Francesc Saigí-Rubió

• Professor
• Professor (Full) at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

tion of mHealth technology emerged as a critical response. However, the permanent implementation and use ofsuch technology faces several barriers, which vary by each country’s innovation level and specific health policies.This study provides a detailed analysis of the transformations in mHealth service implementation within thecontext of the COVID-...

BACKGROUND Despite a lack of evidence relating to effectiveness and safety, the use of apps in the field of mental health is increasing due to their ease of use and accessibility. The aim of the EvalDepApps project is to develop and validate an assessment tool for evaluating depression management apps based on scientific evidence, expert judgment,...

Background Although digital health is essential for improving health care, its adoption remains slow due to the lack of literacy in this area. Therefore, it is crucial for health professionals to acquire digital skills and for a digital competence assessment and accreditation model to be implemented to make advances in this field. Objective This s...

Background Ensuring access to accurate and verified information is essential for effective patient treatment and diagnosis. Although health workers rely on the internet for clinical data, there is a need for a more streamlined approach. Objective This systematic review aims to assess the current state of artificial intelligence (AI) and natural la...

La cirugía mínimamente invasiva es el nuevo estándar quirúrgico que requiere desarrollar simuladores portátiles de bajo costo que permitan democratizar el entrenamiento y el aprendizaje ubicuo. El estudio presenta el desarrollo y validación de un simulador para el aprendizaje de destrezas psicomotoras básicas en cirugía de invasión mínima que utili...

Objectives The call to scale up telemedicine services globally as part of the digital health transformation lacks an agreed-upon set of constructs to guide the implementation process. A lack of guidance hinders the development, consolidation, sustainability and optimisation of telemedicine services. The study aims to reach consensus among telemedic...

Background: Chronic neck and low back pain are very common and have detrimental effects for people and the society. In this study, we explore the experiences of individuals with neck and/or back pain using a written narrative methodology. Material and Methods: 92 individuals explained their pain experience using written narratives. Narratives were...

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of the results of an evidence-based information recommender called Health Operation for Personalized Evidence (HOPE), which is a UMLS ontology-based solution and was used as an automatic assistant to find information in primary care cases. Materials and methods Ontologies and Natural Language Processing (NLP) were...

BACKGROUND Ensuring access to accurate and verified information is essential for effective patient treatment and diagnosis. Although health workers rely on the internet for clinical data, there is a need for a more streamlined approach. OBJECTIVE This systematic review aims to assess the current state of artificial intelligence (AI) and natural la...

BACKGROUND Although digital health is essential for improving health care, its adoption remains slow due to the lack of literacy in this area. Therefore, it is crucial for health professionals to acquire digital skills and for a digital competence assessment and accreditation model to be implemented to make advances in this field. OBJECTIVE This s...

The Faculty of Health Sciences at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain) was officially designated a ‘World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre in eHealth’ on 5 April 2018. The Centre aims to provide support to countries willing to develop new telemedicine services; to promote the use of eHealth; and to study the adoption...

The financial burden of burn injuries has a considerable impact on patients and healthcare systems. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have demonstrated their utility in the improvement of clinical practice and healthcare systems. Because referral centres for burn injuries cover large geographic areas, many specialists must find new...

Background Digital strategies are innovative approaches to the prevention of skin cancer, but the attrition following this kind of intervention needs to be analyzed. Objective The aim of this paper is to assess the dropouts from studies focused on digital strategies for the prevention of skin cancer. Methods We conducted this systematic review wi...

Background This study attempts to provide a picture of the hesitancy to vaccination against COVID-19 in Spain during the 2021 spring-autumn vaccination campaign, both in the general population and in healthcare professionals. Methods The participants were recruited using social media such as Facebook and Twitter, in addition to the cooperation of...

Background Despite Catalonia being an advanced region in terms of digital health adoption, the “Forum for Professional Dialogue” identified the need to improve information and communication technology (ICT) competences as one of the present and future challenges for health care professionals (HPs). Objective We aimed to validate the digital compet...

