What is eHealth (6): perspectives on the evolution of eHealth research.
BACKGROUND
The field of eHealth holds promise for supporting and enabling health behavior change and the prevention and management of chronic disease.


OBJECTIVE
In order to establish areas of congruence and controversy among contributors to the early development, evaluation, and dissemination of eHealth applications, as well as the desire to inform an evaluation research funding agenda, 38 semistructured, qualitative interviews were conducted among stakeholders in eHealth between May 2002 and September 2003.


METHODS
Participants were asked about their perspectives on the credibility, value, and future potential of information technology for health behavior change and chronic disease management. Interviews were coded and analyzed for emergent themes using qualitative methods.


RESULTS
Consistent themes were identified across stakeholder groups, with slight differences in emphasis. These topics included the following: (1) consensus and standardization-most stakeholders expressed a strong desire for a more coordinated, rigorous effort to define and integrate the field; (2) evaluation methods and challenges-demonstrating outcomes is required to establish eHealth quality and efficacy, but stakeholders were not satisfied with the sensitivity, validity, and reliability of existing outcome measures; (3) quality, value, and future potential-the intersection between eHealth's potential cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and improved clinical status among users generated a high degree of interest; and (4) health disparities-many stakeholders contended that traditionally underserved populations will particularly benefit from eHealth applications, although others argued that the underserved are also disadvantaged in terms of access to technology.


CONCLUSIONS
Recommendations included the need for improvement and formalization of development and evaluation standards across private and public sectors, additional research on the technology needs and preferences of traditionally underserved populations, and long-term epidemiologic studies of the impact of eHealth on outcomes and cost-effectiveness.
Health e-Technologies Initiative, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 1249 Boylston Street, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA. dahern@partners.org
David K
DK
Ahern
Jennifer M
JM
Kreslake
Judith M
JM
Phalen
D002908:Chronic Disease; D019468:Disease Management; D015438:Health Behavior; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000592:standards*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017216:Telemedicine; D014481:United States