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Information systems play a significant role in the improving of health and healthcare, as well as in the planning and financing of health services. Fund’s Information System is an essential component of the information infrastructure that allows assessment of the impact of changes in health insurance and healthcare for the population. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief overview of the affection of e-services and electronic data exchange (between Fund’s information systems and other IT systems) at the quality of service for insured people and savings funds.

The authors opted for an exploratory study using the e-services implemented in Health Insurance Fund (HIF) of Macedonia and data which were complemented by documentary analysis, including brand documents and descriptions of internal processes. In this paper is presented an analysis of the financial aspects of some e-services in HIF of Macedonia by using computer-based information systems and calculating the financial implications on insured people, companies and healthcare providers.

The analysis conducted in this paper shows that the HIF’s e-services would have a positive impact for the insured people, healthcare providers and companies when fulfilling their administrative obligations and exercising their rights.

The analysis presented in this paper can serve as a valuable input for the healthcare authorities in making decisions related to introducing e-services in healthcare. These enhanced e-services will improve the quality service of the HIF.

Many refugees and asylum seekers in Germany experience a high disease burden and low health literacy. The current study aims to focus on assessing these issues among African refugees and asylum seekers in Bavaria, Germany. The authors evaluated their self-perceived health status and health literacy, and identified barriers and gaps in health care utilization, intending to improve health care services for this group.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study involving 69 refugees and asylum seekers from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Nigeria. The authors performed descriptive and exploratory statistical analyses.

The authors found a substantial disease burden in the early stages of resettlement in Germany, particularly mental health symptoms (53.6%) and musculoskeletal problems (47.8%). Challenges in health literacy were observed, such as difficulties in understanding health information and managing emergency situations. Access to interpreters was limited, and understanding treatment certificates was more challenging than using electronic health cards, with 18.2% of participants reporting denial of medical treatment.

These findings highlight the need for early and tailored health support for refugees, with a particular focus on mental health. Efforts should be made to reduce language barriers and improve navigational skills within the health-care system, particularly in emergency situations. Addressing the restricted access to health care and bureaucratic obstacles is crucial for improved health outcomes among refugees.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to specifically explore the self-reported health status and health literacy of African refugees and asylum seekers in Bavaria, Germany, providing valuable insights into the unique healthcare challenges of this often underrepresented and overlooked population.

In the context of overcoming malnutrition in elementary school children and increasing public awareness of this issue, the Indonesian Government has created a “Card for Healthy School Children” (KMS-AS) program in the form of a paper health card. However, currently, the KMS-AS record data are still written on paper, which is less effective in terms of the health process. An integrated measuring device and an online data-recording system are needed to promote children’s health and facilitate access and transfer of data from one place to another. This study aims to develop NFC and IoT-based KMS-AS using sensor fusion method.

The results of this study show that an integrated measuring device for weight, height, body temperature and Spo2 level can be connected with mobile and Web applications using IoT technology, facilitating data recording and monitoring of children’s nutritional status. The sensor fusion method was used for the classification of nutritional status and health status, based on the results of measurement tools. Near field communication (NFC) technology was used to facilitate user identification when making measurements.

The results show that KMS-AS can facilitate classification of nutritional status and children's health status. Measurement and classification data can be monitored via Web and mobile applications. The accuracy of height, weight, body temperature and Spo2 measurements was 98.21%, 98.59%, 98.93% and 98.93%, respectively.

In this research, the authors successfully produced a system using sensor fusion method for measuring body weight, height, temperature and Spo2 level, which is integrated and can be connected to mobile applications and the Web using the IoT and NFC.

The rising of chronic illness and the continuous aging of the global population requires a re-organization of health care systems based on relations and exchange of information to address patient needs in the community. The re-organization of health care systems involves interconnected changes and the development of integrated health care information systems and novel eHealth services. In Crete, the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas has developed HYGEIAnet, a Regional Health Information Network (RHIN) to contribute to the re-organization of health care systems and information sharing. We present HYGEIAnet, some of the most critical and novel eHealth services developed and deployed, discuss the impact of an RHIN on health care processes, and explore innovative models and services for health delivery and the coordination of care. We then critically discuss lessons learned regarding the effective management of change to overcome organizational and cultural issues in such large-scale initiatives. The paper concludes with policy and practice recommendations for managing change processes in health care organizations.

The influx of refugees and asylum-seekers over the past decade into the European Union creates challenges to the health systems of receiving countries in the preparedness and requisite adjustments to policy addressing the new needs of the migrant population. This study aims to examine and compare policies for access to health care and the related health outcomes for refugees and asylum-seekers settling both in the UK and Germany as host countries.

