Flexible Collaborative Networks and Patient-provider Partnerships in Health Care: Critical Factors

This project's overall objective is to contribute to knowledge and innovation needed to advance ICT-arenas for timely, secure and seamless collaboration between chronically ill patients and appropriate levels of care. The investigators will expand an Internet solution that has successfully supported online patient-provider communication into a device- independent mobile, multifunctional ICT platform, called Connect 2.0, to support individually tailored collaborative care between patients and care providers on the continuum of primary-specialist care. The results will contribute to Norway's Collaboration Reform. Integrating theories from health and ICT related sciences, the project is organized into five work packages that focus on two of VERDIKTs research themes: social networking and mobile internet. We will summarize (1) the current state of collaborative health care models and their utilization of ICT research and innovations; explore challenges related to (2) information exchange between devices, platforms and systems; (3) human-computer interaction, (4) data security and confidentiality; and (5) factors related to successful adoption and implementation of Connect 2.0 patient-provider collaborative care. Finally the investigators will explore how Connect 2.0 impacts interactions, communication and organizational processes in collaborative "real world" care.

Specifically this study will:

1. Summarize the current state of collaborative health care models and their utilization of ICT research and innovations.
2. Explore challenges and propose solutions for adapting a mobile multifunctional ICT platform (Connect 2.0) into the technical and organizational infrastructures of collaborative health care.
3. Through user-centred design methods address challenges related to human computer interaction and usability of Connect 2.0.
4. Explore challenges and feasible solutions that safeguard data security and confidentiality when connecting an Internet solution with a protected health net while ensuring safe and efficient data transfer through heterogeneous networks.
5. Explore factors related to successful adoption and implementation of Connect 2.0 in real world collaborative care. Based on the above: explore impacts of a test version of Connect 2.0 on interactions, communication and organizational processes.

The work expands partnerships between the Centre for research-based innovation (SFI) consortium (7 business / research partners) called Tromsø Telemedicine Laboratory (TTL), the Norwegian Telemedicine Center (NST), the Center for Shared Decision Making and Nursing Research (CSDM) at Oslo University Hospital, the Department of Computer Science, University of Oslo, the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN), Balsfjord Municipality, the Biomedical Information Research Center at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, and the Department of Biomedical informatics at Columbia University in New York.