Mobile IT solutions for home health care.

Purpose: Harnessing the advantage of mobile information technology (IT) solutions at the point of care and contributing to patients' safety by involving them.

Design/methodology/approach: International collaboration between specialists in health communication processes and information management and systems.

Methods used: Case studies, design science.

Findings: User-friendly portable IT applications going beyond documentation of patient records and administration require an understanding of complex communication processes between patients and the different caregivers. Home care increasingly faces structural deficits to be mitigated by integration of IT solutions. Platforms chosen in combination with services should be well established. How to implement this must be scrutinized by comprehensive research as initiated here. Preliminary results indicate potentials for novel mobile applications.

Practical implications: Contribution to increasing patients' safety by developing mobile solutions to support health care. Those may also contribute to cost savings in health care.

Social implications: Health care experiences an increasing significance for Western industrialized countries because of demographic developments. Care generally shifts from inpatient to outpatient settings; the global shortage of qualified nurses becomes even more prevailing. More support, among others by IT and enhanced interprofessional communication, is demanded for an improved quality and efficiency of care processes.

Originality/value: Mutual approach benefits from the partner's understanding of complex interactions among clinicians, health services, and patients: the ability to design, monitor, and evaluate research strategies integrating care (information) needs is invaluable when applying creative technology solutions within health care domain.