Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are technologies that help gather, store, process and share information electronically. Examples of ICTs are electronic medical records, medical journals and databases on the internet, videoconferencing for doctor appointments, or systems on the internet to give feedback to doctors so they can improve the care they provide. ICTs have the potential to improve health care and the health of patients. But even though computers are being used more and more in hospitals, not all health care professionals use ICTs. For this reason, there are many strategies to try and promote the use of ICTs. Strategies can include training groups of health care professionals to use a specific ICT, or teaching someone one-on-one to use an ICT, or simply providing training materials.
A review of the effects of different strategies to promote the use of ICTs was conducted. After searching for all relevant studies, 10 studies were found. The evidence shows that some ways, such as group training, or one-on-one training sessions, or providing training materials, may improve the use of ICTs. But overall, it is still uncertain whether some strategies are effective. More research is needed.