When co-location is not enough to achieve integrated care

Authors:
Siaw-Teng Liaw, Rachael Kearns, Jane Taggart, Oliver Frank, Riki Lane, Michael Tam, Sarah Dennis, Christine Walker, Grant Russell, Mark Harris

What’s the research –
This study examined the informatics capability maturity (ICM) in integrated primary care centres and whether informatics maturity is a good predictor of the enablers and barriers influencing the use of eHealth tools. ICM measured five dimensions:use of business intelligence to improve healthcare, data quality and governance, management of health information technology implementation, information sharing and data collection, integration, and management.

Why it’s important –
ICM was demonstrated to be positively associated with the integration of data, systems and patient care. Primary care centres showed high ICM capability noted in data collection, integration and management while “using information to improve care”, was least mature in the organizations studied. Effective leadership and governance are necessary to implement robust, secure and well-governed eHealth systems. Interestingly, patient engagement with eHealth tools was noted to be ‘sub-optimal’ as well.

What have we learned –
Information sharing is hindered by connectivity and required workarounds
Interoperability around technical, data and software, secure messaging and coding were barriers to integration, data collection, and sharing.
To improve ICM requires good governance, leadership and a health workforce with eHealth competencies.

Who should read this paper –
General Practitioners, GP Super clinics, Practice Managers, health informaticians, specialists, and practice nursing staff should read this article to achieve the highest level of information maturity through the use of digital tools in primary care.

To read the entire journal article, click here.