Reimagining Patient-Centered Pathways: Enhancing Pathway Development Methods with Patient-Centered Design Principles

The pressing need to address the current challenges in delivering patient-centered care underscores the crucial importance of Information System Research in reimagining digital health. Specifically, there is a growing recognition for developing patient-centered information systems that can effectively meet the unique needs and preferences of individuals seeking healthcare services. Patient pathways, commonly used in Health Information Systems (HIS) for care planning and management, lack patient-centered approaches. To address this deficiency, this paper presents an umbrella review on patient-centeredness, which identifies five overarching patient-centered themes: patient empowerment, patient engagement, holistic care, caregiver support, and care coordination. These are translated into meta-requirements and corresponding design principles for patient pathway development and implementation. This paper contributes to advancing patient-centeredness in HIS and offers insights for future research in this field.