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Challenges of Using Instant Communication Technology in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus Group Study

A record outbreak of community-spread COVID-19 started on 10 May 2021, in Taiwan. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, care facilities have adopted various protocols using instant communication technology (ICT) to provide remote yet timely healthcare while ensuring staff safety. The challenges of p...

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Autores principales: Kuo, Yuh-Shin, Lu, Chien-Hsin, Chiu, Po-Wei, Chang, Hung-Chieh, Lin, Yu-Yuan, Huang, Shao-Peng, Wang, Pei-Yu, Chen, Cheng-Jen, Lin, I-Chen, Tang, Jing-Shia, Chang, Ying-Hsin, Chang, Ray Hsienho, Lin, Chih-Hao
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8656867/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34886188
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312463
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author Kuo, Yuh-Shin
Lu, Chien-Hsin
Chiu, Po-Wei
Chang, Hung-Chieh
Lin, Yu-Yuan
Huang, Shao-Peng
Wang, Pei-Yu
Chen, Cheng-Jen
Lin, I-Chen
Tang, Jing-Shia
Chang, Ying-Hsin
Chang, Ray Hsienho
Lin, Chih-Hao
author_facet Kuo, Yuh-Shin
Lu, Chien-Hsin
Chiu, Po-Wei
Chang, Hung-Chieh
Lin, Yu-Yuan
Huang, Shao-Peng
Wang, Pei-Yu
Chen, Cheng-Jen
Lin, I-Chen
Tang, Jing-Shia
Chang, Ying-Hsin
Chang, Ray Hsienho
Lin, Chih-Hao
author_sort Kuo, Yuh-Shin
collection PubMed
description A record outbreak of community-spread COVID-19 started on 10 May 2021, in Taiwan. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, care facilities have adopted various protocols using instant communication technology (ICT) to provide remote yet timely healthcare while ensuring staff safety. The challenges of patient evaluation in the emergency department (ED) using ICT are seldom discussed in the literature. The objective of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the utility of ICT for patient assessment in emergency settings during the pandemic. The patient flow protocol and the ED layout were modified and regionalized into different areas according to the patient’s risk of COVID-19 infection. Nine iPads were stationed in different zones to aid in virtual patient assessment and communication between medical personnel. A focus group study was performed to assess and analyze the utility of the ICT module in the ED. Eight emergency physicians participated in the study. Of them, four (50%) had been directly involved in the development of the ICT module in the study hospital. Three main themes that influenced the application of the ICT module were identified: setting, hardware, and software. The setting theme included six factors: patient evaluation, subspecialty consultation, patient privacy and comfortableness, sanitation, cost, and patient acceptability. The hardware theme included six factors: internet connection, power, quality of image and voice, public or personal mode, portable or fixed mode, and maintenance. The software theme included six factors: platform choices, security, ICT accounts, interview modes, video/voice recording, and time limitation. Future studies should focus on quantifying module feasibility, user satisfaction, and protocol adjustment for different settings.
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spelling pubmed-86568672021-12-10 Challenges of Using Instant Communication Technology in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus Group Study Kuo, Yuh-Shin Lu, Chien-Hsin Chiu, Po-Wei Chang, Hung-Chieh Lin, Yu-Yuan Huang, Shao-Peng Wang, Pei-Yu Chen, Cheng-Jen Lin, I-Chen Tang, Jing-Shia Chang, Ying-Hsin Chang, Ray Hsienho Lin, Chih-Hao Int J Environ Res Public Health Article A record outbreak of community-spread COVID-19 started on 10 May 2021, in Taiwan. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, care facilities have adopted various protocols using instant communication technology (ICT) to provide remote yet timely healthcare while ensuring staff safety. The challenges of patient evaluation in the emergency department (ED) using ICT are seldom discussed in the literature. The objective of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the utility of ICT for patient assessment in emergency settings during the pandemic. The patient flow protocol and the ED layout were modified and regionalized into different areas according to the patient’s risk of COVID-19 infection. Nine iPads were stationed in different zones to aid in virtual patient assessment and communication between medical personnel. A focus group study was performed to assess and analyze the utility of the ICT module in the ED. Eight emergency physicians participated in the study. Of them, four (50%) had been directly involved in the development of the ICT module in the study hospital. Three main themes that influenced the application of the ICT module were identified: setting, hardware, and software. The setting theme included six factors: patient evaluation, subspecialty consultation, patient privacy and comfortableness, sanitation, cost, and patient acceptability. The hardware theme included six factors: internet connection, power, quality of image and voice, public or personal mode, portable or fixed mode, and maintenance. The software theme included six factors: platform choices, security, ICT accounts, interview modes, video/voice recording, and time limitation. Future studies should focus on quantifying module feasibility, user satisfaction, and protocol adjustment for different settings. MDPI 2021-11-26 /pmc/articles/PMC8656867/ /pubmed/34886188 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312463 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kuo, Yuh-Shin
Lu, Chien-Hsin
Chiu, Po-Wei
Chang, Hung-Chieh
Lin, Yu-Yuan
Huang, Shao-Peng
Wang, Pei-Yu
Chen, Cheng-Jen
Lin, I-Chen
Tang, Jing-Shia
Chang, Ying-Hsin
Chang, Ray Hsienho
Lin, Chih-Hao
Challenges of Using Instant Communication Technology in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus Group Study
title Challenges of Using Instant Communication Technology in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus Group Study
title_full Challenges of Using Instant Communication Technology in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus Group Study
title_fullStr Challenges of Using Instant Communication Technology in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus Group Study
title_full_unstemmed Challenges of Using Instant Communication Technology in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus Group Study
title_short Challenges of Using Instant Communication Technology in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus Group Study
title_sort challenges of using instant communication technology in the emergency department during the covid-19 pandemic: a focus group study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8656867/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34886188
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312463
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