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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Comput Inform Nurs. 2016 May;34(5):206–213. doi: 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000231

Table 3.

Advantages and disadvantages to using technology to aid remote and rural workers

Group 1: Health data collected at a patient visit to facilitate patient care
Advantages Examples Author

Acceptability Positive acceptance Chaiyachat et al, 2013; Surka et al., 2014
Fuel savings Chang et al, 2013
Unrestricted use generated a sense of ownership and empowerment Little et al, 2013
Data Quality Improved data quality Gisore et al, 2012; Surka et al., 2014
Increased subject enrollment Gisore et al, 2012 Mamud et al, 2010
Cost Maintenance was inexpensive, after an initial capital cost Gisore et al, 2012; Chaplin et al.,

Disadvantages Examples Author

Acceptability Low actual use, despite positive acceptance Chaiyachat et al, 2013
Concerns with job security Chang et al, 2013
Limited personal motivation to use the phone without incentive Chaiyachat et al, 2013
Patient confidentiality problems, especially when phones are shared between family members Chang et al, 2013 Haberer et al, 2010 Velez et al, 2013
Interferes with the human side of the community health worker and patient interaction Chang et al, 2013
Community health workers feared making mistakes Haberer et al, 2010
Usability Application updates were disruptive and caused screen freezing Chaiyachat et al, 2013
Patients registered multiple times Little et al, 2013
Small keyboard caused data entry errors Velez et al, 2013
Technical Infrastructure Limited internet access made it difficult to upload data Graphic presentation of data on phones inferior to paper Chaiyachat et al, 2013 Chang et al, 2013 Surka et al., 2014
Limited electricity caused problems with battery charging Chang et al, 2013
Some phones were lost, stolen, or damaged, but this was rare. Some community health workers were worried that smartphones would make them a target for theft. Chang et al, 2013 Little et al, 2013 Gisore et al, 2012

Group 2: Communication between a health worker and patient

Advantages Examples Author

Acceptability Fuel savings Mamud et al, 2010
Health outcome Higher odds of skilled delivery attendance Lund et al, 2012
Data Quality Increased subject enrollment Mamud et al, 2010

Group 3: Communication between a health worker in the field and a health worker at a higher institution

Advantages Examples Author

Acceptability Improved morale Chang et al, 2011
High acceptance among community health workers Jones et al, 2012
Usability Decrease in time to contact and receive feedback from supervisor Lemay et al, 2012
Increased subject enrollment Ngabo et al, 2012
Health outcome Improved patient compliance when they realized direct accountability to clinic Chang et al, 2011
Improved medication management Zurovac et al, 2011
Data Quality Enhanced protocol compliance Florez-arango et al, 2014
Cost Decrease in costs, mostly due to a decrease in travel expense Lemay et al, 2012

Disadvantages Examples Author

Usability Health worker concern with becoming desensitized to repetitive and frequent messages Jones et al, 2012
Health outcome No demonstrated impact on medication adherence Bruxvoort et al., 2014

Group 4: Data collection for surveillance or research-based purposes

Advantages Examples Author
Acceptability High acceptance among interviewers VanHerden et al, 2013
Usability Convenient to carry around because of small size Onono et al, 2011
Technology facilitated interaction with interviewees Rajput et al, 2012
Data Quality Improved data quality Limited to no errors Onono et al, 2011 Zhang et al, 2012
Real time information allowed identification of technical issues, data entry issues, and data fabrication Tomlinson et al, 2009
Cost Technology was more cost efficient that pen-and-paper surveys because data entry was not required Rajput et al, 2012 Tomlinson et al, 2009

Disadvantages Examples Author

Technical Infrastructure Limited electricity caused problems with battery charging Onono et al, 2011
Limited internet access made it difficult to upload data Onono et al, 2011
Cost High initial capital costs Zhang et al, 2012