Patients want to help clinicians track health data
Patients are becoming more willing to assist clinicians in tracking their health data, according to a study presented at the 2018 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Patient health data impacts clinicians' treatment plans, but such information is often gathered without the patient involvement. In this study, researchers evaluate hospitalized patients to track activity and measure willingness to engage in their own care.
"The big idea for this paper was to consider bringing into the hospital the models, approaches and mechanisms that human-computer interaction research has generated for people outside of the hospital to track their physical activity, with devices like Fitbits, and help them manage chronic health conditions like diabetes with glucose monitors," said Andrew Miller, one of the researchers and an assistant professor in the school of informatics and computing at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, and colleagues.
Researchers interviewed 30 patients and clinicians in two urban American hospitals to gain insight into what tools could increase patient engagement and health tracking. Patients were eager to assist while in the hospital. Participants envisioned a system where patients and clinicians would track a patient’s health together using activity. Participants broke down the collaboration into five stages: preparation, collection, integration, reflection and action.
"We then looked at these models from outside of the hospital to see where there is a match and where we could bring some of the insights from outside of the hospital into the hospital," Miller said. "We think there is substantial evidence in this study to show there is a real opportunity here, and it's something patients are interested in doing. We suggest future extensions of the stage-based model to accommodate collaborative tracking situations, such as hospitals, where data are collected, analyzed and acted on by multiple people. Our findings uncover new directions for human-computer interaction research and highlight ways to support patients in tracking their care and improving patient safety.”
Cara joined TriMed Media in 2016 and is currently a Senior Writer for Clinical Innovation & Technology. Originating from Detroit, Michigan, she holds a Bachelors in Health Communications from Grand Valley State University.