Keeping up with doctor’s appointments, scheduling, looking for printed medical findings from 2 years ago, these are all outdated processes everyone still deals with. With online portals like ELGA, the Austrian Government has started the process of digitizing the Austrian Healthcare system. Still, there is room for improvement.
This thesis explores the rollout of a national health administration tool designed to streamline processes, improve data accessibility, and foster better communication among healthcare providers and patients. An all-in-one tool, where patients and healthcare professionals can communicate, confidently share information, and – most importantly – prioritize the patient’s health efficiently.
A key focus of this thesis is to investigate whether patients are willing to embrace digital health tools within the national health administration framework, particularly given the sensitive nature of health-related topics. By conducting surveys and interviews, the research will assess patient attitudes, digital literacy, and perceived barriers to adoption.
The main challenge here is to fit the needs of a extremely broad user group. The needs and pain points of the healthcare professional and the side of the patient will be examined in order to find out wether or not such a tool could be realistic, or if the concerns data privacy outweigh the benefits.
In this blog I would like to identify best practices, challenges, and opportunities for creating a more efficient and user-centered health administration system.
Personal Motivation
I’ve always struggled with keeping up with medical appointments, as I’m sure most of you do. After I moved to Graz in October and faced the challenge of finding new doctors I was shocked at how difficult it is to find a doctor (in various fields) that takes new patients.
I was wondering how mortality rates could be tied to the challenges of getting regular medical checkups and found this study that confirmed my hypothesis (McQueenie, 2019): Missed appointments are a major indicator of all-cause mortality, especially among individuals with mental health issues. Current primary healthcare appointment systems fail to effectively address the needs of these patients. Therefore, future interventions must prioritize strategies to enhance attendance to regular doctor’s appointments.
My plan is to further investigate the touchpoints we have with the health care system and find difficulties and challenges. I would also like to ask around in my friend group (kind of like a informal mini survey) to see if they agree that this is an issue and what they find challenging so I can see what other topics I should focus on.
- eHealth Strategie Österreich
https://www.sozialministerium.at/Themen/Gesundheit/eHealth.html
Powell, John & Arvanitis, Theodoros. (2015). Welcome to the Digital Health revolution. Digital Health. 1. 10.1177/2055207614561571. - Joaquin, J. G. (2023). Designing for health: A guide to health and wellness technology.
- Hartlep, M. (2015). Durchblick trotz Wolke: Verwaltung von osteopathischen Praxen per Software. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1615-9071(15)30011-3
- Klauber, u. a. Krankenhaus-Report 2019 : Das digitale Krankenhaus.https://permalink.obvsg.at/fhj/AC15332383
- McQueenie R, Ellis DA, McConnachie A, Wilson P, Williamson AE. Morbidity, mortality and missed appointments in healthcare: a national retrospective data linkage study. BMC Med. 2019 Jan 11;17(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s12916-018-1234-0. PMID: 30630493; PMCID: PMC6329132.
