M-health and medical diagnosis

What are the individual physician determinants driving the adoption of mHealth solutions for medical diagnosis and clinical decision making?

Objectives of the thesis

As a student in double degree Program Grande École and Master 2 E-marketing and digital strategy (EM Strasbourg (France) ) but also digital marketing project manager at Roche Diagnostics, I wanted to conduct research on an emerging trend in medical diagnosis: M-health (or mobile health). More than simply complementing the current diagnostic arsenal, mobile health allows us to address concrete solutions to major public health issues in our healthcare system: increasing number of medical deserts, ever-increasing prevalence of chronic pathologies, overload of doctors, etc.

In order to support its development, it seemed essential to me to be able to evaluate the individual determinants that can promote the adoption (and the obstacles) of such solutions by a central actor of the diagnosis: the physician. The objective is, in fine, to be able to draw up recommendations for companies as well as for public authorities and institutional actors. The aim is to be able to develop a favourable regulatory framework, relevant support policies, as well as to make technical and marketing choices that can promote the relevance and integration of these solutions in the diagnostic and decision-making process of the physician.

Abstract

Information and communication technologies, commonly referred to as ICT, have revolutionized the healthcare landscape over the past 40 years. By transforming both clinical research and patient care, they have improved the efficiency of medical diagnosis and, ultimately, the quality of care and support. In recent years, new tools have emerged from their development, centered around the patient, through mobile devices such as smartphones and connected objects, or m-health. As such, they are now at the center of a new strategy of medical organization allowing access to new information for the doctor. The hope is that this will have a positive impact, both on the reliability of the diagnosis made and on the improvement of clinical decision-making, two central steps inherent to the quality of a care pathway. This research aims to provide an overview of the two main processes of a physician's practice, i.e. medical diagnosis and the clinical decision making that depends on it, to understand the potential of m-health with regard to the discipline through an inventory and finally to evaluate what are today the individual determinants or motivations of physicians that can favor their adoption. To do this, a model of technology adoption appreciated by researchers, Venkatesh's UTAUT, is used.

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