Dalenca Pottas

A model to assess the benefit value of knowledge management in an IT service provider environment

In recent years, intensive debate has raged over the significance of knowledge management within the business context. The adoption of knowledge management as a business imperative has relied heavily on its ability to deliver tangible value to businesses in the newly established knowledge economy. As with any other value-based initiative, it is necessary to measure knowledge management using explicit valuation methods. This requirement is particularly necessary within the IT service industry, where considerable opportunity exists for the use of knowledge resources. Wide-ranging studies by subject matter experts have been conducted into valuing knowledge management over the last two decades. In most cases, the research addressed the practical business challenges in relation to valuing knowledge. To realise the full impact of knowledge management requires expanding its value domains to encompass business relationships, human competence and organisational structure. The purpose of this research is to assess widely recognised methods and propose a consolidated methodology to measure the benefit value of knowledge management in an IT service provider environment. The resulting integrated knowledge benefit value model allows IT service organisations to select the aspects of measurement that are most appropriate and provides a planning and management tool for them to improve on their handling of knowledge resources.

Recommendations for usable security in online health social networks

The paper discusses a usable security evaluation of two online health social networks: websites that provide health information and health services through online social networking tools. This allows patients to share their personal health information with other patients and their health-care providers, a key priority in such environments. Security features must be usable and effective; and recommendations are provided to improve their usability features. These can impact positively on their adoption by the intended users: the patients.

A Socio-technical Perspective on the Use of Mobile Phones for Remote Data Collection in Home Community Based Care in Developing Countries

The adoption of technology into the health care industry has been criticized as being overtly techno-centric. It is assumed that health information technologies will fit into the environment and be easily adopted by the user. This, however, is a fallacy. Research has shown that a socio-technical approach, optimizing the interaction between the relevant social, environmental and technical sub-systems, is preferred. In this paper, a socio-technical perspective is gained on the adoption of health information technologies in the home community based care context, specifically the use of mobile phones for remote data collection. Based on data gathered through interviews with and observations of caregivers administering care in the community, this paper identifies and discusses the social, environmental and technical factors that affect community health care workers while they are using mobile phones to capture patient data in the home community based care environment in developing countries.

A Generic Quality Assurance Model (GQAM) for successful e-health implementation in rural hospitals in South Africa

Although e-health can potentially facilitate the management of scarce resources and improve the quality of healthcare services, implementation of e-health programs continues to fail or not fulfil expectations. A key contributor to the failure of e-health implementation in rural hospitals is poor quality management of projects. Based on a survey 35 participants from five rural hospitals in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and using a qualitative case study research methodology, this article attempted to answer the question: does the adoption of quality assurance (QA) models add value and help to ensure success of information technology projects, especially in rural health settings? The study identified several weaknesses in the application of QA in these hospitals; however, findings also showed that the QA methods used, in spite of not being formally applied in a standardised manner, did nonetheless contribute to the success of some projects. The authors outline a generic quality assurance model (GQAM), developed to enhance the potential for successful acquisition of e-health solutions in rural hospitals, in order to improve the quality of care and service delivery in these hospitals.

A South African perspective on factors that impact on the adoption and meaningful use of health information technologies

Abstract Objective: Various benefits are associated with the adoption and meaningful use of health information technologies (HITs) in the healthcare sector. Despite the associated advantages with the adoption and use of HITs, the South African healthcare sector has been slow to adopt HITs, such as electronic record systems. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that should be addressed to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of HITs in the South African healthcare landscape. Design: A three-round Delphi study was conducted to identify such factors. Setting and subjects: The Delphi panel included 21 participants who were considered to be suitably knowledgeable about the acceptance and significant use of HITs in the context of the South African healthcare setting. Results: A total of 58 factors were uncovered by the participants. Consensus was reached on 42 factors that were considered to have a direct to significant impact on the adoption and meaningful use of HITs in the South African healthcare sector. Conclusion: The results of this study highlight factors that should be addressed to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of HITs in South Africas healthcare setting. These results indicate that a wide range of factors need to be addressed and involve a multitude of stakeholders.

