The Role of Physicians in Digitalizing Health Care Provision: Web-Based Survey Study
BackgroundDigitalization affects all areas of society, including the health care sector. However, the digitalization of health care provision is progressing slowly compared to other sectors. In the professional and political literature, physicians are partially portrayed as d...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2021-11-01
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| Series: | JMIR Medical Informatics |
| Online Access: | https://medinform.jmir.org/2021/11/e31527 |
| _version_ | 1797735580110422016 |
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| author | Anja Burmann Max Tischler Mira Faßbach Sophie Schneitler Sven Meister |
| author_facet | Anja Burmann Max Tischler Mira Faßbach Sophie Schneitler Sven Meister |
| author_sort | Anja Burmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundDigitalization affects all areas of society, including the health care sector. However, the digitalization of health care provision is progressing slowly compared to other sectors. In the professional and political literature, physicians are partially portrayed as digitalization sceptics. Thus, the role of physicians in this process requires further investigation. The theory of “digital natives” suggests a lower hurdle for younger generations to engage with digital technologies.
ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate the role of physicians in the process of digitalizing health care provision in Germany and to assess the age factor.
MethodsWe conducted a large-scale study to assess the role of this professional group in the progress of the digital transformation of the German health care sector. Therefore, in an anonymous online survey, we inquired about the current digital penetration of the personal working environment, expectations, attitude toward, and concerns regarding digitalization. Based on these data, we studied associations with the nominal variable age and variations across 2 age groups.
ResultsThe 1274 participants included in the study generally showed a high affinity towards digitalization with a mean of 3.88 on a 5-point Likert scale; 723 respondents (56.75%) stated they personally use mobile apps in their everyday working life, with a weak tendency to be associated with the respondents’ age (η=0.26). Participants saw the most noticeable existing benefits through digitalization in data quality and readability (882/1274, 69.23%) and the least in patient engagement (213/1274, 16.72%). Medical practitioners preponderantly expect further improvements through increased digitalization across almost all queried areas but the most in access to medical knowledge (1136/1274, 89.17%), treatment of orphan diseases (1016/1274, 79.75%), and medical research (1023/1274, 80.30%).
ConclusionsRespondents defined their role in the digitalization of health care provision as ambivalent: “scrutinizing” on the one hand but “active” and “open” on the other. A gap between willingness to participate and digital sovereignty was indicated. Thus, education on digitalization as a means to support health care provision should not only be included in the course of study but also in the continuing process of further and advanced training. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:00:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-196b991aa217494d86da92e44886f6a9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2291-9694 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:00:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Medical Informatics |
| spelling | doaj.art-196b991aa217494d86da92e44886f6a92023-08-28T19:45:31ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Medical Informatics2291-96942021-11-01911e3152710.2196/31527The Role of Physicians in Digitalizing Health Care Provision: Web-Based Survey StudyAnja Burmannhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6989-1230Max Tischlerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7509-9293Mira Faßbachhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3090-8266Sophie Schneitlerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5766-9894Sven Meisterhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0522-986X BackgroundDigitalization affects all areas of society, including the health care sector. However, the digitalization of health care provision is progressing slowly compared to other sectors. In the professional and political literature, physicians are partially portrayed as digitalization sceptics. Thus, the role of physicians in this process requires further investigation. The theory of “digital natives” suggests a lower hurdle for younger generations to engage with digital technologies. ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate the role of physicians in the process of digitalizing health care provision in Germany and to assess the age factor. MethodsWe conducted a large-scale study to assess the role of this professional group in the progress of the digital transformation of the German health care sector. Therefore, in an anonymous online survey, we inquired about the current digital penetration of the personal working environment, expectations, attitude toward, and concerns regarding digitalization. Based on these data, we studied associations with the nominal variable age and variations across 2 age groups. ResultsThe 1274 participants included in the study generally showed a high affinity towards digitalization with a mean of 3.88 on a 5-point Likert scale; 723 respondents (56.75%) stated they personally use mobile apps in their everyday working life, with a weak tendency to be associated with the respondents’ age (η=0.26). Participants saw the most noticeable existing benefits through digitalization in data quality and readability (882/1274, 69.23%) and the least in patient engagement (213/1274, 16.72%). Medical practitioners preponderantly expect further improvements through increased digitalization across almost all queried areas but the most in access to medical knowledge (1136/1274, 89.17%), treatment of orphan diseases (1016/1274, 79.75%), and medical research (1023/1274, 80.30%). ConclusionsRespondents defined their role in the digitalization of health care provision as ambivalent: “scrutinizing” on the one hand but “active” and “open” on the other. A gap between willingness to participate and digital sovereignty was indicated. Thus, education on digitalization as a means to support health care provision should not only be included in the course of study but also in the continuing process of further and advanced training.https://medinform.jmir.org/2021/11/e31527 |
| spellingShingle | Anja Burmann Max Tischler Mira Faßbach Sophie Schneitler Sven Meister The Role of Physicians in Digitalizing Health Care Provision: Web-Based Survey Study JMIR Medical Informatics |
| title | The Role of Physicians in Digitalizing Health Care Provision: Web-Based Survey Study |
| title_full | The Role of Physicians in Digitalizing Health Care Provision: Web-Based Survey Study |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Physicians in Digitalizing Health Care Provision: Web-Based Survey Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Physicians in Digitalizing Health Care Provision: Web-Based Survey Study |
| title_short | The Role of Physicians in Digitalizing Health Care Provision: Web-Based Survey Study |
| title_sort | role of physicians in digitalizing health care provision web based survey study |
| url | https://medinform.jmir.org/2021/11/e31527 |
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