Healthcare professionals’ proposed eHealth needs in elective primary fast‐track hip and knee arthroplasty journey: A qualitative interview study

Abstract

Aims and objectives To examine the lived experience of healthcare professionals providing care for patients with total hip and knee arthroplasty and to understand healthcare professionals’ proposed eHealth needs in elective primary fast‐track hip and knee arthroplasty journey. Background There is little evidence in nursing literature to indicate how to develop new eHealth services to support surgical care journeys. Evidence is particularly lacking regarding the development of eHealth solutions. Design This was a qualitative interview study. Methods Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with four surgeons, two anaesthesiologists, ten nurses and four physiotherapists in a single joint replacement centre during autumn 2018. The data were analysed using an inductive content analysis method. NVivo qualitative data analysis software was used. The COREQ checklist for qualitative studies was followed. Results Our research addressed the gap in evidence by focusing on the four main parts of the patient journey in the selected context. Analysis of the data revealed nine main categories for the proposed eHealth needs: eligibility criteria, referrals, meeting the Health Care Guarantee, patient flow, postdischarge care, patient counselling, communication, transparency of the journey and receiving feedback. In addition, the requirements and further development needs for eHealth solutions were generally identified. Conclusions From the point of view of healthcare professionals, eHealth solutions have huge potential in supporting the elective primary fast‐track hip and knee arthroplasty journey. However, it is important to acknowledge that these needs may be very different depending on the technological and organisational environment in question. Relevance to clinical practice More effective use of information and communication technologies is needed for organisational optimisation resulting in a streamlined pathway, better access to healthcare services, improved outcomes and an improved patient experience. These results can be used in the development of new eHealth solutions to support surgical care journeys and patient education.

Identified opportunities for gamification in the elective primary fast‐track total hip and knee arthroplasty journey: Secondary analysis of healthcare professionals’ interviews

“…The data collection took place between 8 November 2018 and 7 December 2018. The interviews were conducted by the corresponding author, who is experienced in conducting research using the qualitative research approach and has working experience in surgical care (Jansson et al, 2019). Before the interviews, the corresponding author introduced herself and described the purpose of the study.…”

“…Before the interviews, the corresponding author introduced herself and described the purpose of the study. Furthermore, the participants were informed that the interviews would be audio recorded and the collected data transcribed and pseudonymised (Jansson et al, 2019). It was also ensured that participation is fully voluntary and that the participants were able to withdraw from the study without justifications and that there would be no consequences from withdrawing.…”

“…The interviews took on average 41.2 min (Jansson et al, 2019). Drawing from the work of Malterud et al (2016), the sample size was evaluated continuously during the interviews, taking into account the information power.…”

“…Then, the second PhD‐qualified author reviewed the initial codings to ensure that all adequate information was coded. Thereafter, all groupings, categorisations and abstractions were jointly refined by both authors (Jansson et al, 2019). At last, in order to establish rigor, excerpts from the interviews in their original form were included in the study report.…”

The digital patient journey solution for patients undergoing elective hip and knee arthroplasty: Protocol for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial

“…Only in Australia, for instance, the total cost of THA/TKA may be AUD 5.32 billion by 2030 (Ackerman et al, 2019). At the same time, there is an urgent need for novel technologies to ensure sustainability, improve the patient experience, and empower patients to be responsible for their own care by providing information, support, and control (Gunter et al, 2016; Jansson et al, 2019b).…”