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Background: Digital tools are becoming increasingly prevalent among clinical education programs. Various education programs are exploring alternative approaches to improve the participant feedback process. According to a Pew Research study, sending notifications via text to consenting survey panel members improves response time and boosts the share of respondents completing the survey on a mobile device.[1]The NYSDOH AIDS Institute, Clinical Education Initiative (CEI) provides progressive HIV, HCV, STD and drug user health education to clinicians with the aim to expand the base of providers able to diagnose and care for patients within these four areas. In an effort to improve the clinician’s experience and the evaluation response rate we implemented the utilization of numerous digital tools.
Program background: To ensure we are offering quality clinical education to providers in a novel manner, we explored innovative digital methodologies such as QR codes, short url’s and text messaging to help improve the clinician experience and return rate of Participant Feedback Form (PFF) during live educational events. Traditionally, clinicians complete paper PFF at the end of live events; however, the success rate of returned forms has been consistently low. Many clinicians are resistant to taking the time to complete evaluation forms like the PFF.
Evaluation Methods and Results: CEI’s objective is to increase the rate of participation and provide a less cumbersome participation PFF process during live clinical education events. During a CEI event in 2016, we piloted multiple systematic methods such as the use of QR codes, short url’s, text messaging for the completion of the PFF among 128 clinical providers at a live event for clinicians. QR codes and short url’s were presented on the last slide after each presentation and at the end of the event as a reminder. During the live event, a single sheet with a short url and QR code was distributed among the clinical participants to serve as a prompt. A specialist was present for further assistance during the evaluation process. 100 forms were completed, 90 paper PFF and 10 PFFs electronically submitted, resulting in a 13% success return rate utilizing digital channels.
Conclusions: Despite a low digital PFF completion rate, a segment of clinicians are primed for change. Digital education, trainings and testing should be promoted to help clinicians become more familiar with these tools and lessen the likelihood of using traditional forms of completing evaluations. Furthermore, the use of digital tools will help to provide guidance for future program planning.
Implications for research and/or practice: Conducting additional pilots to identify which digital capabilities are more effective will provide information about response rates, improve experiences with digital tools versus traditional methodologies, and may augment the level of digital maturity among participants who may otherwise have been resistant to the impending changes to the digital era.
[1] . Kyley McGeeney, H. Yanna Yan. “Text Messaging Notification for Web Surveys.” Pew Research Center. September 2016.