Background: Several systematic reviews evaluating the use of telemedicine by clinicians, patients, and health authorities to improve the delivery of care in the 53 member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region have been conducted in recent years. However, a study summarizing the findings of these reviews has not been conduct...

Background: Digital health interventions and mobile technologies can help to reduce the rates of obesity and overweight conditions. Although weight management apps are widely used, they usually lack professional content and evaluation, so the quality of these apps cannot be guaranteed. The EVALAPPS project aims to design and validate a tool to ass...

1) Background: The goal of the paper was to establish the factors that influence how people feel about having a medical operation performed on them by a robot. (2) Methods: Data were obtained from a 2017 Flash Eurobarometer (number 460) of the European Commission with 27,901 citizens aged 15 years and over in the 28 countries of the European Unio...

RESUMEN Con millones de personas en el mundo en situación de distanciamiento físico por el COVID-19, las tecnologías de la información y comunicaciones (TICs) se han posicionado como uno de los medios principales de interacción y colaboración. Ya al inicio de este milenio se empezaban a mencionar las siguientes ventajas: mayor acceso a la informaci...

Este trabajo fue comisionado y financiado por el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, como parte de los esfuerzos del Banco para generar productos de conocimiento motivados por la crisis del Covid-19. El trabajo fue coordinado por Juan Blyde, del Sector de Integración y Comercio del BID. Los autores agradecen los comentarios de Juan Blyde, Mauricio...

Este trabajo presenta una identificación de las principales cuestiones relacionadas con el desarrollo de la telemedicina, en especial políticas, aspectos regulatorios y legales, y problemas de salud susceptibles de ser abordados mediante el uso de la telemedicina en América Latina. Seguidamente realiza una identificación de los factores que impulsa...

Background: In order to prevent spread and improve control of infectious diseases, public health experts need to closely monitor human and animal populations. Infectious disease surveillance is an established, routine data collection process essential for early warning, rapid response, and disease control. The quantity of data potentially useful fo...

Background: Telemedicine has become a necessary component of clinical practice for the purpose of providing safer patient care during lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been used to support the health care needs of patients with COVID-19 and routine primary care patients alike. However, this change has not been fully consolidated. Objec...

The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of the requirements to improve routine health information systems (RHISs) for the management of health systems, including the identification of best practices, opportunities, and challenges in the 53 countries and territories of the WHO European region. We conducted an overview of systemati...

The lack of blood donors is a global problem that prevents the demand for blood prompted by an ageing population and increased life expectancy from being met. The aim of this study was to conduct an initial exploration of the reasons for using digital platforms in blood donation. Using a Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) framework, microdata for 38...

BACKGROUND During lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has become a necessary component of clinical practice for the purpose of providing safer patient care, and it has been used to support the healthcare needs of COVID-19 patients and routine primary care patients alike. However, this change has not been fully consolidated. OBJECTIVE T...

Background: During lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has become a necessary component of clinical practice for the purpose of providing safer patient care, and it has been used to support the healthcare needs of COVID-19 patients and routine primary care patients alike. However, this change has not been fully consolidated. Objec...

BACKGROUND eConsulta (asynchronous and two-way teleconsultation in Primary Care) is one of the most important telemedicine developments in the Catalan public health system, a service that has been heavily boosted by the outbreak of the pandemic. It is vitally important to know the characteristics of its users in order to be able to meet their needs...

Background: eConsulta (asynchronous and two-way teleconsultation in Primary Care) is one of the most important telemedicine developments in the Catalan public health system, a service that has been heavily boosted by the outbreak of the pandemic. It is vitally important to know the characteristics of its users in order to be able to meet their nee...

(1) Background: This study aims to delineate a pattern on vaccine hesitancy in a sample of the Spanish population, considering age groups and status as healthcare workers. (2) Methods: Participants were recruited using Twitter® as a dissemination tool to reach as many respondents as possible in different parts of the Spanish territory. The particip...

Background: Telemedicine is a means to overcome inequalities in access to health services and its implementation has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, during which providers have temporary authorization for this modality. After the health emergency, a series of requirements for continuity must be met. One of the variables that contribute to t...

Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity-major risk factors for the main non-communicable diseases-can be addressed by mobile health applications. Using an evidence-based systematic review design, we analysed studies on mobile applications to foster physical activity to determine whether they met the objective of increasing adults' physical activity....

Background The high cost and low availability of virtual reality simulators in surgical specialty training programs in low- and middle-income countries make it necessary to develop and obtain sources of validity for new models of low-cost portable simulators that enable ubiquitous learning of psychomotor skills in minimally invasive surgery. Objec...

BACKGROUND The internet has become an important tool for many people with health concerns, especially for adolescents. Concerns regarding confidentiality, coupled with the stigma and shame associated with certain conditions, especially sexually transmitted infections and other health-related problems make the internet a safe environment within whic...

Background Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more essential than ever to implement protective measures in primary care centers to ensure patients’ safety. This protocol describes a quasiexperimental study on the use of a mobile chat platform as a clinical consultation tool for adolescents and primary health care physicians. Objective The purpose...

BACKGROUND Increasingly intelligent and autonomous robots are destined to have a huge impact on our society. Their adoption, however, represents a major change to the healthcare sector’s traditional practices, which, in turn, poses certain challenges. To what extent is it possible to foresee a near-future scenario in which minor routine surgery is...

Background: The use of apps for weight management has increased over recent years; however, there is a lack of evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of these apps. The EVALAPPS project will develop and validate an assessment instrument to specifically assess the safety and efficacy of weight management apps. Objective: The aim of this study w...

En los Congresos habitualmente se ofrecen conferencias magistrales, que atraen la atención de los asistentes, pero los mensajes fundamentales rápidamente se olvidan. En este sentido, la estrategia basada en los principios pedagógicos del aula inversa o Coworking permite a los participantes, en equipos multidisciplinarios, resolver problemas aprendi...

En los Congresos habitualmente se ofrecen conferencias magistrales, que atraen la atención de los asistentes, pero los mensajes fundamentales rápidamente se olvidan. En este sentido, la estrategia basada en los principios pedagógicos del aula inversa o Coworking permite a los participantes, en equipos multidisciplinarios, resolver problemas aprendi...

BACKGROUND The high cost and low availability of virtual reality simulators in surgical specialty training programs in developing countries make it necessary to develop and obtain sources of validity for new models of low-cost portable simulators that enable ubiquitous learning of psychomotor skills in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). OBJECTIVE T...

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors opted to update affiliation 3 in order to comply with the current regulations for the submission of Doctoral Thesis by compendium of articles, the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona Doctoral School asks us to update the affiliation number 3, adding “Departament de Medicina” at the beginn...

Following publication of the original article [1], in order to comply with the current regulations for the submission of Doctoral Thesis by compendium of articles, the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona Doctoral School asks us to update the affiliation number 3, adding “Departament de Medicina” at the beginning, as follows:

Background: A community of clinical practice called the Online Communication Tool between Primary and Hospital Care (ECOPIH) was created to enable primary care and specialist care professionals to communicate with each other in order to resolve real clinical cases, thereby improving communication and coordination between care levels. The present w...

Introduction There are more than 320,000 accessible health apps, with the most downloaded of those related to physical exercise and weight control. However the initiatives for their validation address only partial aspects of the evaluation. The EVALAPPS project aims to develop an assessment tool for overweight and obesity management apps, based on...

BACKGROUND Simulation in virtual environments has become a new paradigm for surgeon training in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). However, this technology is expensive and difficult to access. OBJECTIVE This study aims first to describe the development of a new gesture-based simulator for learning skills in MIS and, second, to establish its fideli...

Background: Simulation in virtual environments has become a new paradigm for surgeon training in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). However, this technology is expensive and difficult to access. Objective: This study aims first to describe the development of a new gesture-based simulator for learning skills in MIS and, second, to establish its fi...

BACKGROUND The use of Mobile Applications (apps) for managing overweightness/obesity has increased over recent years. However, there is a lack of evidence on the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of these apps. The EVALAPPS project will develop and validate an assessment tool for specifically assessing these dimensions in overweightness/obesity ma...

