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Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Health, Well-Being and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 26152

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Antonio Botti

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Department of Business Sciences, Management & Innovation Systems/DISA-MIS, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: entrepreneurship; business management; public management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Antonella Monda

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Department of Business Sciences, Management & Innovation Systems/DISA-MIS, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: digitalization; value co-creation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This is a call for papers for a Special Issue of the journal Sustainability about opportunities offered by Digital technology in Healthcare to build a sustainable relational ecosystem.

Background

The impact of new technologies on healthcare systems is becoming increasingly concrete in recent decades. The desirable health system model is based on “connected care paths”, which relies on services that promote digital healthcare and the centrality of the patient. In this “connected” health ecosystem, technological devices connect patients and healthcare professionals. Institutional web platforms, wearable devices, monitoring apps and telemedicine constitute a solid link, capable of enabling patient empowerment in health systems. In this scenario, new technologies play a strategic role, allowing the implementation of a connected community based on patient needs (patient-centered) (Lupton, 2013).

The digitalization of healthcare means not only technological development, but also an actual cultural change. This revolution affects both the internal organization of hospitals and the approach and expectation of patients towards the healthcare. The digitalization of healthcare is driven by: rapid progress in technology, incentives to provide increasingly personalized health care, massive increase in socio-health data (big data), request for real-time access to information.

In this Special Issue we invite you to address this topic from one of the following points of views: 1. the development of new technologies to support digital health and the impact of digital technology on healthcare sector management, 2. the sustainable value co-creation between patients and doctors, through knowledge sharing, according to the perspective of recent service theories (Service-dominant logic, Vargo and Lusch, 2004; and Service science, management, engineering and design, Maglio and Spohrer, 2008)

New digital technologies favor collection and processing of large amount of data coming from: health information systems, medical devices, patients/family members, external applications (internet of things, social platforms, telemedicine). The possibility to acquire a lot of data in a real context favors the effectiveness and efficiency of drug therapies and leads to many advantages (Kvedar et al., 2014; Groves et al. 2016). For example, the application of blockchain technology allows hospitals, taxpayers and other health structures to securely share data among institutional platforms (Mettler, 2016; Gordon and Catalini, 2018). Otherwise, the application of Artificial Intelligence allows to design digital health tools to evaluate potential risks of certain pathologies and analyze possible effects of therapeutic treatments on individual patients (Zang, 2015). These technologies allow to elaborate more accurate diagnoses, to opt for more effective treatments and to increase the overall capacity of health systems to provide good assistance.
In order to propose a general framework for conceptualizing the value co-creation processes in service era, Service-Dominant logic elaborate the concept of service ecosystem. Service ecosystem focus on the role of technology for gaining innovation and on the role of social connections that foster new knowledge (Vargo et al., 2016; Siltaloppi et al., 2016; Polese et al., 2018). This view highlights predominant role of technology as leverage for knowledge exchange and for promoting and maintaining sustainable value co-creation. In digital health ecosystem, the patient/user is increasingly oriented towards sharing lifestyle data with the doctor, through technology. The active participation of patients involves a mutual exchange of resources and knowledge between doctors and users, triggering a co-learning, which involves sharing of resources and feedback (Alves, 2013; Osborne et al., 2014; Rantala and Karjaluoto, 2016). The exchange of mutual knowledge and the wise use of such knowledge translates into value acquired by both actors of the healthcare system which can allow a sustainable value co-creation (McColl-Kennedy et al., 2012; Hardyman et al., 2015).

Topic

Sustainability and guest editors invite participants to present full papers on the specific theme “Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem”. Below are some examples of topics that can be addressed, taking the managerial point of view:

- Risk and benefits of technologies in healthcare

- the impact of technology in healthcare

- barriers to technology adoption in healthcare

- Blockchain technology in healthcare

- Smart Healthcare Management

- Digital technology for improving elderly homecare services

- Healthcare Value Co-creation Practices

- Digital health ecosystem

- Patient Engagement in Healthcare

- Mobile Health

- Digital health entrepreneurship

Prof. Dr. Antonio Botti
Prof. Dr. Antonella Monda
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

digital health entrepreneurship
digitalization
sustainable health care
blockchain
mobile health
patient engagement

Published Papers (9 papers)

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18 pages, 482 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Introversion-Extraversion Personality Traits on Knowledge-Sharing Intention in Online Health Communities: A Multi-Group Analysis

by Mian Lv, Yongbo Sun and Binbin Shi

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 417; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15010417 - 27 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2502

