Page 48 - Proceedings of the 2017 ITU Kaleidoscope

2017 ITU Kaleidoscope Academic Conference

(SDOs) such as Health Level Seven International (HL7), concluded that both databases, Medine and Embase, should
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine be searched for a search to be comprehensive in the medical
(DICOM), ISO/TC 215 (Health Informatics) are often literature [13]. Web of Science (WoS) database core
found in the literature. Based on a preliminary review of the collection was searched to identify references from social
literature, it has been found that a lot of them are sciences, arts and humanities, and sciences and technology.
engineering-based or focused on technical issues and The search was carried out during April and May 2017.
solutions related to e-health standards implementation for
interoperability. Over the past decade, social scientific The selected databases have different search options.
approach has become an important approach in e-Health Therefore, search strategies were adapted for each database
studies, however, little systematic examination of the utilizing the unique features and maintaining consistency in
aspects of e-Health studied by social scientists have been the search terms at the same time [9]. All terms pertaining
carried out [10]. The same situation applies to studies in e- to e-Health and standards were used and then combined.
health standards. These terms include electronic health, mobile health,
telemedicine, health information technology, health
Exploration of an array of studies in e-Health standards information system, medical informatics, electronic health
taking an integrated approach is missing from previous record and their variations. It has been pointed out that e-
research. It is necessary to identify and synthesize dispersed Health and related technologies show a nonstandard use of
e-Health standards studies found in the fields of medicine, terminology and lack consensus on taxonomy in the
engineering, information science and technology, and social literature [3]. Thesaurus terms referring to e-health were
sciences in order to provide a holistic view of the current used to mitigate the problems associated with the
state of academic research on this topic and understand the nonstandard use of e-Health. The search strategy included
dynamics of e-Health standards and standardization. Taking MeSH or Emtree terms and free text. In order to capture a
this approach is significant since interests of different comprehensive standards landscape, queries have been
stakeholders are not always converged and so are the made using the keywords interoperability, compatibility,
existing studies that tend to focus on a particular regulation, certification and their variations in place of the
stakeholder group. keyword ‘standard*’.

What we intend to discover is the role and effect of 2.2. Study selection
standards in e-Health instead of merely finding the status of
standardization or the designs and solutions to e-Health Studies that describe the use of standards to deliver e-
implementation. This paper, thus, conducts a systematic Health services or implement e-Health interventions were
review of current literature on e-Health standards for the included. In other words, studies that are relevant to the
purpose of identifying the role and effect of standards in research question, which is to identify or further analyze the
this interdisciplinary field. In so doing, we find major role and effect of standards in e-Health, were included for
topical areas and implications for future studies. We aim to review. One of the most important inclusion criteria was
provide practical implications that can facilitate future e- that the study should have a standards-related topic.
Health interventions and policies while addressing However, if a study had no substantive content or analysis
challenges associated with standards. In Section 2, we related to standards or had only technical discussions on e-
present the methodology, followed by Section 3 which Health standards without socio-technical implications, it
provides an outline of the current literature, and we was excluded. In addition, articles that use the term
conclude in Section 4. “standards” in a broader meaning (e.g, standard practice,
standardized patients) have been excluded.
2. METHODS
Studies in English were included for review. The type of
2.1. Search strategy study was limited to journal articles including systematic
reviews. Based on the scoping study to assess the relevance
Systematic reviews adopt a replicable, scientific and and size of literature, it was found that a considerable
transparent process aimed at minimizing bias through amount of letters, editorials and reports exist dealing with
exhaustive searches of existing literature [11]. In order to the topic of e-Health standards. However, most of them are
review literature employing a comprehensive and rigorous descriptive about the current status of standardization and
method, a search was carried out using databases from recent developments of technologies or present critical
different disciplines including medical science and viewpoints on issues such as the lack of interoperability that
healthcare. The review process provided by Petticrew et al. lack academic rigor. Since the purpose of this systematic
[12] and processes in actual systematic reviews conducted review is to examine the state of academic research, study
in medical science and healthcare papers are followed for types other than journal articles were excluded. Articles
this paper. applying quantitative and qualitative methodologies were all
assessed. Articles for which full text was not accessible
A search was performed in three databases including Web were excluded. The time frame searched was between 2000
of Science, Medline and Embase. Previous studies have and 2017. The year 2000 is a significant starting point of

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