, P-value<0.001. A statistically significant difference was also found between self-assessment health status (SAHS) groups (F(3)=11.429, P=0.010). Other factors were not significantly associated. Conclusion: This study found that public physicians engender a higher level of patient trust than private physicians. A further qualitative study should be conducted in the future to investigate the reasons behind the high trust in public physicians in the KSA. Practice Implications: The results of this study open doors for new investigations that might result in the implementation of new interventions to promote patient trust in the healthcare journey in KSA.

Background This research aims to assess the users’ perceptions of usability and quality of mobile health applications used for promoting physical activity in Saudi Arabia. Methods This was a quantitative cross-sectional study. A survey was developed based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) and distributed among the Saudi population through social media to assess the users’ perceptions of using mobile applications to enhance physical activity. The survey questionnaire consisted of 27 questions in six sections, including demographics (nine items), perceived usefulness (three items), perceived ease of use (three items), attitudes (three items), user experience (six items) and subjective quality (three items). All the participants were in Saudi Arabia and &gt;15 y of age. Results A total of 195 m-Health users participated in the survey. Of the total participants, 25.1% were overweight and 21.0% were obese. The workout frequency of most users was rarely (32.3%) and three to four times a week (29.2%). In addition, 55.9% of the users agreed that the application they use served all fitness levels and &gt;80% either agreed or strongly agreed that it was easy for them to learn how to use the application. More than 70% of users agreed or strongly agreed that the application enhanced their knowledge of workouts and physical activity and &gt;90% would recommend the application to others. There were no differences identified between the male and female participants and younger (&lt;40 y) and older (&gt;40 y) participants with respect to perceived usefulness and ease of use, attitudes, experiences and subjective quality. However, significant differences were observed between participants &lt;40 y and &gt;40 y of age in terms of perceived ease of use of mHealth applications. Conclusion mHealth users across Saudi Arabia believe that the mHealth applications have good usability and quality factors. As a result, they can motivate people and help them achieve their goals in relation to physical activities.

Background Telehealth plays a key role in supporting health care systems and influencing methods of health care delivery. Government laws and medical operating protocols have been largely modified to provide remote care to reduce social contact and ensure a safer patient environment. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the Ministry of Health (MOH) introduced several forms of telemedicine as alternatives to face-to-face consultations in clinical settings. Objective This study aimed to assess the awareness and utilization of telehealth services before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in the KSA. Methods In this longitudinal study, we compared the awareness and utilization of 937-telephone health services (ie, a toll-free telephone service to provide medical and administrative health care services at any time for the population) before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in the KSA. Using a convenience sampling technique, a validated web-based questionnaire was distributed on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp) at 2 timepoints: before (February 2019) and during (May 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. Results The study sample comprised a total of 1961 participants who completed the questionnaire before (n=1303, 66%) and during (n=658, 33%) the COVID-19 pandemic. Both awareness (before=46% vs during=78%) and utilization (before=42% vs during=48%) of the 937-telephone health services increased significantly during the pandemic (P<.001). No significant association of the awareness or utilization of 937-telephone health services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic was found with respect to the participants’ age, education level, having children, or having any chronic disease. Conclusions Our findings indicate significant increases in the awareness and utilization of 937-telephone health services during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting an increase in public acceptance of the service and providing evidence of an equitable telemedicine service for the population. Further studies are needed to provide a deeper understanding of the barriers and facilitators to the use of 937-telephone health services for different groups of the population.

This study aimed to explore health-care workers' perceptions of patient safety culture (PSC) at primary health-care centers (PHCs) in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and the factors that influence them. An additional aim was to identify the challenges of adopting PSCs in the PHCs of this region. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that adopted a PSC questionnaire from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The questionnaire was administered online and onsite targeted health-care workers at private, governmental, and quasigovernmental PHCs in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, with 310 participants completing the survey. Results:The overall positive response rate of participants to the survey areas was 43.5% which is lower than the average for the AHRQ data in general. Teamwork scored the highest positive response (68.8%) while Number of Events and non-punitive Response to Error scored the lowest at 10.6% and 30.7%, respectively. In addition, ANOVA and t-tests were used to determine the bivariate associations for the parametric variables. The study reveals statistically significant differences between all demographic variables and overall PSC score, except by age. Conclusion:The findings highlight a number of areas for improvement, particularly in relation to event reporting, non-punitive responses, and openness in communication. Consequently, establishing a safety culture in health-care organizations necessitates the elimination of three crucial elements regarding errors: blame, fear, and silence. Error reporting should not just be considered a means of learning from mistakes; it should also be considered the first step towards preventing injury and improving patient safety.