Open AccessSeeking Meaningful Innovation: Lessons Learned Developing, Evaluating, and Implementing the Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Tool
Author(s) -
Carolyn Steele Gray
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
jmir. journal of medical internet research/journal of medical internet research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.446
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1439-4456
pISSN - 1438-8871
DOI - 10.2196/17987
Subject(s) - operationalization , process (computing) , knowledge management , digital health , value (mathematics) , field (mathematics) , outcome (game theory) , ehealth , computer science , qualitative research , process management , psychology , health care , business , sociology , philosophy , mathematics , mathematical economics , epistemology , machine learning , pure mathematics , economics , economic growth , operating system , social science
Digital health solutions, in particular information communication technologies, often experience implementation failures leading to slower adoption than expected. This implementation challenge has spurred the development of frameworks to help navigate this uncertain and messy process. These frameworks point to environmental, organizational, individual, and technological factors that can drive or hinder implementation, with some in the field suggesting that perceived value may play a pivotal role. However, the concept of value can have varying meanings and be challenging to operationalize as a means to support implementation. Attending to philosophical and psychological meaningfulness for users and organizations in which technologies are adopted may offer a useful lens, by linking perceived value to individual behavior changes often required as part of implementing digital health technologies. Lessons learned from developing, evaluating, and implementing the electronic Patient-Reported Outcome (ePRO) tool demonstrate how qualitative methods can be used to uncover meaningfulness. By drawing from this example and other similar studies, this viewpoint offers suggestions on how future inquiry could deepen an understanding of meaningful innovation to help drive the implementation of digital health technologies.