Social media use for patient empowerment in the Gulf Cooperation Council region

Medical malpractice in Oman: A 12-year retrospective record review

BACKGROUND

There is a paucity of studies documenting medical malpractice litigation in countries of the Arabian Gulf, such as Oman.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the characteristics of malpractice claims, the outcomes decided by the medical liability committee, and predictors of medical errors.

METHODS

This is a retrospective observational study that reviewed medical malpractice cases registered in Oman over a 12-year period (2010-2021) with the medical liability committee, known as the Higher Medical Committee (HMC). Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, including multiple logistic regression techniques, were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Between 2010 and 2021, the HMC registered 1284 medical malpractice cases, out of which 1048 were fully investigated. The number of registered cases increased during this period. These cases included those raised by Omani nationals and expatriates, with a majority (86%) raised by Omani complainants. Two-thirds (67%) of the cases involved adult complainants aged 18-60 years. About 43% of the cases were from the urban Muscat region, and 68% were related to public hospitals. The most common specialties involved were obstetrics and gynecology (20.1%), internal medicine (19.7%), surgery (17.6%) and orthopedics (13.8%). Half (51%) of the appeals or grievances were dismissed because they were not preceded by medical negligence or malpractice. The average waiting time to initiate the investigation was 10 months. Errors were more common among non-Omani complainants and cases related to private hospitals. Significant predictors of errors included nationality (i.e. Omani vs. non-Omani), the referring institution, the medical specialty and the type of health institution involved, and the waiting time to initiate the investigation.

CONCLUSION

To date, the number of cases of medical malpractice in Oman is lower compared to international trends, although there has been an upsurge in recent years. More research using a more robust methodology is warranted to contextualise the factors that contribute to this upward trend, as well as the preponderance in urban settings and among certain demographic populations.

Foresight study on online health community: The perspective of knowledge empowerment for patients with chronic diseases

Patient empowerment is an indispensable precondition for patients to self-manage their disease. The article takes the position that patients are empowered for disease self-management through patient knowledge empowerment when sharing knowledge. One of the most important instruments to successfully empower a patient to manage a chronic disease and maintain social relations, which are also a precondition for the prevention of chronic illnesses, is the possibility to access online health communities (OHCs) and participate in them. The aim of the article is to model possible development scenarios of OHCs as enablers of patient knowledge in relation to other digital health technologies (DHTs). A foresight methodology was used to achieve the goal, employing a technology scanning approach after selecting 10 foresight studies, which resulted in four future scenario models for the empowerment of patients wcith chronic diseases through digital health communities. They reveal options for the future interoperability of OHCs with other DHTs and highlight their importance and significance for the healthcare system as a technology for balancing patient self-efficacy and social relations as well as the need to maintain and develop them.

From physician’s authority to patient expertise: the effects of e-health technology use on patient’s behavior and physician-patient relationship

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the health technology use in health information seeking, communication and personal health information management, as well as in the effects they may have on his relationship with the physician and on the consumption of medical resources.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted. The questionnaires were distributed via online health discussion forums using Google's survey software with a summary presentation of the study’s objective. The final selection of 362 individuals was made using social media, direct email and collaboration with community groups. The empirical validation of the causal model was conducted using the partial least square approach.

Findings

The results show that the use of e-health strengthens the quality of the patient–physician relationship and patient empowerment while increasing the consumption of medical resources.

Originality/value

The results of this research indicate that the internet has transformed the relationship of patients to health, to their doctors and to the health-care system. In this new context, a reconsideration of the status of the patient must be considered by health service providers.

Enablers of Patient Knowledge Empowerment for Self-Management of Chronic Disease: An Integrative Review

The non-development of the concept of patient knowledge empowerment for disease self-management and the non-development of the theory of patient knowledge empowerment in patients with chronic diseases, cause methodological inconsistency of patient empowerment theory and does not provide a methodological basis to present patient knowledge empowerment preconditions. Therefore, the aim of the present integrative review was to synthesize and critically analyze the patient knowledge enablers distinguished in the public health management theory, the knowledge sharing enablers presented in the knowledge management theory and to integrate them by providing a comprehensive framework of patient knowledge enablers. To implement the purpose of the study, in answering the study question of what patient knowledge empowerments are and across which levels of patient knowledge empowerment they operate, an integrative review approach was applied as proposed by Cronin and George. A screening process resulted in a final sample of 78 papers published in open access, peer-review journals in the fields of public health management and knowledge management theories. Based on the results of the study, the Enablers of Patient Knowledge Empowerment for Self-Management of Chronic Disease Framework was created. It revealed that it is important to look at patient knowledge empowerment as a pathway across the empowerment levels through which both knowledge enablers identified in public health management theory and knowledge sharing enablers singled out in knowledge management theory operate. The integration of these two perspectives across patient empowerment levels uncovers a holistic framework for patient knowledge empowerment.