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Open to Patient partners across the province
Last updated
UBC researchers are looking for volunteers with lived experience as patients in the emergency department to complete a 20-minute online questionnaire about their care journey and perspectives on the digitalization of patient data. Your input will guide the development of digital tools that empower patients to access and meaningfully use medical information collected during emergency room visits!
Patient experiences in emergency care are often complicated by severe illness or injury, an unpredictable environment, and poor continuity of care as patients transition from working with care providers in the emergency room to providers in the community. We believe that the digitalization of patient health data (e.g. test results, imaging, consultation notes, discharge instructions) in the emergency department can improve this experience by making it easier for both patients and providers to access, analyze, and share information in real-time. However, very little research has been done on patient attitudes towards digitalization and the use of patient-oriented digital tools in the emergency context.
We want to make sure that patient voices are at the centre of any attempts to develop or implement digitalization technologies for the emergency room, so we are running a survey study to get an idea of how patients feel with regard to what information should be digitized, how digitized information should be used, what technologies would support these uses, who should have access to information, and how digitization is expected to change care.
Adult volunteers who have received emergency care in BC will be asked to complete an anonymous 20-minute online questionnaire. The results of the survey will set the foundation for the development of new digital tools – depending on patient preferences, this may include software, mobile apps, or websites – that patients and their care providers can use to access and understand their journey through emergency care.
This is a very low risk activity for patient partners. We are not collecting identifying information. Volunteers can complete the online questionnaire anywhere they have internet access and are reminded before they begin that participation is optional and that they are free to withdraw from the study before or after submitting the questionnaire without consequences. We have received ethical approval for this project from the UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board (application number H19-03532).
