Beyond the Point of No Return: A Discourse Analysis of Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions of Digitally Supported Person-Centred, Integrated, and Proactive Care

Abstract

Most countries are facing a common challenge: a rise in the number of chronically ill patients and limited medical resources. The combination of digital support and the principles of person-centred, integrated, and proactive care (Digi-PIP care) services constitutes the most ambitious initiative for patients with long-term needs. While there is research on digital support, person-centred, integrated, and proactive care, the combination of these components has been less explored. The data set consisted of 29 qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals involved in four Nordic Digi-PIP care initiatives. Building on prevailing discourses on the modernisation of healthcare, we used discourse analysis to determine how the professionals discussed their perceptions and experiences of the care transformation initiatives. We identified four discourses illustrating that, despite challenges with adoption, the vision of Digi-PIP care was strongly embedded among participants across professions and contexts. In contrast to the discourses on their separate components, the emergent discourses on Digi-PIP care were surprisingly consistent. The new care model was found to be beneficial for patients, healthcare professionals, and society. Digitalisation may vitalise and even catalyse person-centred, integrated, and proactive practices. To the employees involved, Digi-PIP has moved beyond the point of no return; it is the future of modern healthcare.