Testing consultation recordings in a clinical setting with the SecondEars smartphone app : mixed methods implementation study

Amelia Hyatt, Ruby Lipson-Smith, Bryce Morkunas, Meinir Krishnasamy, Michael Jefford, Kathryn Baxter, Karla Gough, Declan Murphy, Allison Drosdowsky, Jo Phipps-Nelson, Fiona White, Alan White, Lesley Serong, Geraldine McDonald, Donna Milne

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Health care systems are increasingly looking to mobile device technologies (mobile health) to improve patient experience and health outcomes. SecondEars is a smartphone app designed to allow patients to audio-record medical consultations to improve recall, understanding, and health care self-management. Novel health interventions such as SecondEars often fail to be implemented post pilot-testing owing to inadequate user experience (UX) assessment, a key component of a comprehensive implementation strategy. Objective: This study aimed to pilot the SecondEars app within an active clinical setting to identify factors necessary for optimal implementation. Objectives were to (1) investigate patient UX and acceptability, utility, and satisfaction with the SecondEars app, and (2) understand health professional perspectives on issues, solutions, and strategies for effective implementation of SecondEars. Methods: A mixed methods implementation study was employed. Patients were invited to test the app to record consultations with participating oncology health professionals. Follow-up interviews were conducted with all participating patients (or carers) and health professionals, regarding uptake and extent of app use. Responses to the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) were also collected. Interviews were analyzed using interpretive descriptive methodology; all quantitative data were analyzed descriptively. Results: A total of 24 patients used SecondEars to record consultations with 10 multidisciplinary health professionals. In all, 22 of these patients used SecondEars to listen to all or part of the recording, either alone or with family. All 100% of patient participants reported in the MARS that they would use SecondEars again and recommend it to others. A total of 3 themes were identified from the patient interviews relating to the UX of SecondEars: Empowerment, facilitating support in cancer care, and usability. Further, 5 themes were identified from the health professional interviews relating to implementation of SecondEars: Changing hospital culture, mitigating medico-legal concerns, improving patient care, communication, and practical implementation solutions. Conclusions: Data collected during pilot testing regarding recording use, UX, and health professional and patient perspectives will be important for designing an effective implementation strategy for SecondEars. Those testing the app found it useful and felt that it could facilitate the benefits of consultation recordings, along with providing patient empowerment and support. Potential issues regarding implementation were discussed, and solutions were generated.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere15593
Number of pages17
JournalJMIR mHealth and uHealth
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Open Access - Access Right Statement

©Amelia Hyatt, Ruby Lipson-Smith, Bryce Morkunas, Meinir Krishnasamy, Michael Jefford, Kathryn Baxter, Karla Gough, Declan Murphy, Allison Drosdowsky, Jo Phipps-Nelson, Fiona White, Alan White, Lesley Serong, Geraldine McDonald, Donna Milne. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 21.01.2020. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Testing consultation recordings in a clinical setting with the SecondEars smartphone app : mixed methods implementation study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this