From Dyadic Ties to Information Infrastructures: Care-Coordination between Patients, Providers, Students and Researchers

Abstract

Objective: To share how an effectual merging of local and online networks in low resource regions can supplement and strengthen the local practice of patient centered care through the use of an online digital infrastructure powered by all stakeholders in healthcare. User Driven Health Care offers the dynamic integration of patient values and evidence based solutions for improved medical communication in medical care.

Introduction: This paper conceptualizes patient care-coordination through the lens of engaged stakeholders using digital infrastructures tools to integrate information technology. We distinguish this lens from the prevalent conceptualization of dyadic ties between clinician-patient, patient-nurse, clinician-nurse, and offer the holistic integration of all stakeholder inputs, in the clinic and augmented by online communication in a multi-national setting.

Methods: We analyze an instance of the user-driven health care (UDHC), a network of providers, patients, students and researchers working together to help manage patient care. The network currently focuses on patients from LMICs, but the provider network is global in reach. We describe UDHC and its opportunities and challenges in care-coordination to reduce costs, bring equity, and improve care quality and share evidence.

Conclusion: UDHC has resulted in coordinated global based local care, affecting multiple facets of medical practice. Shared information resources between providers with disparate knowledge, results in better understanding by patients, unique and challenging cases for students, innovative community based research and discovery learning for all.