Forecasting Content and Stage in a Nursing Home Information Technology Maturity Instrument Using a Delphi Method

Area of Science:

• Health Information Technology
• Nursing Home Administration
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Health information technology (HIT) capabilities in nursing homes are poorly understood due to a lack of validated measurement tools.
• Existing measures for HIT uptake lack consistent development, testing, and validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and test a new instrument to measure information technology maturity and stage of maturity in nursing homes.
• To provide a standardized tool for assessing HIT adoption and advancement in the long-term care sector.

Main Methods:

• A four-round Delphi panel involving 31 nursing home experts with high HIT sophistication was convened.
• Experts recommended 183 content items across 27 areas and ranked them using a seven-stage IT maturity instrument (stages 0-6).

Main Results:

• The majority of items (40%) fell into stage 4, indicating external connectivity capabilities.
• Over 11% of items reached the highest maturity stages (5 and 6).
• Highest maturity stages were associated with technology used in resident care and available to residents/representatives.

Conclusions:

• The developed instrument effectively assesses nursing home IT maturity and stage.
• Understanding IT maturity is crucial for improving health service delivery, regulatory oversight, patient safety, and quality of care in nursing homes.