What is creating a plan to mak sure that the technology is introduced and used in practice?
In this sub phase of the CeHRes roadmap, the information collected in the previous development phases is relevant for the operationalization phase, since it contributes to the plan for the operationalization. First, the development team and stakeholders started developing the business model by filling in the business model canvas in the value specification. Consequently, the model was further specified alongside the development process, and is finalized and implemented in the operationalization phase. Concrete plans on how to deal with the nine blocks of the business model canvas have to be created in close cooperation with stakeholders. By means of methods like desk research, focus groups or interviews with stakeholders, the plan to implement the business model should be drawn up. Documented information from scientific or non-scientific literature on comparable operationalization processes might be used as well. Again, there are no concrete guidelines since the way to do this depends on the context, technology, and the preferences and competences of the team. This implies that the development team has to make deliberate, well-substantiated decisions, and constantly cooperate with stakeholders.
Implementation theory can also be used to guide the development of an operationalization plan. According to the Diffusion of Innovation theory, the attributes of the technology itself strongly contribute to whether or not implementation will be successful. If the prior development process was good, the following attributes of the technology will be present and should be emphasized [1, 2, 3]:
- Relative advantage. The development team should make clear that the advantages of a new technology outweigh the advantages of an existing approach.
- Complexity. Generally, simple technologies spread faster than complicated ones, so it should be clear to users that they won’t encounter a high level of difficulty.
- Compatibility. The development team has to make clear how the new technology should fit into the needs, values and routines of the user or organization.
- Trialability. Diffusion research has shown that it is beneficial for implementation when users can easily try out a technology without having to fully commit to it, so this has to be facilitated by the development team.
- Observability. The development team should make sure that potential users can see how an eHealth technology works by observing somebody else use it.
Furthermore, implementing an eHealth technology, it is important to account for the types of people that will be adopting and using it, since people differ in their willingness to use new technology. A useful way to do this is by accounting for how quickly they tend to adopt a new technology. The Diffusion of Innovation theory provides a categorization based on the innovativeness of adopters, which contains innovators (the quickest to adopt), early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.
What is the aim of creating a plan to make sure that the technology is introduced and used in practice?
The aim of this sub phase is to create a plan to implement the business model to make deliberate, well-substantiated decisions, and constantly cooperate with stakeholders.
References
[1] Berwick, D. M. (2003). Disseminating innovations in health care. JAMA, 289(15), 1969-1975.
[2] Cain, M., & Mittman, R. (2002). Diffusion of innovation in health care: California Healthcare Foundation. Oakland, CA. ISBN 1-929008-97-X.
[3] Rogers, E. M. (2010). Diffusion of innovations: New York, NY: Free Press.