[Digital Transformation of Healthcare: A Delphi Study of the Working Groups Digital Health and Validation and Linkage of Secondary Data of the German Network for Health Services Research (DNVF)].

Aim of the Study: The digital transformation in healthcare is also of fundamental importance for healthcare research. For this reason, experts should agree on, prioritize and identify key topics for a medium-term strategy of the German Network for Health Services Research and classify the general development of digital health in the context of health services research.
Methods: Between April and September 2018, the working groups "Digital Health" and "Validation and Linkage of Secondary Data" of the German Network for Health Services Research were asked to submit their expertise online using the methodological approach of a Delphi study. For this purpose, a multi-stage modified Delphi method with quantitative and qualitative approaches was chosen. Initially, a list of theses was drawn from the network's published position papers on digital health applications and medical apps. A total of 131 statements were formulated. The final survey instrument included questions on the biographical background of the participants, 42 developed items (33 statements and 8 open-ended questions), and one free-text field to add further aspects. Items were evaluated with a five-point Likert scale. A statement was accepted if the agreement rate was 75% or higher.
Results: Of the 110 potential participants, 50 (46%) took part in the first round and 39 (36%) in the second round of the Delphi survey. In the first round, there was a clear result for 24 of 33 statements. There were 20 statements "agreed with" and four "disagreed with." Nine statements were between 60 and 75% and were presented to the participants again for evaluation in the second round. In round two, of these nine statements, four statements were "agreed with" and five statements were "disagreed with." Digital Health Literacy" emerged as a particular focus in this Delphi study.
Conclusion: In this Delphi study, experts were involved in selecting and prioritizing possible topics for the Digital Health working group and assessing future developments in digital health in the context of health services research. The results reflect both the expectations and interests of the members and are largely consistent with the recommendations of the report "Digitalization for Health" made by the expert council for assessing developments in the health sector.
Competing Interests: Horst Christian Vollmar und Ursula Kramer sind Sprecher der „AG Digital Health“ des Deutschen Netzerk für Versorgungsforschung (DNVF e. V.). Ursula Kramer ist Inhaberin einer Agentur für Gesundheitskommunikation, zudem ist sie Gründerin der Plattform HealthOn, die Gesundheits-Apps analysiert und bewertet. Jutta G. Richter ist Sprecherin der Kommission Digitale Rheumatologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie und Mitglied in der Kommission Digitale Transformation in der Inneren Medizin der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Innere Medizin. Madlen Fiebig ist Mitglied der AG „Digitalisierung in der Pflege“ beim Bundesverband Gesundheits-IT-bvitg e. V. Alle anderen Autoren sind Mitglieden der AG Digital Health oder der AG Validierung und Linkage von Sekundärdaten. Sie geben an, keine Interessenskonflikte zu haben.
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