Abstract
BackgroundIn Saudi Arabia, healthcare industry is undergoing major expansions to meet the demand of rapidly growing healthcare needs. The aims of this study were; (1) to assess the pattern of smartphone use in healthcare facilities, and (2) to determine perception towards its use among healthcare workers.MethodA cross-sectional survey of 351 healthcare workers (HCWs) at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was conducted, from October to November 2016, using a previously validated perception domain to measure perception towards usefulness (5 statements) and practicality (5 statements) of smartphones in clinical settings. Pattern of use of smartphones and health-related applications in healthcare facilities was also investigated. Logestic regression models were applied to identify the predictors of smartphone use and installation of health-related applications for use in healthcare facilities. Significance was considered at p-value of < 0.05.ResultsUtilization rate of smartphone was 42.3%, and only 6.1% of all healthcare providers reported always using applications in their practice. Reasons for use were: as a source of drug information (69.8%), for disease diagnosis (56.4%), to access medical websites (42.5%), to review guidelines and protocols related to healthcare (34.1%), for procedure documentation (23.5%), and as a source of patients education materials (22.3%). Perceptions of HCWs towards smartphone use was less than satisfactory (Overall percentage mean score = 60.4 ± 18.7), with only 11.6% reporting positive perception. After adjusting for possible confounders, the total perception mean score was a significant predictor of both smartphone use (β = 0.033, p < 0.001) and medical applications installation (β = 0.033, p < 0.001). Installation of medical applications was also predicted by being a physician (β = 0.008, p = 0.024).ConclusionSmartphone utilization in healthcare facilities by HCWs in Saudi Arabia is low. This could be attributed to their less than satisfactory level of perception towards its use. Smartphone use and installation of medical applications for use in health facilities were predicted by perceived usefulness and practicality of its use. Intervention from higher health authorities is necessary to enforce the importance of smartphone use in clinical practice. Conduction of further studies on the impact of smart phone use on the healthcare quality in Saudi Arabia is recommended.
Highlights
In Saudi Arabia, healthcare industry is undergoing major expansions to meet the demand of rapidly growing healthcare needs
A digital survey examining smartphone and its application use was conducted by Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in California, showed that more than 85% of respondents used a smartphone, of which the iPhone was the most popular (56%)
A total of 351 healthcare workers responded to a survey to assess their perception towards the use of smartphone in clinical practice, with a response rate of 93%
Summary
In Saudi Arabia, healthcare industry is undergoing major expansions to meet the demand of rapidly growing healthcare needs. Information technology (IT) softwares in healthcare provide clinicians with health-related information and tools, such as clinical decision supportive systems These softwares are supposed to reduce potential medical errors in any healthcare facility and improve the quality of patient care [1]. A previous study reported that the utilization of smartphones had provided practitioners with immediate access to medical and health information, and this had a positive impact on a healthcare system. This technology has reduced numbers of medical errors and improved decisionmaking, improving the telemedicine communication between the hospital staff [4]
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