1.1 Introduction
Digital health refers to the broad category of technologies used in public health, healthcare, health informatics, and health education. The field of digital health has come to adopt several cutting-edge health technologies that were not originally meant for the medical sector. The vital role these technologies play in the healthcare industry's ability to provide timely, safe, economical, and fair treatment.
According to WHO (2016), digital health is significantly changing health systems in low- and middle-income countries by opening the door to new treatment models and shifting the focus of existing systems to client-centered healthcare. Patients' and providers' power relations are also changing as a result of digital health. Adopting solutions for digital health has the potential to lower costs, increase equity of access, empower citizens in a person-centered healthcare system, and improve the quality of health services (WHO, 2016).
This chapter will address the background information that motivated this study, the challenges that prompted it, its aim, and its objectives as a preface to subsequent sections of the study. Additional factors include the study's significance, scope, limitations, research questions and hypotheses, and the definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
In the 21st century, digital health technologies have the ability to create new perspectives on, methods for practicing, and experiences with public health, medicine, and healthcare. From a critical social and cultural theory-informed standpoint, these modifications have the capacity to upend deeply ingrained conceptions and experiences of health, sickness, and medical practice and treatment. The majority of current health care delivery model is founded on a top-down medical paradigm, which is directed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), with physicians and nurses serving as the information brokers and care decision-makers. Information is mostly provided by medical professionals and health facilities whether in the community or in the hospital are the main means of accessing care. The truth is that services are essentially created for and by the medical establishment with little consideration for the convenience or needs of the patient, despite the rhetoric around the necessity of client-centered care.
Recent years have been characterized by a rise in the use of technology in healthcare, which has the potential to enhance patient outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and the way that treatment is provided. As it supports the many stakeholders' justifications and bases for investing in digital health, the national digital health plan aims to achieve a high degree of openness, accountability, and return on investment. This will enable the nation's limited resources to be properly used.
Digital health will become widely accessible, meaning that no one entity professional or governmental will be able to control information. Access to publicly available web-based health information will provide people access to a wealth of knowledge, while increased usage of social networks will stimulate the flow of information between peers. Health workers' primary role as providers of health information will shift to that of facilitators, helping people make sense of the deluge of available information, even though the quality of the information will not always be exceptionally high. in the majority of affluent nations, this is already the case, but it will spread. According to Marent et al., (2018a), patients, especially those who were socially isolated, frequently saw their in-person appointments as significant occasions to discuss more general concerns like maintaining emotional control or entering into personal relationships, in addition to getting the results of their blood tests (Marent et al., 2018a).
Digital health technologies that are perceived as efficient in using resources may cause resistance from both patients and physicians since they may be considered as a challenge to their notion of what constitutes quality treatment. The intricacies of the problems facing modern health cannot be solved by digital technology, as several critical digital health researchers have pointed out. According to Henwood & Marent (2019; Lupton, 2018b; Petersen, 2019), socio-technical approaches which we shall discuss in more depth below have been used to better highlight the variety and complexity of technologies-in-practice.
New digital health technologies have been viewed as an evolutionary step with potentially disruptive social effects rather than as a means of empowering people or facilitating information interchange. According to some, technological advancements in data processing, digital networks, and instantaneous information sharing have ushered in a new age, displacing the modern industrial period (Luhmann, 2012; Castells, 2011).
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Digital Health Integrating Technology for Improved Patient Outcome.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that as digital technology has advanced, and security cameras are essential to the medical field. Sourcing support for the creation of an intelligent medical service monitoring system is one strategy to deal with the problem of uneven distribution of medical resources. The ability to have access to digital technology through smart-phones has fundamentally changed the way we receive services and who the top businesses are in these sectors.
Healthcare and online resources for medical information are both accessible, and online pharmacies are able to send prescriptions to households. Patients no longer need to go to a clinic since they can communicate with their doctors through email or online portals, and they can view their own health records.
Health care plays a crucial role in contemporary society because it adapts to both the changes in cultural norms and the ongoing flow of intellectual advancement. Hence, no one can dispute the need of contemporary digital health technology integration with technology in order to provide better answers targeted at the particular issues that the current generation is facing. This sort of digital medicine makes use of equipments and technology that make the process of giving people medical treatment easier. Considering the vast reach of digital health, it is equally crucial to comprehend the background of this pressing issue of the modern day.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to evaluate the Digital Health Integrating Technology for Improved Patient Outcome. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To determine the relationship between patient’s perception and satisfaction towards digital health technology integration;
- To examine the level of patient satisfaction utilizing digital health technologies;
- To assess the perception of patient toward quality of care using integrated digital health facilities; and
- To investigate the factors inhibiting the integration of digital health technology toward improving patient satisfactory outcome.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Are there factors inhibiting the integration of digital health technology toward improving patient satisfactory outcome?
- Is there any significant relationship between patient’s perception and satisfaction towards digital health technology integration?
- What is the level of patient satisfaction utilizing digital health technologies?
- What is the perception of patient toward quality of care using integrated digital health facilities?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There are no significant factors inhibiting the integration of digital health technology toward improving patient satisfactory outcome
- H1: There are significant factors inhibiting the integration of digital health technology toward improving patient satisfactory outcome
1.7 Significance of Study
The findings of this research will assist the health care sector in improving the health outcomes using the digital health integrating technologies at the national level while taking into consideration fundamental elements in terms of regulatory, governance, standards, human capacity, financing, and policy contexts.
This integration is the outcome of identifying the connections and commonalities between national information technology and national health strategies, as well as the coordination, compatibility, and interoperability of national, sub-national, and local plans. It also provides a platform for collaboration and integration in the development of shared systems and solutions.
Finally, this study will be extremely helpful to other researchers who wish to learn more about it. Non-researchers can also use it to expand on their own research projects. This research adds to the body of knowledge and may help direct future investigations.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Digital Health Integrating Technology for Improved Patient Outcome using Federal Medical Centre Owerri as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, there were some problems encountered which stood as limitations to the research work. Some of the limitations include:
- Time Constraint:
The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies:
Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this research work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Financial Constraint:
Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
- Initial Cooperation Delay from Respondents:
A particular limitation of this work came as a result of the respondent refusal to offer their cooperation at the initial time they were contacted. This contributed in making the success of this research study difficult.
1.10 Operational Definition of Terms
Medical Plan:
It is a medical plan that is used in practice to determine each person's unique care needs through a methodical, scientific approach to problem-solving.
Health:
It is the level of functional and metabolic efficiency of a living organism. In humans it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt and self-manage when facing physical, mental, psychological and social changes with environment.
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