SynthesisFrontiers in digital health2025
Unveiling practical insights of eHealth implementation in Europe: a grey literature review on legal, ethical, financial, and technological (LEFT) considerations.
Synthesis in Frontiers in digital health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Multisite Implementation of a Digital Wound Model of Care: A Post-Implementation Multimethods Evaluation of Patient and Clinician Perspectives and Lessons Learned.International wound journal · 2026Article
- Stakeholder perspectives on machine learning models predicting diabetic foot ulcers and amputations in diabetes care: a scenario-based interview study.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Editorial: Privacy enhancing technology: a top 10 emerging technology to revolutionize healthcare.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Incompleteness of Electronic Health Records: An Impending Process Problem Within Healthcare.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The implementation of eHealth technologies can improve healthcare efficiency, accessibility, and affordability. However, it involves complex legal, ethical, financial, and technological (LEFT) challenges that can impede success. While our previous scoping review identified barriers such as balancing compliance with innovation, funding gaps, and unclear business models, there remains a significant gap in understanding how these challenges manifest in real-world settings. This study uses grey literature to explore practical experiences and strategies in addressing LEFT challenges during eHealth implementation. Objective: This study aims to explore real-world experiences and perspectives on the legal, ethical, financial, and technological (LEFT) challenges encountered during eHealth implementation. Methods: A grey literature review was conducted by querying databases BASE and Policy Commons, consulting expert references for relevant reports, and using snowball sampling to identify additional relevant grey literature. Results: While the aim of this study was to explore practical experiences, the grey literature mainly reflects policy-level concerns, including strategic and regulatory challenges, with limited insight into how organizations navigate eHealth implementation in practice. Legal barriers include navigating complex regulatory frameworks, interpreting regulations, and concerns about data privacy. Facilitators focus on centralized governance and Europe's role in the global data market. Ethical barriers address inequalities in access, while facilitators emphasize patient autonomy, clear consent processes, and digital literacy. Financial barriers stem from inadequate funding structures and unclear financial requirements, with public-private partnerships as facilitators. Technological barriers revolve around interoperability issues due to national IT infrastructure limitations, with facilitators working to improve data exchange. Conclusions: This study highlights a disconnect between the strategic focus of available grey literature and the need for actionable, practice-based insights. The limited presence of real-world implementation experiences underscores the necessity for more operational documentation to support stakeholders facing interrelated LEFT barriers. Key challenges include the need for actionable legal and ethical frameworks, clearer ethical discussions aligned with legal requirements, sustainable financial infrastructures, and enhanced stakeholder involvement to address interoperability challenges. These challenges require cross-sector investment in IT infrastructures, harmonized data standards, and stronger collaboration among stakeholders. Coordinated efforts across all LEFT domains are crucial for effective eHealth implementation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.