Implementing a Health Advice Recording System At An Academic Health Science Center

Background: Current research shows that patients remember only 30%-70% of what their doctor has just told them as they leave the doctor’s office. This means that they FORGET 30%-70% of what they just heard. Subtle messages in health provider advice may not always be captured by printed materials provided to the patient. Therefore, the Your Doctor’s Advice program can provide an additional record of the patient visit accessible by the patient at any time day or night. This recording will allow patients to archive and accurately remember counsel, refer back to the information, or share the information with friends, family or other medical professionals through their mobile phone or a computer. Moreover, the program comes at a small cost to patients and/or providers due to the non-profit status of the foundation supplying the program.

Program background: The objectives of the project are to 1) pilot-test the program, identify implementation problems, address any problems that arise, and plan for a full-campus implementation in both inpatient and outpatient settings, and 2) record the implementation process to share with other institutions who are interested in using the program. Evaluation Methods and Results: The University of Texas Medical Branch pilot tested the program in three clinic locations and has started implementation of the program for the inpatient population. The pilot phase involved getting permission and contracts from the University legal department, developing site-specific materials for patients and providers, training providers and staff on how to help patients sign-up for and use the program, and following-up with providers and patients to identify any program shortcomings that could be addressed.  The University legal department worked with the program donor, Cautious Patient Foundation, on business agreement materials and also reviewed and edited materials developed for patients. This involved several in person and telephone meetings. Printed materials were developed specifically for the University and included a patient sign-up sheet, wallet cards with information about how to access the program and space to keep track of your recordings, as well as detailed instructions for providers on the sign-up process. Following that, training sessions for providers were scheduled. Finally, follow-up with providers included email, in-person visits, and phone calls. Patients were followed-up with a quality improvement survey over the phone and a note in the electronic medical record that they participated in a recording during a visit.

Conclusions: and

Implications for research and/or practice: Implementing the new audio-recording technology provides patients at the University of Texas Medical Branch an additional layer of information in their or their doctors’ own words that summarized the recommendations from the encounter. At the time of the conference, additional results from our patient survey will be presented. Limitations to date include difficulty scheduling training sessions with providers due to hectic schedules and limited access for non-English speaking patients and those without mobile phones. Strengths to date include the potential benefits to patients with regard to compliance, patient and provider satisfaction, and a low-cost service that requires little investment to implement.