Information and communication technologies in emergency care services for patients with COVID-19: a multi-national study

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are known for supporting healthcare services in dealing with adverse situations. However, little is known on the contribution of ICTs in a prolonged crisis involving a new disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we carry out an exploratory investigation of which ICTs contribute the most to the emergency care of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 according to healthcare technology experts and how physicians perceive these contributions. Initially, we applied an online survey to 109 healthcare technology experts. Then, we conducted 16 in-depth follow-up interviews with emergency medicine professionals from 10 countries to identify the ICTs contributing the most to treat COVID-19 patients. Results from the survey indicated four ICTs as the most useful to support the treatment of COVID-19 patients; they are remote consultations, digital platforms for data sharing, digital non-invasive care, and interconnected medical decision support. The interviews provided insight into the applicability of those ICTs for the studied context. The four main ICTs were also found to be logically compatible with the complexity of the pandemic, reducing undesirable complexity attributes (e.g. physical proximity between caregivers and infected patients) and amplifying desirable ones (e.g. interactions that support collaborative work and knowledge sharing).