Title:	ASSESSMENT OF MOBILE SOFTWARE FOR HOME HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS IN GERMANY
Author(s):	Simone Binner
ISBN:	978-972-8939-16-8
Editors:	Mário Macedo
Year:	2010
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Mobile software, Home Health Care, Benefits, Acceptance, Profitability
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	85
Last Page:	92
Language:	English
Cover:
Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	The remarkable progress in the development of mobile devices combined with the decreasing costs for data transmission led to an increase of mobile solutions in the home health care sector in the last years. For the major providers of software solutions a mobile component is already standard. The employees of nursing services, which traditionally are not very experienced with IT, have usually problems to assess the concrete functions and benefits of the mobile solutions. This lack of knowledge restrains them in their decision whether to use mobile software or not. Therefore the functions of the most common German software providers are presented in this paper and the benefits for the home health agency and the other stakeholders in the provision of care are deducted. In order to do so, the characteristics of the mobile solutions are explained and the relevant processes are analyzed. Moreover the profitability and acceptance of the mobile solutions are discussed. Key findings of this study are, that mobile solutions contribute to the business success by increasing the effi-ciency and assuring and improving the quality of care. Most of the time and costs are saved in the headquarters simplify-ing and accelerating administrational processes like the billing. High cost savings lead to a very short payback period. Besides the economic factors, mobile software solutions ensure the quality of care by getting a better understanding of the patients needs, avoiding errors, enhancing the performance and flexibility of the nurses and improving the monitoring and planning. According to the Technology Acceptance Model, a user has to perceive a technology useful and easy to use in order to accept it. So the management of a home health care organization has to make sure to choose not only the solution that is most profitable but also user friendly.
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