Abstract
Drones have been suggested as an emerging technology that has the potential to disrupt and improve healthcare. The attitude among healthcare workers towards the use of drones is important for its successful implementation. Our aim was to examine individual and institutional variables among employees that may be relevant for the successful implementation of drones. This study used a self-administered questionnaire to investigate the expectations and beliefs among 400 employees at three Norwegian healthcare organizations regarding the future role of drones in the provision of healthcare. The results showed that the use of drones in healthcare is positively perceived across professional groups, age, and location. Working in an innovative environment, having experienced previous technological change in one’s working environment, and having leadership that supports new ideas were identified as drivers of individual beliefs regarding the use of drones as an innovative solution in future healthcare services. Men had significantly higher scores than women, and this was associated with reporting innovative leadership. This may indicate that a future implementation of drone usage should focus on local system environments and may depend on the presence of innovative leadership. Our results are harvested from a developed health care system and should be applicable for similar technologically advanced systems where the full potential of drone solutions may benefit from the integration of drones into the overall socio-technical system.
Highlights
Technological developments are enabling new solutions and challenging how we deliver existing services to an extent that was unimaginable only a few years ago [1].Healthcare is an area that is facing large changes with respect to new treatment modalities, automatization, robotization, artificial intelligence, and innovations in existing methods aiming to individually tailor services and treatment
Administrative staff, nurses, and physicians had the highest belief that in the future drones would be used in healthcare (p < 0.05); there was no such trend related to future drone transport at their own hospital
Our results showed that an average of 70% of the participants envisioned drones as a realistic transport solution in future healthcare
Summary
Technological developments are enabling new solutions and challenging how we deliver existing services to an extent that was unimaginable only a few years ago [1]. Healthcare is an area that is facing large changes with respect to new treatment modalities, automatization, robotization, artificial intelligence, and innovations in existing methods aiming to individually tailor services and treatment. Demographic change, increased multimorbidity, and an increasing prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases in developed healthcare systems are all cost-driving factors [2]. It is expected that technology may enable new solutions for the provision of services in less developed healthcare systems [3,4]. Knowledge of Drones in Health Care (% yes). Believe Drones in Future Health Care (% yes). Believe Drones in Own Hospital in Future (% yes)
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