Patient-driven digital data sharing as a tool for facilitating coherence and collaboration in cross-sectoral patient pathways

Coherent cross-sectoral care pathways is often challenged by a healthcare system organised with
sharp boundaries within and between sectors and professions. This leads to fragmented care
pathways, leaving patients feeling powerless and frustrated with the lack of continuity in care and
frustrated by the insecurity in terms of who holds the responsibility for their treatment. The increased
digitalisation of the healthcare system has not improved the situation. We will overcome this
Patient-driven digital data sharing as a tool for facilitating coherence and collaboration in cross-sectoral patient pathways.
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described challenges using a newly developed digital solution, BackTraceDigital, which shares
relevant data. Through BackTraceDigital health data is collected in the different IT-systems of health
care providers and made available for the patient, their relevant and care providers. The information
is made easily available for the patients through an app and through the professionals existing ITsystems.
With consent from the patient, data collected from the different sectors can be shared
amongst professionals who treat and assist the individual patient. The applicant and the project team
have spent the past 1½ years developing BackTraceDigital, and now the solution is ready to be
tested and explored.
The aim of this project is to explore how the implementation of BackTrace Digital affects the patients'
experience of coherence in their cross sectoral care pathway. Through the project, we will explore how patients perceive the patient-professional collaboration and shared decision making while using BackTrace Digital. This is done using a mixed methods design, combining ethnographic methods with quantitative survey data, into an integrated analysis in order to fulfil the study
aim. BackTraceDigital has been developed for patients with low back pain, as this group of patients poses the largest burden of disease in Denmark, as recently shown by the Global Burden of Disease Study, published in 2020, but can easily be adapted to other patient groups.