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of introversion-extraversion personality traits on the knowledge-sharing intention of online health communities (OHCs) using personality trait theory and social capital theory. This study investigates two types of users in OHCs—doctors and patients—and compares and analyses the knowledge-sharing paths of these two types of users. The results show that extraversion personality, interaction, and reciprocity positively influence the physicians’ and patients’ knowledge-sharing intention; for both types of users, interaction partially mediates between extraversion personality and knowledge-sharing intention, and reciprocity partially mediates between interaction and knowledge-sharing intention. Comparative analyses show that the physicians’ introversion-extraversion personality traits have stronger positive effects on interaction, and interaction has stronger positive effects on trust and reciprocity than patients, the physicians’ trust and reciprocity have stronger positive effects on knowledge-sharing intention than patients, and the physicians’ introversion personality traits have stronger positive effects on knowledge-sharing intentions than patients. This study enriches the theory of user knowledge-sharing in OHCs while advancing the managers’ understanding of what motivates users’ knowledge-sharing intention. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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16 pages, 2688 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Contextualizing Visualizations of Digital Health Information among Young and Older Adults Based on Eye-Tracking

by Kaifeng Liu, Pengbo Su, Hailiang Wang and Da Tao

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16506; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142416506 - 09 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1363

Abstract

Visualizations have been found to be a promising solution to aid individuals’ comprehension of digital health information. However, how visualizations can be better contextualized remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the effects of visualizations of digital health information with various contextual cues and age on comprehension through eye-tracking techniques. A two-way mixed design was employed, with visualization (basic, color, color + text, and color + text + personalized statement) and age (young and older adults) as independent variables. Forty-one participants attended an experiment where they were asked to perform verbatim comprehension and value interpretation tasks in response to varied visualizations of digital health information. The results indicated that the four visualizations yielded comparable task completion time and accuracy. Older adults had longer task completion time and more errors compared with their counterparts. While eye movement measures were comparable across different visualizations, they were mostly affected by age and areas of interests. Different visualizations might attract different patterns of visual attention and yield varied effectiveness across age groups. Future research should focus on how to better visualize digital health information for older adults. Design practitioners should carefully consider how to attract patients’ visual attention to important information to improve comprehension. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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20 pages, 5653 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A-SHIP: Ontology-Based Adaptive Sustainable Healthcare Insurance Policy

by Maryam Al-Thawadi, Farag Sallabi, Mamoun Awad, Khaled Shuaib, Muhammad Raza Naqvi and Hadda Ben Elhadj

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1917; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14031917 - 08 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2333

Abstract

Healthcare has a significant impact on human capital anywhere. Countries usually allocate financial resources to manage healthcare, which might impose a substantial financial burden on the scope of healthcare coverage. Thus, the healthcare sector must provide the best possible services at the lowest cost. This significant challenge can only be achieved through applying appropriate policies and technologies, including those used by healthcare insurance policy providers. This paper proposes an innovative, customer-centric, sustainable healthcare insurance policy model. The main objective of this model is to sustain wellness by applying technologies to avoid illness and provide wellbeing for patients by empowering self-care remotely. The proposed solution uses an adaptive ontology-based knowledge management system to satisfy customers and market needs. The proposed system creates a customized policy that consists of various packages to match customers’ healthcare needs based on their health status. The system was tested and validated using a real dataset. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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20 pages, 2447 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Innovation Resistance and Resource Allocation Strategy of Medical Information Digitalization

by Wei-Chih Lu, I-Ching Tsai, Kuan-Chung Wang, Te-Ai Tang, Kuan-Chen Li, Ya-Ci Ke and Peng-Ting Chen

Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7888; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13147888 - 14 Jul 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2853

Abstract

Healthcare industries are facing an enormous flow of medical records due to the progression of information technology and the trend of digital transformation. Thus, medical information digitalization is a huge digital dataset that can be utilized to benefit healthcare systems and patients. While many studies focus on the application of the digitalized medical information in the healthcare field, only a few mentioned its resistance. The theoretical background depicts a comprehensive overview of medical information digitalization and the barriers in previous literature. This study emphasized the interaction of medical information digitalization barriers and applies the importance-resistance analysis model (IRA) to identify the resistant factors overcoming strategy. It also clarifies the pathway to eliminating the innovation resistance and reveals the interaction of medical information digitalization barriers. The acquisition, management, and application of medical information digitalization are the key foundation of medical technology innovation, digital transformation, and the application of artificial intelligence. This work can reduce the limitation of a narrow healthcare context. This study helps healthcare industries to clarify and solve barriers and realizes the innovation and application of medical information digitalization. In the long term, the results provide a basis for the future development direction of medical information digitalization and affect the medical industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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13 pages, 714 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lessons Learned from Development of a Mobile App for Cardiovascular Health Awareness

by Bryan Weichelt, Jeffrey VanWormer, Yin Xu, Chris Kadolph and Simon Lin

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5985; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13115985 - 26 May 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2180

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major public health concern in the United States. In response to the federally sponsored Million Hearts Risk Check Challenge, a team of programmers, software developers, health-information technologists, and clinicians in an integrated healthcare system in Wisconsin collaborated to develop Heart Health Mobile^TM (HHM), designed to improve awareness of cardiovascular disease risk and promote risk factor control among users. This paper outlines the development processes and highlights key lessons learned for mobile health applications. An agile project management methodology was used to dedicate adequate resources and employ adaptive planning and iterative development processes with a self-organized, cross-functional team. The initial HHM iOS app was developed and tested, and after additional modifications, gamified and HTML 5 versions of the app were released. The development of an iOS app is low in cost and sustainable by a healthcare system. Future app modifications to enhance data security and link self-reported cardiovascular risk assessment data to patient medical records may improve performance, patient relevance, and clinician acceptance of HHM in the primary-care setting. Legal and institutional barriers regarding the capture and analyses of protected health information must be mitigated to fully capture, analyze, and report patient health outcomes for future studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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17 pages, 781 KiB