Background The use of apps for weight management has increased over recent years; however, there is a lack of evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of these apps. The EVALAPPS project will develop and validate an assessment instrument to specifically assess the safety and efficacy of weight management apps. Objective The aim of this study was...

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Background: Teledermatology (TD) is one of the applications of electronic health and telemedicine that involves the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for the care of skin diseases. Previous studies on TD indicate that it seems to be effective in diagnosing early malignant pathologies, such as melanoma, and in reducing waiting...

BACKGROUND Teledermatology (TD) consists on the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for the care of skin diseases. The studies on TD indicate that it seems to be effective in diagnosing early malignant pathologies such as melanoma, and in reducing the waiting lists by prioritizing the urgent pathology. Despite these adv...

The purpose of the paper is to gain an understanding of the perceptions and needs of caregivers looking after the elderly or those with multiple disabilities with regard to the use of technology in the course of their work, in order to design the associated training.

Introduction: There are numerous factors and barriers that hinder the use of telemedicine, among which some aspects of the organisation stand out. Thus, it would be interesting to determine its intention to use it in a health institution. The objective of this paper was to identify the factors that influence the intent to use telemedicine by the gr...

BACKGROUND In recent years there has been a rise in the use of Mobile Applications (Apps) to prevent and treat adult overweight/obesity since they can facilitate the tracking of physical and dietary patterns, provide recommendations and advice, and include motivation strategies to achieve personalized goals. However, evidence available on the effic...

Background: The use of apps to tackle overweight and obesity by tracking physical and dietary patterns and providing recommendations and motivation strategies to achieve personalized goals has increased over recent years. However, evidence of the efficacy, effectiveness, and safety of these apps is severely lacking. Objective: The aim of this st...

BACKGROUND The increasingly pervasive presence of technology in the operating room (OR) raises the need to study the interaction between the surgeon and the computer system. A new generation of tools known as commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices that enable non-contact gesture-based human-computer interaction (HCI) are currently being explored a...

Background: The increasingly pervasive presence of technology in the operating room raises the need to study the interaction between the surgeon and computer system. A new generation of tools known as commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices enabling touchless gesture-based human-computer interaction is currently being explored as a solution in sur...

Background: The literature has noted the need to use more advanced methods and models to evaluate physicians' outcomes in the shared health care model that electronic health (eHealth) proposes. Objective: The goal of our study was to design and evaluate a predictive multidimensional model of the outcomes of eHealth usage by European physicians....

In 2005, all WHO Member States pledged to fight for universal health coverage (UHC). The availability of financial, human and technological resources seems to be necessary to develop efficient health policies and also to offer UHC. One of the main challenges facing the health sector comes from the need to innovate efficiently. The intense use of in...

Background: The current reality of primary care (PC) makes it essential to have telemedicine systems available to facilitate communication between care levels. Communities of practice have great potential in terms of care and education, and that is why the Online Communication Tool between Primary and Hospital Care was created. This tool enables P...

El vertiginoso desarrollo del conocimiento ha llevado al hombre a desagregarlo a través de la ciencia, las artes, la técnica y la tecnología. Cada campo del conocimiento se ramifica. en especializaciones lo cual ha permitido que evolucionen nuevas y muchas profesiones. Esto ha colocado a los usuarios del conocimiento en dificultades para localizar...

BACKGROUND The literature has noted the need to use more advanced methods and models to evaluate physicians’ outcomes in the shared health care model that electronic health (eHealth) proposes. OBJECTIVE The goal of our study was to design and evaluate a predictive multidimensional model of the outcomes of eHealth usage by European physicians. MET...

The area of mobile technologies applied to health (mHealth) is a growing worldwide trend that has generated enormous expectations for the mitigation of problems related to medical services delivery and public health stemming from a lack of resources and the limited number of specialists. The numerous opportunities offered by mobile technologies, to...

RESUMEN El ámbito de las tecnologías móviles aplicadas a la salud (mSalud) es una tendencia en auge a nivel mundial que ha generado enormes expectativas para paliar los proble-mas de prestación de servicios médicos y de salud pública ocasionados por la escasez de recursos y el reducido número de especialistas. Las numerosas posibilidades que aporta...

