Background

Despite digital health providing opportunities to enhance the quality, efficiency and safety of primary healthcare, the adoption of digital tools and technologies has been slow, partly because of poor digital health literacy. For primary healthcare systems to take full advantage of these technologies, a capable, digitally literate workforce is necessary. Still, the essential digital health competencies (DHCs) for primary healthcare have not been explored. This review aims to examine the broad literature on DHCs as it applies to Primary Care (PC) settings.

Methods

We performed a scoping review on all types of research linking DHCs to PC. We searched all major databases including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library in November 2019. Concurrently, a thorough grey literature search was performed through OpenGrey, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, and key government and relevant professional associations’ websites. Screening and selection of studies was performed in pairs, and data was analysed and presented using a narrative, descriptive approach. Thematic analysis was performed to identify key DHC domains.

Results

A total of 28 articles were included, most of them (54 %) published before 2005. These articles were primarily aimed at PC physicians or general practitioners, and focused on improving knowledge about information technologies and medical informatics, basic computer and information literacy, and optimal use of electronic medical records. We identified 17 DHC domains, and important knowledge gaps related to digital health education and curriculum integration, the need for evidence of the impact of services, and the importance of wider support for digital health.

Conclusions

Literature explicitly linking DHCs to PC was mostly published over a decade ago. There is a need for an updated and current set of DHCs for PC professionals to more consistently reap the benefits of digital technologies. This review identified key DHC domains and statements that may be used to guide on the development of a set of DHC for PC, and critical knowledge gaps and needs to be considered. Such a DHC set may be used for curricula development and for ensuring that the essential DHC for PC are met at a clinical or organizational level, and eventually improve health outcomes.

中文翻译：

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初级医疗保健专业人员的数字健康能力：范围界定审查。

背景

尽管数字医疗为提高初级医疗的质量，效率和安全性提供了机会，但数字工具和技术的采用仍很缓慢，部分原因是数字医疗素养不佳。为了使主要医疗保健系统充分利用这些技术，必须有一支精通数字化技能的劳动力。但是，尚未探索基本医疗保健所必需的数字健康能力（DHC）。这篇综述旨在研究适用于初级保健（PC）场所的DHC的广泛文献。

方法

我们对将DHC与PC关联的所有类型的研究进行了范围界定审查。我们于2019年11月搜索了所有主要数据库，包括Medline，Embase，CINAHL和Cochrane图书馆。同时，通过OpenGrey，ResearchGate，Google Scholar和主要政府及相关专业协会的网站进行了全面的灰色文献搜索。研究的筛选和选择是成对进行的，并使用叙述性描述性方法对数据进行分析和呈现。进行了主题分析，以确定关键的DHC域。

结果

总共包括28篇文章，其中大多数（54％）在2005年之前发表。这些文章主要针对PC医师或全科医生，并且侧重于提高对信息技术和医学信息学，基本计算机和信息素养的了解，以及最佳使用电子病历。我们确定了DHC的17个领域，以及与数字健康教育和课程整合相关的重要知识差距，对服务影响证据的需求以及对数字健康提供更广泛支持的重要性。

结论

明确将DHC与PC关联的文献大多发表于十年前。有必要为PC专业人员提供最新的DHC集，以更一致地获得数字技术的好处。此次审查确定了DHC的关键领域和声明，这些领域和声明可用于指导PC DHC的开发，以及需要考虑的关键知识差距。这样的DHC集可用于课程开发，并确保在临床或组织水平上满足PC必需的DHC，并最终改善健康状况。