142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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308867
Patient-initiated self-reporting through mobile device---A new mode of physician-patient interaction

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 5:10 PM - 5:30 PM

Kai-Sheng Hsieh , Department of Pediatrics, Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Chien-Ching Hsu , Dept. of Information Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Chia-Che Chiang , Dept. of Information Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Ye-Bing Lee , Dept. of Information Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Chu-Chuan Lin , Department of Pediatrics, Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
San-Yih Hwang , Dept. of Information Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Background:

 The continuous maintenance of patient-physician relationship relies on the visit of patients at physician’s office. Through such visit,  physicians collect chief complaints and conducting a series of steps for the final management decision making. Thus patients' physical showing is of prime necessity for patient-physician interaction. Such requirement has much inconvinence both for patients and physicians.

Materials and Methods:

During the past 2.5 years, our research team has designed an application (App)  via smart cell phone (SCP) or other mobile device (MD) with function of patient-initiated self-reporting about their symptoms/ activities related to their own disease management. For pediatric patients, the self-reporting is performed by their primary caregivers. The interval of self reporting is designated by the physicians at time of clinical visit. The physicians check his own SCP/MD to review the messages sent by the patients, and give direction regarding further management planning including next visit date.

Results:

During the past 2.5 years, we have enrolled 1152 patients to join the program. Their self-reporting interval ranged from 0.5 day to 1 year. The majority of self-reporting interval lies in 1week-1 month. The primary acceptance rate is 98.6%. The patients/ patients’ primary caregivers showed a remarkablely high satisfication for the program. The revisit need was thus diminished.

Discussion:

Utilization of SCP or other MD has been increasing popular during the past several years. Its role in medical practice can not be overlooked. Our self-developed  App to modify  conventional practice for maintenance of patient-physician relationship and our preliminary experience demonstrate its applicability. The patient-initiated self-reporting role will enhance the presentation of their clinical problems and allow physician to find the solution related to patients diseases state in select patient population.

Learning Areas:

Communication and informatics
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
Formulate a direct, effective patient-physician communication mode bypass conventional physical appearing of patients in physician’s office and/or direct phone talk.

Keyword(s): Information Technology, Health Care Delivery

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have designed and conduct this study to evaluate the doctor-patient communication.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.