The more widespread implementation of electronic health records has led to new ways of providing access to healthcare information, allowing patients to view their medical notes, test results, medicines and so on. In this article, we explore how patients perceive the possibility to access their electronic health record online and whether this influences patient involvement. The study includes interviews with nine patients and a survey answered by 56 patients. Our results show that patients perceive healthcare information to be more accessible and that electronic health record accessibility improves recall, understanding and patient involvement. However, to achieve the goal of involving patients as active decision-makers in their own treatment, electronic health records need to be fully available and test results, referrals and information on drug interactions need to be offered. As patient access to electronic health records spreads, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of how documentation practices can be changed to serve healthcare professionals and patients.

In this study, we explore how healthcare professionals in primary care and outpatient clinics perceive the outcomes of giving patients online access to their electronic health records. The study was carried out as a case study and included a workshop, six interviews and a survey that was answered by 146 healthcare professionals. The results indicate that professionals working in primary care perceive that an increase in information-sharing with patients can increase adherence, clarify important information to the patient and allow the patient to quality-control documented information. Professionals at outpatient clinics seem less convinced about the benefits of patient accessible electronic health records and have concerns about how patients manage the information that they are given access to. However, the patient accessible electronic health record has not led to a change in documentation procedures among the majority of the professionals. While the findings can be connected to the context of outpatient clinics and primary care units, other contextual factors might influence the results and more in-depth studies are therefore needed to clarify the concerns.

Information technology can be an important facilitator of social inclusion for people with disabilities into society. However, the goals specified in this area by organizations such as the European Commission have not yet been achieved in their totality. The aim of this paper is to explore which types of information communication technology-based applications and/or digital services have been suggested to facilitate the social integration of people who suffer from different types of disabilities. We performed a literature review that included studies published during a period of 6 years (2010–2016). The results show that, in the data we have had access to, no concrete patterns can be identified regarding the type of technology or technological trends that can be used to support the social integration of individuals with disabilities. This literature review is of relevance to the identification of further research areas and to the identification of issues which have to be considered in the context of the development and implementation of technological innovations that are aimed at promoting or facilitating social inclusion of individuals with disabilities. 

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the interest of performing research about and providing e-services for individuals with disabilities has grown significantly. However, there is a knowledge gap in the existing literature on how to stimulate the pre-requisites needed for a sustainable implementation of e-services.

AIM AND METHOD: The study aims to contribute to this knowledge gap by performing semi-structured email interviews with twelve project coordinators from the EU programmes of FP6-IST and FP7-ICT.

RESULTS: The findings showed that knowledge-based and financially based resources, the complexity of the project context, ethical issues and the structural responsibility of the implementation process were key issues in creating a sustainable implementation. Furthermore, users often were not able to perceive added value from the e-services as they seldom were developed beyond prototypes within the research project.

CONCLUSION: The implementation of e-services and/or ICT based applications for individuals with disabilities face similar challenges to the challenges that have been identified when implementing IT-based innovations. Further studies should focus on how users can be involved in the choice and development of e-services they understand as effective, and how to ensure that the implementation strategy will contribute to long-term social inclusion, that is, sustainability.

Changes in healthcare delivery needs have necessitated the design of new models for connecting providers and consumers of services. While healthcare delivery has traditionally been a push market, multi-sided markets offer the potential for transitioning to a pull market for service delivery. However, there is a need to better understand the business model for multi-sided markets as a first step to using them in healthcare. This paper addressed that need and describes a multi-sided market evaluation framework. Our framework identifies patient, governance and service delivery as three levels of brokerage consideration for evaluating multi-sided markets in healthcare. 

With increased patient access to data, healthcare services are experiencing change where patients are moving away from being mere passive actors towards becoming more active and involved participants. In this paper, we explore the role of patient accessible electronic health records (PAEHRs) with respect to this increase in patient involvement. The study was performed as a case study and included nine interviews with patients and a survey that was responded to by 56 patients. Our results show that PAEHRs have a role in the enhancement of patient involvement because PAEHRs (i) foster a more balanced relationship between patients and healthcare professionals and (ii) increase access to information.

In this study we use the experiences from the service industry and explore pre-requisites of the e-health market which will need to achieve to stimulate both sides of the market (vendors, healthcare organizations, government, institutions, corporations and services organizations) to interact with each other and develop demand driven services and social innovations. The results presented in this paper may be of interest for decision makers, industries (e.g. software or technology designers), small and medium enterprises (SME) and entrepreneurs with an interest in becoming a part of the e-health market, and for consumers (e.g. healthcare personnel and patients) that are willing to influence the market through their choices. The outcomes of the study shown that the role of virtual brokers is essential to the further development of a sustainable e-health market globally because its role as catalyst for interaction between the two-sides of the markets, its effects on the reduction of competitive constrains, its effects on the accessibility to broader network of actors and its effects on the support of public-private exchanges of knowledge and experience.

BACKGROUND: It is assumed that e-services support persons with disabilities in their everyday life by improving communication and interaction with healthcare organizations and whilst facilitating their social inclusion.

AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the contribution of e-services in terms of how they diminish barriers and constraints on social inclusion.

METHOD: A literature review was performed, covering the period between 2010 and 2016 (6 years). Only studies that discussed the social inclusion of people with disabilities or presented prototype solutions to this problem were included.

RESULTS: The results of this study show that there is a lack of theoretical framework which can be used to measure the effectiveness of the e-services or innovations in the area of e-services in the contexts that were examined. The existing research studies are normally generic and do not discuss whether the requirements that are imposed on a particular e-service differ depending on (i) type of disability, (ii) the ICT-maturity or skill of the end-user, or (iii) context in which the e-service will be used. In general, previous research in this area claims that e-services do assist people with disabilities access to society (defined as the community in which they live), even when no evidence is actually presented about the impact such services have in this area of the end-user's life.

CONCLUSION: The results of the present study present us with new knowledge about the types of ICT-based innovations and e-services that have been proposed to facilitate the social integration of people with disabilities. 

The lack of awareness and confidence in eHealth solutions among certain stakeholders creates a barrier for the implementation of e-Health services. The aim of this paper is to explore issues that promote the development and implementation of patient-centered care services for the elderly. An exploratory case study approach is applied to a e-Health monitoring service that was developed and piloted in 38 homes for the elderly in Sweden and the Netherlands. The unit of analysis, concept of 'value-in-use', was used in order to determine how pilot participants felt about a service of this kind benefiting them the most. The findings were then translated into actionable considerations for implementing organizations. The results indicate a need for active participation, technical support infrastructure, mobility demands, and an extension of the concept of trust in e-Health services. The knowledge presented in the study is important for decisions makers, public organization strategists, and policy writers.

Many eHealth initiatives are never implemented or merely endas pilot projects. Previous studies report that organizational,technical and human issues need to be properly taken into considerationif such initiatives are to be successful. The aim of thispaper is to explore whether previously identified challengeswithin the area have remained in the Swedish eHealth settingor whether they have changed. After interviewing experts ineHealth, we present a classification of areas of concern. Recurrenceof previously identified challenges was found, but alsonew issues were identified. The results of the study indicate thatthere is a need to consider organisational and semantic issueson both national and international levels. Legal and technicalchallenges still exist but it seems even more important tosupport eHealth initiatives financially, increase practitioners’knowledge in health informatics and manage new expectationsfrom patients.