How the Integration of Telehealth and Coordinated Care Approaches Impact Health Care Service Organization Structure and Ethos: Mixed Methods Study

Davidson, Rosemary; Barrett, David Ian; Rixon, Lorna; Newman, Stanton; ACT Program; Bescos, Cristina; Westerteicher, Christoph; Pauws, Steffen; Schonenberg, Helen; Natsiavas, Pantelis; Filos, Dimitris; Maramis, Christos; Chouvarda, Ioanna; Maglaveras, Nicos; Nabb, Samantha; Roca, Josep; Escarrabill, Joan; Moharra, Montserrat; Cleland, John; Hart, Nicholas; Monterde, David; Mora, Joana; Keenoy, Esteban de Manuel; Ponce, Sara; Buskens, Erik; Lahr, Maarten M.H.; Romano, Maria; Nalin, Marco; Baroni, Ilaria; Pavlickova, Andrea; Rasmussen, Jill; Störk, Stefan; Wahl, Chris

Abstract

Background: Coordinated care and telehealth services have the potential to deliver quality care to chronically ill patients. They can both reduce the economic burden of chronic care and maximize the delivery of clinical services. Such services require new behaviors, routines, and ways of working to improve health outcomes, administrative efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and user (patient and health professional) experience. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess how health care organization setup influences the perceptions and experience of service managers and frontline staff during the development and deployment of integrated care with and without telehealth. Methods: As part of a multinational project exploring the use of coordinated care and telehealth, questionnaires were sent to service managers and frontline practitioners. These questionnaires gathered quantitative and qualitative data related to organizational issues in the implementation of coordinated care and telehealth. Three analytical stages were followed: (1) preliminary analysis for a direct comparison of the responses of service managers and frontline staff to a range of organizational issues, (2) secondary analysis to establish statistically significant relationships between baseline and follow-up questionnaires, and (3) thematic analysis of free-text responses of service managers and frontline staff. Results: Both frontline practitioners and managers highlighted that training, tailored to the needs of different professional groups and staff grades, was a crucial element in the successful implementation of new services. Frontline staff were markedly less positive than managers in their views regarding the responsiveness of their organization and the pace of change. Conclusions: The data provide evidence that the setup of health care services is positively associated with outcomes in several areas, particularly tailored staff training, rewards for good service, staff satisfaction, and patient involvement.

Citation

Davidson, R., Barrett, D. I., Rixon, L., Newman, S., ACT Program, Bescos, C., Westerteicher, C., Pauws, S., Schonenberg, H., Natsiavas, P., Filos, D., Maramis, C., Chouvarda, I., Maglaveras, N., Nabb, S., Roca, J., Escarrabill, J., Moharra, M., Cleland, J., Hart, N., …Wahl, C. (2020). How the Integration of Telehealth and Coordinated Care Approaches Impact Health Care Service Organization Structure and Ethos: Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Nursing, 3(1), Article e20282. https://doi.org/10.2196/20282

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 27, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 9, 2020
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Feb 2, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 3, 2021
• Journal: JMIR Nursing
• Print ISSN: 2562-7600
• Electronic ISSN: 2562-7600
• Publisher: JMIR Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: e20282
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/20282
• Keywords: Coordinated care; Telehealth; Health care organization; Staff engagement; staff training
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3562430
• Publisher URL: https://nursing.jmir.org/2020/1/e20282/