The paper conducted a scoping review of academic databases and grey literature for studies within the period 2010-2017, seeking to identify evidence from current policies and service provision for refugees and asylum-seekers in Germany and the UK, distilling the best practice and clarifying gaps in knowledge, to determine implications for policy.

Analysis reveals that legal entitlements for refugees and asylum-seekers allow access to primary and secondary health care free of charge in the UK versus a more restrictive policy of access limited to acute and emergency care during the first 15 months of resettlements in Germany. In both countries, many factors hinder the access of this group to normal health care from legal status, procedural hurdles and lingual and cultural barriers. Refugees and asylum-seeker populations were reported with poor general health condition, lower rates of utilization of health services and noticeable reliance on non-governmental organizations.

This paper helps to fulfill the need for an extensive research required to help decision makers in host countries to adjust health systems towards reducing health disparities and inequalities among refugees and asylum-seekers.

The increasing importance of electronic health (e-health) has raised the significance of exploring the factors influencing the users’ acceptance of e-health applications. There has been an extensive usage of the technology acceptance model (TAM) in e-health applications acceptance research. However, not all TAM relationships are borne out in all the studies. There is a variation in predicted effects in several studies with different user type and application type. The purpose of this paper is to bridge a research gap by providing a holistic view of the e-health applications acceptance research by integrating the findings of existing relevant literature.

A statistical meta-analysis of the effect size of causal relationships between common TAM constructs was conducted on 111 peer-reviewed academic studies published in various journals.

The results confirm the validity and robustness of the TAM in e-health applications acceptance research. Further, a moderator analysis based on user type and e-health application type demonstrated that the effect size of causal relationships between TAM constructs majorly depends on the user type, but not on e-health application type.

This research provides a ready reference of the existing studies on e-health applications acceptance to the researchers. Further, if researchers or practitioners want to learn more about the particular user or application type, they may find the results valuable.

This research suggests that the general public can be used as the surrogates for patients in e-health applications acceptance research. The implementation strategy found successful for medical staff may not work for general public and patients. This research also suggests ways to enhance acceptance of e-health applications among different user groups.

The research is original and is based on the existing literature and its interpretation.

The unexpected and rapid outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic increased the vulnerability of forcibly displaced (migrant) women, who were a social group already at risk of health inequities and poorer health outcomes. This study aims to examine the health literacy of forcibly displaced (migrant) women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany using a multidimensional health literacy model as a framework.

A grounded theory methodology was implemented including interviews with 33 forcibly displaced (migrant) women from July to September 2021. An experienced female researcher interviewed all forcibly displaced (migrant) women, and apart from one telephone interview, all interviews were conducted in person.

Following data analysis, the category, “Use of health information in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic of forcibly displaced (migrant) women”, was identified as a core category. The findings provide valuable insight into the health literacy of forcibly displaced (migrant) women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Societal and environmental determinants, personal determinants and situational determinants were identified as factors impacting health literacy. Furthermore, health literacy was distinguished as competence to make informed decisions in the health domains “health care” and “disease prevention”.

Although previous research often focuses on the deficits of forcibly displaced (migrants), this study highlights the resources forcibly displaced (migrant) women use to deal with health-related difficulties, especially during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, such resources were available even if the study participants did not speak the language of the immigration country.

Refugees’ access to psychotherapeutic care is insufficient in Germany. One factor particularly contributing to hindering their access to adequate therapeutic care is a lack of provision of language mediation. This paper aims to explore the institutional system in which the financing of language mediation in the context of the medical treatment of asylum seekers in Germany is located. It examines why the language barrier problem resulting from a lack of financing is not being solved, even though it has been well known for years as a structural problem of day-patient health care to refugees and migrants in Germany.

The financing of language mediation is analysed against the background of theories of the so-called “shunting yard”, in which public responsibilities for the assumption of costs are shifted from one level and actor to the other, thus preventing sustainable solutions being achieved. A mix of qualitative methods including the evaluation of official documents, reports and secondary literature, and of 23 expert interviews was used.

The financing of language mediation is a perfect example of the “shunting yard” phenomenon, with responsibilities being shifted between federal government, health insurance bodies and the municipalities in Germany. This paper argues that the specific financing structure in the German federal system can be viewed as a reason for the non-solution of the language barrier that hinders refugees’ access to health care.

The problem of the financing of language mediation in the context of health care has been rarely treated from a social sciences perspective. This paper contributes to addressing this gap.