141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

285441
Multilingual touchscreen kiosk for patient-provider communication about complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM)

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 : 8:30 AM - 8:50 AM

Bill Z. Tan, BS , LanguageMate, New York, NY
Background: The concurrent use of prescription medications and complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM) can lead to adverse drug reactions and harmful side effects. The development and implementation of effective tools are needed to ensure accurate and complete medication reconciliation.

The System for Administering Guided Exchange (SAGE) was developed to address the lack of discussion regarding traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). SAGE is a multilingual touchscreen kiosk designed to improve communication about CAM utilization, provide clinical decision support for physicians, and facilitate education for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP).

Methods: Fifty participants—24 monolingual Chinese-speaking TCM users and 26 healthcare providers (HCPs)—from the New York metropolitan area were recruited.

LEP Participants: To evaluate the efficacy of the prototype, participants were instructed to enter hypothetical TCM use information. The resulting bilingual summary report was used to assess data entry accuracy, and usability information was captured through a video analytic usability software. Additionally, participants completed an evaluation survey and participated in a focus group.

HCPs: During four two-hour focus group sessions, participants were given a prototype demonstration and reviewed summary reports and informational leaflets; they then completed an evaluation survey and engaged in a semi-structured discussion.

Results: Results were analyzed with the Interactive Health Communications (IHC) evaluation framework. LEP participants averaged 98% accuracy in entering information and navigating the interface. No associations were found between socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, education, or familiarity with computers) and ability to use SAGE. One hundred percent of HCPs agreed to the added-value of patient-specific TCM information about potential herb-drug interactions. A multi-center trial with an improved prototype will occur in 2013.

Discussion/Conclusions: The integration of SAGE into allopathic clinical practice will fill a critical knowledge gap and have a global impact in improving quality of care and health outcomes and reducing the financial burden to the healthcare system.

Learning Areas:
Communication and informatics
Diversity and culture

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the feasibility of SAGE for facilitating patient-provider exchange of CAM information Evaluate the efficacy with which LEP participants were able to convey CAM information using SAGE Assess the value of SAGE as a clinical decision support tool

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal investigator of multiple NIH SBIR Phase I and Phase II grants that aim to develop highly innovative solutions to address language barriers in healthcare. My interest has been in creating healthcare informatics applications that combine multilingual content, sophisticated technical capabilities, and user-friendly interface designs for improving the processes of healthcare delivery and elevating the quality of patient care.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
LanguageMate Health Informatics Employment (includes retainer)

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.