Advocating a Quality Assurance Model for the Implementation of e-Health Solutions in Rural South Africa

This companion-discussion paper advocates the need for a quality assurance model for successful acquisition of e-health solutions in rural healthcare centres. We argue that the quality of the entire system is highly influenced by the quality of the processes used to acquire, develop, implement and maintain it. Central to these processes is the incorporation of user participation that adopts a ‘bottom-up’ rather than a ‘top-down’ approach. We present a selection of literature of relevance to the research work in progress, with a view to understanding ways in which quality assurance methodologies can be used to add value and ensure high quality care and service delivery in rural South Africa.

The characteristics of a biometric

Biometric implementations have emerged as an improved solution in many spheres of life where security controls are necessary for authentication. However, not all human mannerisms and features can be used as a biometric measure. For example, the movement of an elbow will not satisfy the requirements for a useful biometric. There are a number of characteristics which are deemed important and that may be taken into account when choosing a human mannerism or feature to be used as a biometric for the purposes of identification. Some characteristics are more necessary than others. For example, the uniqueness of the fingerprint is more important than its acceptance as an identification mechanism by the public at large. One can find a number of these suggested characteristics in the literature and place them into various categories. The primary category will be its inherent nature but there may also be a technical and a procedural category. Technical considerations are where the typical technical implementation of the biometric may add further characteristics to the biometric. Finally, there may be procedural actions that will further have an influence on the biometric implementation. A categorized technical or procedural characteristic should add quality to the original inherent characteristics for any particular biometric. If a biometric feature and its further implementation (technical and/or procedural) satisfy a certain subset of these categorized characteristics which are deemed more important, then this may constitute a better choice than that which appears to satisfy a different subset of characteristics. This paper looks at the characteristics found in the literature and attempts to categorize them as inherent, technical or procedural in nature. The paper will subsequently look at some of the more popular biometric features and their inherent characteristics that have been found in the literature. Readers of this paper will be able to select appropriate biometric features based on the characteristics that are identified in this paper.

Towards Characteristics of Lifelong Health Records

Since the beginning of this century, the view has developed that high quality health care can be delivered only when all the pertinent data about the health of a patient is available to the clinician. This viewpoint brings forth the notion of a lifelong health record. Various types of health records have emerged to serve the needs of healthcare providers and more recently, patients or consumers. The purpose of this paper is to present a set of characteristics or best practices for lifelong health records which are seen independently from implementation constraints such as technology and operational context. The characteristics, comprised by four core characteristics and nine dimensions, are synthesized from the characteristics of various types of health records used by healthcare providers and consumers. Examples are provided of evaluation measures that give an indication of compliance to the broadly stated characteristics of lifelong health records.

A Community Assets Infrastructure for the Secure Use of Mobile Computing Devices in the Rural Health Landscape

The ubiquity of mobile computing devices in the workplace has created a vast landscape of opportunity in rural communities centered on the increased population access owing to the improved mobility. Healthcare workers are able to reach previously disconnected communities and homesteads to deliver health related services through the use of custom mobile computing devices or applications that facilitate the viewing, recording and updating of patient records. Notably, the presence of electronic patient information presents privacy and confidentiality challenges that if not addressed, may affect the delivery of health services thereby negatively impacting on the overall health outcomes of the communities. Deficit based solutions target the needs and challenges of the communities in developing solutions and have been widely used; however, little emphasis has been placed on utilizing the existing asset resources that contribute positively to the overall health outcomes in the development of solutions. This paper leverages off an asset model developed by Morgan and Ziglio to identify existing community assets in a rural community through the use of a survey issued to community health workers and the supporting IT staff. The results point to assets in the cohesive social structures centered on the trust bond between the patients and the providers. Moreover, mentoring support structures and periodic training activities keep the health worker skills up to date. Furthermore, a positive appreciation of health information sensitivity and the need for patient privacy and confidentiality provide for productive interactions between health workers and patients.

Biometrics in social grants: Separating myth from reality

The South African government provides a social assistance programme that pays out monetary grants to qualifying persons. In 2012, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) who manages these social grants, instituted a new form of identification that required the capturing of biometric features such as fingerprints and voice samples, to better identify the grant recipients in order to reduce fraud. This paper describes the development of a framework for an appropriate implementation of biometrics for the social grant programme taking into account the security requirements as well as the vulnerability of the grant recipients.