Introduction: Access to reliable and quality health information and appropriate medical advice can contribute to a dramatic reduction in the mortality figures of countries. The governments of the Americas are faced with the opportunity to continue working on this challenge, and their institutional presence on their websites should play a key role...

En 2005, todos los Estados Miembros de la OMS se comprometieron a luchar por una cobertura universal de salud, una expresión colectiva de la creencia de que todas las personas deben tener acceso a los servicios de salud que necesiten sin riesgo que ello les lleve a la ruina financiera o a un empobrecimiento. Trabajar por una cobertura universal de...

In 2005, all WHO Member States committed to working to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), in a collective expression of the belief that all people in need should have access to health services without risk of financial ruin or impoverishment. Working for universal health coverage is a powerful mechanism for achieving improved health and well-...

Objectives: While most studies have focused on analyzing the results of telemedicine use, it is crucial to consider the determinants of its use to fully understand the issue. This article aims to provide evidence on the determinants of telemedicine use in clinical practice. Methods: The survey targeted a total population of 398 medical professional...

Background: More advanced methods and models are needed to evaluate the participation of patients and citizens in the shared health care model that eHealth proposes. Objective: The goal of our study was to design and evaluate a predictive multidimensional model of eHealth usage. Methods: We used 2011 survey data from a sample of 13,000 Europea...

Es objeto de esta publicación aportar soluciones a la implementación exitosa de servicios de telemedicina (y, de forma general, de eSalud) en entornos sanitarios. Tras una revisión narrativa de la literatura selectiva para identificar las teorías fundamentales, modelos y marcos utilizados en la ciencia de la implementación, se presenta este marco t...

This document aims to provide solutions for the successful implementation of telemedicine services (and eHealth, in general) in the health care setting. Following a literature review that identifies key theories, models, and frameworks used in the science of implementation, we introduce a theoretical framework that addresses the obstacles to incorp...

Background: The aim of the study presented in this article is to analyse the discriminant factors that have an influence on the use of communities of practice by primary and specialist healthcare professionals (physicians and nurses) for information sharing. Obtaining evidence from an ex-ante analysis to determine what factors explain healthcare p...

Introducción: Ante el creciente aumento y la relevancia que han adquirido las aplicaciones para teléfonos móviles (App) en el ámbito de la salud, el objetivo de este trabajo es conocer la visión de los profesionales que se dedican al tratamiento de la obesidad sobre las necesidades y carencias actuales con las que se encuentran, su predisposición a...

Communities of practice are nowadays an important concept in the healthcare sector. Particularly, the intensive use of ICT has allowed their creation into a virtual environment – Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs) developing optimal conditions to make possible the collaborative learning process. The VCoPs antecedents can be situated on social...

The aim of the working paper is to analyse the determinants of telemedicine use. To that end, the study makes two basic contributions. First, it considers six working hypotheses in the context of technology acceptance models (TAMs). Second, it uses data obtained for three samples of 510 physicians: 113 in Spain, 118 in Colombia and 279 in Bolivia,...

AbstrAct This paper aims to examine the benefits the use of virtual communities of practice (VCoP) provides to professionals in the healthcare field. Conceptually, communities of practice (CoP) are supported by the Theory of Situated Learning, which highlights the importance of the professional environment and interaction with colleagues in the dev...

Background The aim of the study presented in this article is to analyse the determinants of telemedicine use. To that end, the study makes two basic contributions. First, it considers six working hypotheses in the context of technology acceptance models (TAMs). Second, it uses data obtained for three samples of physicians from three different count...

In view of the major limitations regarding access to, compliance with, and the cost and long-term effectiveness of traditional weight-loss treatments, interventions via mobile phones are being considered as an alternative in order to cut financial costs, reduce visit times and improve compliance. The aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness...

THIS ARTICLE AIMS TO CONFIRM THE FOLLOWING CORE HYPOTHESIS: a Community of Practice's use of a Web 2.0 platform for communication between primary and hospital care leads to improved primary care and fewer hospital referrals. This core hypothesis will be corroborated by testing a further five partial hypotheses that complete the main hypothesis bein...