Background: Technology-based health care has been promoted as an effective tool to enable clinicians to work smarter. However, some health stakeholders believe technology will compel users to work harder by creating extra work.
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate how and why electronic health (eHealth) has been applied in Taiwan and to suggest implications that may inspire other countries facing similar challenges.
Methods: A qualitative methodology was adopted to obtain insightful inputs from deeper probing. Taiwan was selected as a typical case study, given its aging population, advanced technology, and comprehensive health care system. This study investigated 38 stakeholders in the health care ecosystem through in-depth interviews and focus groups, which provides an open, flexible, and enlightening way to study complex, dynamic, and interactive situations through informal conversation or a more structured, directed discussion.
Results: First, respondents indicated that the use of technology can enable seamless patient care and clinical benefits such as flexibility in time management. Second, the results suggested that a leader's vision, authority, and management skills might influence success in health care innovation. Finally, the results implied that both internal and external organizational governance are highly relevant for implementing technology-based innovation in health care.
Conclusions: This study provided Taiwanese perspectives on how to intelligently use technology to benefit health care and debated the perception that technology prevents human interaction between clinicians and patients.
Keywords: Taiwanese health care; eHealth; health care; innovation; smart health; technology.
©Sonia Chien-I Chen. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 04.01.2018.