Suggestions for health information technology trials for respiratory disorders in low- and middle-income country settings: what can we learn from trials in high-income country settings?

The applications of eHealth technologies in the management of asthma and allergic diseases

Portable devices, such as smartphones and mobile Internet access have become ubiquitous in the last decades. The term 'eHealth' stands for electronic health. The tools included in the eHealth concept utilize phones, computers and the Internet and related applications to improve the health care industry. Implementation of eHealth technologies has been documented for the management of different chronic diseases, including asthma and allergic conditions. Clinicians and patients have gained opportunity to communicate in new ways, which could be used cost-effectively to improve disease control and quality of life of those affected. Additionally, these innovations bring new opportunities to academic researchers. For example, eHealth has allowed researchers to compile data points that were previously unavailable or difficult to access, and analyse them using novel tools, collectively described as 'big data'. The role of eHealth become more important since early 2020, due to the physical distancing rules and the restrictions on mobility that have been applied worldwide as a response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In this review, we summarize the most recent developments in various eHealth platforms and their relevance to the speciality of allergy and immunology, from the point of view of three major stakeholders: clinicians, patients and researchers.

Customer relationship management systems (CRMS) in the healthcare environment: A systematic literature review

Customer relationship management (CRM) is an innovative technology that seeks to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability by acquiring, developing, and maintaining effective customer relationships and interactions with stakeholders. Numerous researches on CRM have made significant progress in several areas such as telecommunications, banking, and manufacturing, but research specific to the healthcare environment is very limited. This systematic review aims to categorise, summarise, synthesise, and appraise the research on CRM in the healthcare environment, considering the absence of coherent and comprehensive scholarship of disparate data on CRM. Various databases were used to conduct a comprehensive search of studies that examine CRM in the healthcare environment (including hospitals, clinics, medical centres, and nursing homes). Analysis and evaluation of 19 carefully selected studies revealed three main research categories: (i) social CRM 'eCRM'; (ii) implementing CRMS; and (iii) adopting CRMS; with positive outcomes for CRM both in terms of patients relationship/communication with hospital, satisfaction, medical treatment/outcomes and empowerment and hospitals medical operation, productivity, cost, performance, efficiency and service quality. This is the first systematic review to comprehensively synthesise and summarise empirical evidence from disparate CRM research data (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed) in the healthcare environment. Our results revealed that substantial gaps exist in the knowledge of using CRM in the healthcare environment. Future research should focus on exploring: (i) other potential factors, such as patient characteristics, culture (of both the patient and hospital), knowledge management, trust, security, and privacy for implementing and adopting CRMS and (ii) other CRM categories, such as mobile CRM (mCRM) and data mining CRM.

Information Technology-Assisted Treatment Planning and Performance Assessment for Severe Thalassemia Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Observational Study

Background

Successful models of information and communication technology (ICT) applied to cost-effective delivery of quality care in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are an increasing necessity. Severe thalassemia is one of the most common life-threatening noncommunicable diseases of children globally.

Objective

The aim was to study the impact of ICT on quality of care for severe thalassemia patients in LMIC.

Methods

A total of 1110 patients with severe thalassemia from five centers in India were followed over a 1-year period. The impact of consistent use of a Web-based platform designed to assist comprehensive management of severe thalassemia (ThalCare) on key indicators of quality of care such as minimum (pretransfusion) hemoglobin, serum ferritin, liver size, and spleen size were assessed.

Results

Overall improvements in initial hemoglobin, ferritin, and liver and spleen size were significant (P<.001 for each). For four centers, the improvement in mean pretransfusion hemoglobin level was statistically significant (P<.001). Four of five centers achieved reduction in mean ferritin levels, with two displaying a significant drop in ferritin (P=.004 and P<.001). One of the five centers did not record liver and spleen size on palpation, but of the remaining four centers, two witnessed a large drop in liver and spleen size (P<.01), one witnessed moderate drop (P=.05 for liver; P=.03 for spleen size), while the fourth witnessed a moderate increase in liver size (P=.08) and insignificant change in spleen size (P=.12).

Conclusions

Implementation of computer-assisted treatment planning and performance assessment consistently and positively impacted indexes reflecting effective delivery of care to patients suffering from severe thalassemia in LMIC.