Needs for providing overseas organ transplant medical function and information with eHealth telecare systems-instrument development for health professionals in Taiwan.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The use of eHealth systems for facilitating overseas organ transplantation (OOT) between 2 medical parties has been discussed. Nevertheless, little information is available about organ transplant health professionals' (OTHPs') needs in using the eHealth telecare systems (eHTSs) for providing OOT medical service. This project attempted to answer this question. METHODS: A purposive sample including OT surgeons (OTSs), registered nurses (RNs), and organ transplant coordinating nurses (OTCNs) was obtained from 5 hospitals in Taiwan. A Delphi research method was used in this research. The subjects were invited to respond to a sequence of surveys to learn their appraisal of the needs in using eHTSs for providing OOT medical service. RESULTS: Twenty-two subjects including surgeons (n = 10), RNs (n = 9), and OTCNs (n = 3) participated in this research. Their years working in the field ranged from 3 to 45 (mean 15.77) years. To learn OTHPs' appraisals of their needs in using eHTSs for providing OOT medical service, system function requirements (SFR) and system information requirements (SIR) for telecare were produced. SFR were identified to encompass the following 9 aspects (a) safety in the supervisor mechanism for protection of privacy including account, password, and unediting mode of medical prescriptions; (b) unlimited to particular software or hardware; (c) options of related medical term language in English and traditional and simplified Chinese; (d) available any time and anywhere; (e) being able to save print and export medical records by E-mail systems under authorization; (f) friendly operation; (g) real-time and accurate information; (h) tape-recording functions (OTHPs may convey important medical information to others); and (i) online mutual communications between OTHPs and their clients. SIR included (a) a comprehensive preoperative medical profile before departure for another country; (b) a comprehensive medical profile of OOT performed in another country; (c) a comprehensive postoperative treatment profile after return to original country; and (d) physiologic health indicators of long-term recovery in the community. CONCLUSIONS: In this project, OTHPs addressed their tangible needs for operating an eHTS to facilitate OOT. These findings would serve as a valuable reference for eHTS experts to continue to work with OTHPs to move to the next development stage.