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Focus Group or Interview Participant, Patient-Centred Technologies to Improve Journeys through the Emergency Department

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Open to Provincial Region, Patient partners across the province

Last updated

Have you been in an Emergency department (ED) within the last five years? Do you have thoughts on how patient flow through emergency rooms could be improved? This opportunity might be for you! Lend your experience in emergency departments to inform the development of a mobile app to make the experience better!

Open to: Patient partners across the province

Lead Organization or Department

University of British Columbia (UBC), Faculty of Medicine, Digital Emergency Medicine Program

Aim

This research project aims to develop an evidence-based mobile application to improve patient flow, reduce wait-times, and enhance communication between patients and health professionals. Through development of a mobile app, the research team aims to enhance patient experience, overall satisfaction and improve patient outcomes. We wish to consult through multiple formats to identify needs from the users’ perspectives and to gather and prioritize requirements for the technology. Participants will be asked about their experiences, expectations and challenges throughout their emergency department (ED) journey from triage at the front desk, through to diagnosis and treatment by health care providers, discharge, and transition from hospital to home.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

Patients or caregivers from anywhere in the province who have visited an emergency department within the past 5 years.

Logistics

  • Vacancies: at least 20
  • Focus groups of 6-8 people between 60-90 minutes will be held in person near Vancouver General Hospital. Proposed dates include: Saturday, May 19; Monday, May 21; Friday, May 25; and Saturday, May 26. People will be asked about their preferred times of the day before arrangements are finalized.
  • There is also an option to participate in one of the focus group sessions via video- or teleconference if you cannot attend in person. If neither in-person nor video/teleconference options work, one-on-one interviews will be arranged.
  • The on-line survey (optional) takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete and can be done whenever it suits the participant. A link to the survey will be sent to you by the research partner if you are interested in completing it.

Reimbursement

Out-of-pocket expenses such as mileage and parking will be reimbursed according to the policies of the University of British Columbia which sets the rates. Please note that it will take several weeks to process and receipts will be required.

Background

The Digital Emergency Medicine program conducts research aimed at developing innovative technology-based solutions to improve patient and provider experience, improve patient outcomes, and create a more cost-effective health care system. You can learn more about this program here. This project, called Patient-Centred Technologies to Improve Journeys Through the Emergency Department, will be conducted in three phases, and this invitation is for Phase 1 of the study. Phase 1: Focus groups, interviews, and on-line surveys with patients and informal caregivers (e.g., family members) who have visited an emergency department in BC within the last five years. Phase 2: This phase includes usability testing of the technology and will occur after a prototype is developed. The purpose is to test functionality of the prototype App with a group of smartphone users to detect any potential issues/errors and identify areas where improvements can be made. Phase 3: Testing the final product with a group of emergency department end-users to get feedback on its usability through a set of open-ended questions. Note: You may be asked by the research partner about your interest in participating in phases 2 and/or 3; however, you are not being asked to commit yourself at this time.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Teresa Bissenden
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Provincial
604.668.8253
tbissenden@bcpsqc.ca

From Our Community

Karla Warkotsch

Patient Experience Consultant – Interior Health

Karla Warkotsch

The question I like to ask health care employees is ‘Who is this for?’ and ‘Do we have the right people at the table?’ As a health care employee, I see how easy it is to fall into doing for, rather than doing with patients. The voices of the patient, family and caregiver are essential to ensure the patient is central to the direction and focus of the work being done.