eHealth policy processes from the stakeholders’ viewpoint: A qualitative comparison between Austria, Switzerland and Germany
- Objectives: This study aimed at the construction of what the core of eHealth policy making is, offering new perspectives about high priority procedures along the policy making process Methods: Following Grounded Theory methodology, 59 qualitative telephone interviews with a broad variety of stakeholders from Austria, Switzerland and Germany were conducted Results: The findings hinted at five priorities of eHealth policy making: strategy, consensus-building, decision-making, implementation and evaluation that emerged from the stakeholders’ perception of the eHealth policy. Hereby strategy, consensus-building and implementation gained the highest attention Conclusions: These findings suggest three high priorities in eHealth policy: 1) developing and pursuing a consistent eHealth strategy, 2) investing time and resources into consensus-building to clear up difficulties early on in the process, 3) governing implementation towards serving patient care through systems fit for practice. Public Interest Summary: Digitalisation is playing an increasingly crucial role in providing high quality health care. However, different countries have pursued different political paths. In this study, we wanted to know how the stakeholders perceived the political process in their country to identify strengths and weaknesses. We, therefore, conducted interviews about digital health policy with experts from Austria, Switzerland and Germany covering the full spectrum of stakeholders. The findings suggest three political musts: 1) a convincing and coherent strategy followed throughout the entire process, 2) consensus- building among the stakeholders, 3) using “fit for practice” as the yardstick to measure political success.
Author: | Laura NaumannORCiD, Birgit BabitschORCiD, Ursula Hertha HübnerORCiD |
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Title (English): | eHealth policy processes from the stakeholders’ viewpoint: A qualitative comparison between Austria, Switzerland and Germany |
URN: | urn:nbn:de:bsz:959-opus-21460 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2021.100505 |
ISSN: | 2211-8837 |
Parent Title (English): | Health Policy and Technology |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of Completion: | 2021 |
Release Date: | 2021/06/22 |
Tag: | Cross-country comparison; Policy; eHealth; qualitative research |
Volume: | 10 |
Issue: | 2 |
Page Number: | 7 |
Faculties: | Fakultät WiSo |
DDC classes: | 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 610 Medizin, Gesundheit |
Review Status: | Veröffentlichte Fassung/Verlagsversion |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - CC BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International |