Applying eHealth for Pandemic Management in Saudi Arabia in the Context of COVID-19: Survey Study and Framework Proposal

Abstract

Background The increased frequency of epidemics such as Middle East respiratory syndrome, severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola virus, and Zika virus has created stress on health care management and operations as well as on relevant stakeholders. In addition, the recent COVID-19 outbreak has been creating challenges for various countries and their respective health care organizations in managing and controlling the pandemic. One of the most important observations during the recent outbreak is the lack of effective eHealth frameworks for managing and controlling pandemics. Objective The aims of this study are to review the current National eHealth Strategy of Saudi Arabia and to propose an integrated eHealth framework that can be effective for managing health care operations and services during pandemics. Methods A questionnaire-based survey was administered to 316 health care professionals to review the current national eHealth framework of Saudi Arabia and identify the objectives, factors, and components that are key for managing and controlling pandemics. Purposive sampling was used to collect responses from diverse experts, including physicians, technical experts, nurses, administrative experts, and pharmacists. The survey was administered at five hospitals in Saudi Arabia by forwarding the survey link using a web-based portal. A sample population of 350 was achieved, which was filtered to exclude incomplete and ineligible samples, giving a sample of 316 participants. Results Of the 316 participants, 187 (59.2%) found the current eHealth framework to be ineffective, and more than 50% of the total participants stated that the framework lacked some essential components and objectives. Additional components and objectives focusing on using eHealth for managing information, creating awareness, increasing accessibility and reachability, promoting self-management and self-collaboration, promoting electronic services, and extensive stakeholder engagement were considered to be the most important factors by more than 80% of the total participants. Conclusions Managing pandemics requires an effective and efficient eHealth framework that can be used to manage various health care services by integrating different eHealth components and collaborating with all stakeholders.

Gig Health vs eHealth: Future Prospects in Saudi Arabian Health-Care System

“…While the gig economy provides opportunities by increasing the availability of skilled independent workers and supporting economic growth, eHealth on the other hand improves health-care services and operations through the adoptiion of innovative technologies. A lack of skilled human resources, poor stakeholder engagement, and issues in implementation were identified as challenges in adopting eHealth technologies in Saudi Arabia, 13 , 41 which can be effectively addressed by the gig economy and promote sustainable growth in the health-care sector.…”

“… 40 The findings from the studies 39 , 40 indicate the progress in the deployment of eHealth technologies in Saudi Arabia. However, issues related to organizational operations, cultures, end-user attitudes toward eHealth projects, the lack of specialized human resources to implement eHealth systems, 13 poor eHealth frameworks, and lack of strategies managing information, creating awareness, increasing accessibility and reachability, promoting self-management and self-collaboration, promoting electronic services, and extensive stakeholder engagement 41 were identified.…”

Attitudes of Patients with Chronic Diseases toward Management eHealth Applications Systems in Post-COVID-19 Times

“…Similarly, focusing on the current eHealth framework adopted in Saudi Arabia, the need for additional components was recognized, focusing mainly on effective management of information, extensive stakeholder engagement, promoting awareness, especially in self-management and self-collaboration in managing chronic illnesses, and increasing accessibility and reachability [ 19 ]. Studies focusing on the acceptance of eHealth applications have identified several interesting aspects.…”

Investigating healthcare practitioners’ attitudes towards the COVID-19 outbreak in Saudi Arabia: A general qualitative framework for managing the pandemic

“…Furthermore, some general frameworks have been proposed to handle the crisis generated by the COVID-19 outbreak [ [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] ]. However, these frameworks are very broad and do not specify the procedures that must be carried out to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in each country.…”

“…It is pertinent to mention that this study is significant because it analyzes the attitudes of healthcare practitioners towards areas not considered in similar studies, and proposes a practical framework to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia where there are no published studies on this subject [ [ [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] ]]. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it is the first investigation carried out in Saudi Arabia in order to propose a qualitative general framework to manage the COVID-19 pandemic based on the opinions of healthcare practitioners' in this country.…”