{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T21:27:19Z","timestamp":1791235639464,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,4]],"date-time":"2024-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725408000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":3,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100007855","name":"Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100007855","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,2]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A digital decision support system in healthcare is a digital health intervention that assists healthcare professionals in decision-making by providing treatment recommendations and enhancing diagnostic accuracy and quality of care. This will be the first study in Pakistan to assess the system\u2019s usability, acceptability and effectiveness in improving healthcare outcomes while also evaluating the perceived quality of care. This comprehensive assessment will inform policy development in areas such as the scale-up of digital health interventions, data privacy and technology interoperability. Measures of effectiveness will include changes in clinical outcomes through a patient exit feedback survey. This study aims to evaluate the role of digital decision support systems in healthcare decision-making, which may be integrated into Pakistan\u2019s tele-primary healthcare system.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study will employ a multimethod approach. The data collection tools are adapted from the WHO\u2019s digital health intervention monitoring and evaluation framework and include a technology assessment, healthcare provider surveys, patient exit interviews and focus group discussions with healthcare providers. Purposive sampling will be used for qualitative interviews with providers (doctors) and patients. Government stakeholders, private sectors, multilateral, academia and policymakers will be engaged through a consultative meeting. We will also conduct a literature review, as well as a comprehensive analysis of existing studies, documents and data relevant to digital decision support systems and digital health interventions implemented globally, and assess the performance, challenges and opportunities.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Ethics and dissemination<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study has been approved by the Ethics Review Committee at The Aga Khan University (2023-8514-26533). The dissemination of study findings through scientific publications and seminars will enable programme managers and policymakers to design tools to improve the quality of care provided through telemedicine platforms. This will contribute to efficient decision-making, access and quality of care for primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries. This study will also inform policy regarding the scale-up of decision support systems in primary care settings, data privacy and technology interoperability.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2023-082167","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,5]],"date-time":"2024-09-05T05:05:10Z","timestamp":1725512710000},"page":"e082167","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Protocol of digital decision support system (DDSS) embedded within a tele-primary healthcare platform in Pakistan: an assessment of usability, acceptability, effectiveness and perceived quality of care in a resource-constrained setting"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8710-3314","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hasan Nawaz","family":"Tahir","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"},{"name":"Community Medicine, Shaqra University, Shaqra, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shifa","family":"Habib","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1543-8657","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rawshan","family":"Jabeen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anny","family":"Dhanwani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samrah","family":"Jawed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lorena","family":"Guerrero-Torres","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara Saeed","family":"Khurram","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health and Digital Health, Sehat Kahani C\/O Community Innovation Hub, Karachi, Pakistan"},{"name":"Health Policy and Management, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iffat Zafar","family":"Aga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Sehat Kahani, Karachi, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8300-9210","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mahek","family":"Karim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"},{"name":"Public Health and Digital Health, Sehat Kahani C\/O Community Innovation Hub, Karachi, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8253-1777","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdul Momin","family":"Kazi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7620-9247","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shehla","family":"Zaidi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan"},{"name":"Global Business School for Health, University College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025121509022569000_14.9.e082167.1","unstructured":"World Health Organization . 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