Abstract
The extensive uptake of telehealth has considerably transformed health care delivery since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has imposed tremendous challenges to its large-scale implementation and adaptation. Given the shift in paradigm from telehealth as an alternative mechanism of care delivery to telehealth as an integral part of the health system, it is imperative to take a systematic approach to identifying barriers to, opportunities for, and the overall impact of telehealth implementation amidst the current pandemic. In this work, we apply a human factors framework, the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model, to guide our holistic analysis and discussion of telehealth implementation, encompassing the health care work system, care processes, and outcomes.
Highlights
COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has swept across the globe since its emergence in late 2019
The health care system is vulnerable to novel and highly infectious agents such as SARS-CoV-2 because of the exponentially increased demand of health care resources [2], including ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE), and the high risk of infection among care providers through aerosol transmission during clinical care [3], especially by https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2021/2/e24860
The Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model [4,5] provides a useful framework for analyzing the widespread adoption of telehealth in response to the COVID-19 crisis
Summary
COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has swept across the globe since its emergence in late 2019. The Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model [4,5] provides a useful framework for analyzing the widespread adoption of telehealth in response to the COVID-19 crisis. This model allows for a comprehensive and proactive assessment of telehealth implementation in the longer term, beyond the pandemic [6]. We demonstrate the application of the SEIPS model to guide the assessment of the barriers to and impact of telehealth on health care systems, processes, and outcomes during the ongoing crisis. According to the SEIPS model, the health care work system includes the following components: person, technologies, environment, tasks, and organization. Organizational outcome related to the pandemic-driven, large-scale uptake of telehealth needs more attention aPPE: personal protective equipment. bICU: intensive care unit
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