Implementation of an eHealth self-management care path for chronic somatic conditions

Self-management support for people with chronic somatic conditions can enhance clinical outcomes and patients’ quality of life. Implementing self-management support via eHealth could increase its availability and use. However, the implementation process in a hospital setting has not been studied yet. Therefore, we studied factors influencing the implementation process of an eHealth self-management support care path in two departments of an academic hospital. Semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals (HCPs) were conducted. Questions were based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, covering five domains: the implemented intervention, individual characteristics of the users (HCPs and patients), the inner setting of implementation (the two clinics), the outer setting (the hospital and broader health care organization), and the implementation process. In all five domains important facilitators and barriers were found and summarized, using subthemes and citations to illustrate each theme. This study provides practical implications for the implementation of eHealth self-management interventions in hospitals. Main findings suggest that both the content of an intervention and the process of implementation needs to be tailored to the end-users, using co-design. Moreover, successful implementation can be reached if there is readiness to adopt a new way of working, and if sustainability of this adoption is warranted throughout an organization, both on executive and management levels.