A framework for assessing ICT preparedness for e-health implementations

Abstract

Electronic health (e-health) is probably one of the most significant contributions of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in present day's healthcare. ICT efficiently bridges healthcare sector and technology for e-health implementation, which is a costly affair due to involvement of considerable amount of planning and investment. Preparedness, on the other hand can be defined as a state of readiness prior taking any action and applicable for implementing any e-health project. Study of preparedness essentially i) renders insight to the existing resources, ii) specifies the requirements for successful implementation of a project, and iii) helps set up strategies for the said implementation. Preparedness may be assessed at various levels of e-health implementations, such as ICT, Application, Service, Process and Government or Organizational levels. The present work focuses at the very initial level i.e. ICT and proposes an ICT-preparedness-framework for e-health implementation. The proposed ICT-preparedness framework is a conceptual one and is based on two different applications -A)connected graph-based approach to capture and in turn quantify some of the ICT constructs (Hardware, Connectivity, Software and Skills) and their respective indicators and B) a fuzzy setbased technique to assess the preparedness levels of these constructs. Finally the framework is discussed with an e-health scenario on Tele-cardiology.

A Framework for Studying Perceptions of Rural Healthcare Staff and Basic ICT Support for e-Health Use: An Indian Experience

“…The said model has further been extended by Li et al (2009) to assess the preparedness levels focusing on the EHR perspective of e-health. 19 However, the limitations of these two studies 19,20 are that both of the models are conceptual and need empirical validation with real-world data.…”

“…However, there are certain limitations, such as (1) high level of abstractness within the model and (2) existing distinct boundaries among the prerequisites that in reality may not necessarily be distinct in nature. 17 To handle this issue, Chattopadhyay et al (2008) have proposed a conceptual model that uses hierarchical graph theory and fuzzy set-based integrated approach to measure ICT readiness of an organization. 19 The authors identified four constructs laid by Wickremasinghe et al (2005) 18 and applied the integrated approach of connected graph theory and fuzzy set theory to measure the preparedness levels at each construct.…”

“…17 To handle this issue, Chattopadhyay et al (2008) have proposed a conceptual model that uses hierarchical graph theory and fuzzy set-based integrated approach to measure ICT readiness of an organization. 19 The authors identified four constructs laid by Wickremasinghe et al (2005) 18 and applied the integrated approach of connected graph theory and fuzzy set theory to measure the preparedness levels at each construct. Preparedness may be assessed at various levels of e-health implementations, such as ICT, Application, Service, Process, and Government or Organizational level.…”

An E-Health Readiness Assessment Framework for Public Health Services--Pandemic Perspective

“…The E-Health readiness constructs can be quantified using graph theory and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) [46] [47]. The purpose behind the approach is to assess E-Health readiness status mathematically and precisely.…”

E-Health readiness framework from Electronic Health Records perspective

“…In this step, the constructs and their indicators are expressed using a graph theory (Chattopadhyay et al 2008). The purpose behind this approach is to quantify the constructs and thus rank overall E-Health readiness level (e.g.…”