Open AccessArticle

What’s the Name of the Game? The Impact of eHealth on Productive Interactions in Chronic Care Management

by Carolina Wannheden, Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz, Claes-Göran Östenson, Karin Pukk Härenstam and Terese Stenfors

Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5221; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13095221 - 07 May 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2819

Abstract

Chronic care management is dependent on productive interactions between patients and healthcare professionals. Digital health technologies (eHealth) open up new possibilities for improving the quality of care, but there is a limited understanding of what productive interactions entail. This study explores characteristics of productive interactions to support self-care and healthcare in the context of eHealth use in diabetes care. We collected qualitative data based on interviews with nurses and responses to open-ended survey questions from patients, prior to and post using an eHealth service for self-monitoring and digital communication. We found that eHealth’s influence on productive interactions was characterized by unconstrained access, health parameter surveillance, and data-driven feedback, with implications for self-care and healthcare. Our findings indicate that eHealth perforates the boundaries that define interactions under traditional, non-digital care. This was manifested in expressions of uncertainty and in blurred boundaries between self-care and healthcare. We conclude that the attainment of a sustainable eHealth ecosystem will require healthcare to acknowledge eHealth as a disruptive change that may require re-organization to optimally support the productive use of eHealth services for both patients and staff, which includes agreement on new routines, as well as social interaction rules. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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13 pages, 1219 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characteristics and Classification of Technology Sector Companies in Digital Health for Diabetes

by Satoru Kikuchi, Kota Kadama and Shintaro Sengoku

Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4839; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13094839 - 26 Apr 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3479

Abstract

In recent years, technological progress in smart devices and artificial intelligence has also led to advancements in digital health. Digital health tools are especially prevalent in diabetes treatment and improving lifestyle. In digital health’s innovation ecosystem, new alliance networks are formed not only by medical device companies and pharmaceutical companies but also by information and communications technology (ICT) companies and start-ups. Therefore, while focusing on digital health for diabetes, this study explored the characteristics of companies with high network centralities. Our analysis of the changes in degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centralities of the sample companies from 2011 to 2020 found drastic changes in the company rankings of those with high network centrality during this period. Accordingly, the following eight companies were identified and investigated as the top-ranking technology sector companies: IBM Watson Health, Glooko, DarioHealth, Welldoc, OneDrop, Fitbit, Voluntis, and Noom. Lastly, we characterized these cases into three business models: (i) intermediary model, (ii) substitute model, and (iii) direct-to-consumer model, and we analyzed their customer value. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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24 pages, 4408 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Behavioral Change Intervention System to Support the Hydration Habits of Nurses in Hospital Wards

by Owen Purvis and Richard Evans

Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9391; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12229391 - 11 Nov 2020

Viewed by 2957

Abstract

This paper reports on the design and development of a Behavior Change Intervention (BCI) device and service provision aimed at supporting the personal hydration habits of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) ward-based nurses. A conceptual solution is proposed that has been developed using an iterative design process, following an adapted version of the double-diamond approach, over a seven-month time period from 11 October 2019–13 May 2020. The research was completed in collaboration with the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom. A thematic review of related literature was completed to identify key research questions. Consultation with a senior long-serving NHS nurse and a real-time observation study was completed in an NHS ward to answer these questions within the research scope. Collected data were analyzed and insights into the behaviors of nurses and the contextual factors influencing them were provided. Reusable BCI devices and a habit formation program, incorporating a smart fob watch and water station, are proposed inside of a cradle-to-cradle system. Finally, the parameters of the developed solution are defined, and the device and user experience are visualized using computer renders and storyboards. Aspects of the device functionality and feasibility have been proven and visualized using graphic devices, and their use for data collection to inform healthcare management and improvements is discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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9 pages, 247 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

Digital Technology for Remote Hearing Assessment—Current Status and Future Directions for Consumers

by Karina C. De Sousa, David R. Moore, Cas Smits and De Wet Swanepoel

Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10124; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810124 - 10 Sep 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3126

Abstract

Globally, more than 1.5 billion people have hearing loss. Unfortunately, most people with hearing loss reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where traditional face-to-face services rendered by trained health professionals are few and unequally dispersed. The COVID-19 pandemic has further hampered the effectiveness of traditional service delivery models to provide hearing care. Digital health technologies are strong enablers of hearing care and can support health delivery models that are more sustainable. The convergence of advancing technology and mobile connectivity is enabling new ways of providing decentralized hearing services. Recently, an abundance of digital applications that offer hearing tests directly to the public has become available. A growing body of evidence has shown the ability of several approaches to provide accurate, accessible, and remote hearing assessment to consumers. Further effort is needed to promote greater accuracy across a variety of test platforms, improve sensitivity to ear disease, and scale up hearing rehabilitation, especially in LMICs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities Offered by a Sustainable Relational Ecosystem)

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