Investigating the possibilities of using patient-generated health data in emergency care: an explorative study

Resumé

Abstract
It is well known that emergency departments (EDs) are exposed to human errors and unintended events due to large patient flow, high work pressure and overload of information. Strategies for providing efficient and effective health care are therefore imperative, and health information technologies are suggested to be one of the solutions. This study sought to investigate if the use of patient-generated health data gathered through a digital patient questionnaire and visualised as a patient-generated journal (PGJ v.1.0) has the potential to improve the care delivered in EDs.

Methods
Using a mixed-method approach, the PGJ (v.1.0) was investigatedfrom key stakeholders’ perspectives. First, we examined the PGJ from a patient perspective via participant observation (n = 18) and interviews (n = 18), supported by statistical data from the PGJ (n = 56). Second, we used questionnaires to explore the physicians’ perspectives (n = 9). Lastly, two interviews were conducted with healthcare leaders from the ED. The data were compared and analysed using descriptive statistics and hermeneutic analysis.

Results
From the findings, it appears that patients in need of urgent care accept the use of patient-generated data, and patients highly favoured being active in their patient pathway. However, the system needed some adjustments to fit the patients’abilities in urgent situations.The physicians expressed mixed attitudes towards the PGJ: the majority agreed that the system needed some adjustments in order for the full benefits to be gained, but thought that it had potential to improve their work processes when fully developed.

Conclusions
This study concludes that the use of patient-generated data is well accepted by patients in an urgent setting, and that the PGJ has the potential to improve quality of care in patient pathways by adding value to patient flows as well as clinical workflows. The concept of utilising patient-generated health data in emergency care should therefore be further developed and investigated.