Digital unterstützte interprofessionelle Zusammenarbeit im ambulanten Setting: Bedarfe, Erwartungen und Barrieren in der Ergotherapie, Logopädie und Physiotherapie – eine qualitative Studie / Digitally supported interprofessional cooperation in the outpatient setting: needs, expectations and barriers in occupational therapy, speech therapy and physiotherapy – a qualitative study

Complex clinical pictures, networking of the professional groups, and digitalization of the health care system make high demands on health professionals in Germany, especially regarding interprofessional collaboration. The study aims to investigate therapist's needs, expectations, concerns, and ideas, how a digitally supported collaboration can facilitate these challenges in an outpatient setting. Using qualitative methods, two focus groups were conducted. Therapists were initially asked about their perceptions of interprofessional collaboration and their current use of digital media in their work life. The next step was to determine wishes and requirements for a digital medium to support interprofessional collaboration. Applying Qualitative Text Analysis according to Kuckartz, statements were summarized in main categories like “Professional self-image of health professionals”, “Concerns regarding interprofessional collaboration” and “Wishes for a digital medium”. Main categories were consolidated into a concept map. The result is an initial definition of “digital interprofessional cooperation” which describes a digitally supported interprofessional collaboration to improve communication and patient care. In addition, a framework was developed which represents the therapists’ ideas about a digital medium. This framework contains basic conditions for use, e. g. data protection, as well as desired functions and design ideas, like a forum and intuitive user interface. The results confirm barriers as found in literature and underline the discrepancy of therapist's wishes and the system's possibilities. The initial definition of “digital interprofessional collaboration” introduces a new perspective on interprofessional collaboration including digitalization in the health care system. The framework's criteria can be incorporated into the development of a first prototype.