Prevalence of technology and connectivity issues in general practices in rural New South Wales and their impact on staff capability to perform their job

IF 1.9 4区医学 Q2 NURSING

Australian Journal of Rural Health Pub Date : 2024-05-05 DOI:10.1111/ajr.13129

Margot Leeson-Smith B.HSc, Louise Geddes PhD, Heath Johnson B.Communication (Hons), Sabrina Pit PhD, Robyn Ramsden PhD

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

To identify the technology and connectivity issues in rural and remote general practices, and the factors independently associated with these issues that negatively impact staff's capability to perform their job.

Methods

An annual cross-sectional survey of rural and remote general practice managers. Dependent variables included demographic data, practice size, geographic location, connection type and frequency of connectivity issues. Descriptive statistics are presented, and bivariate logistic regression was undertaken to determine factors independently associated with connectivity issues that negatively impact staff's capability to perform their job.

Participants

One hundred sixty-eight general practice managers from rural and remote New South Wales.

Results

The majority of respondents (87%, n = 146) indicated that technology and connectivity issues had impacted staff's capability to perform their job. Internet problems were the most frequently reported issue (36%, n = 61). In bivariate analysis, practices that had a total clinical staff headcount between 5 and 7 (OR 0.27; 95% CI 0.10–0.67; p = 0.005) or between 8 and 11 (OR 0.39; 95% CI 0.16–0.95; p = 0.038) were significantly less likely to report technology and connectivity issues that negatively impact staff's capability to perform their job, compared with practices with a total clinical headcount of less than five.

Conclusions

Technology and connectivity issues persist in rural and remote general practices. This is the first study to demonstrate that technology and connectivity issues impact on rural staff's capability to perform their job. Furthermore, smaller practices face more technology and connectivity issues that negatively impact staff's capability to do their job than larger practices. Further research is required to find solutions to address these challenges.

查看原文本刊更多论文

新南威尔士州农村地区普通诊所的技术和连接问题及其对员工工作能力的影响。

目的确定农村和偏远地区全科诊所的技术和连接问题，以及与这些问题独立相关、对员工工作能力产生负面影响的因素：方法：对农村和偏远地区全科医生管理人员进行年度横截面调查。因变量包括人口统计学数据、诊所规模、地理位置、连接类型和出现连接问题的频率。调查提供了描述性统计数字，并进行了双变量逻辑回归，以确定与对员工工作能力产生负面影响的连接问题独立相关的因素：来自新南威尔士州农村和偏远地区的 168 名全科诊所经理：大多数受访者（87%，n = 146）表示，技术和连接问题影响了员工的工作能力。互联网问题是最常报告的问题（36%，n = 61）。在双变量分析中，与临床人员总数少于 5 人的医疗机构相比，临床人员总数在 5-7 人之间（OR 0.27；95% CI 0.10-0.67；p = 0.005）或 8-11 人之间（OR 0.39；95% CI 0.16-0.95；p = 0.038）的医疗机构报告技术和连接问题对员工工作能力产生负面影响的可能性要小得多：结论：在农村和偏远地区的全科医疗机构中，技术和连接问题依然存在。这是首次有研究表明，技术和连接问题会影响农村员工的工作能力。此外，与规模较大的诊所相比，规模较小的诊所面临更多的技术和连接问题，这些问题对员工的工作能力产生了负面影响。要找到应对这些挑战的解决方案，还需要进一步的研究。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Australian Journal of Rural Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

2.30

自引率

16.70%

发文量

122

审稿时长

12 months

期刊介绍： The Australian Journal of Rural Health publishes articles in the field of rural health. It facilitates the formation of interdisciplinary networks, so that rural health professionals can form a cohesive group and work together for the advancement of rural practice, in all health disciplines. The Journal aims to establish a national and international reputation for the quality of its scholarly discourse and its value to rural health professionals. All articles, unless otherwise identified, are peer reviewed by at least two researchers expert in the field of the submitted paper.