From 2010-2018, I facilitated the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (“CDSMP,” 2019) to the Medicare/Medicaid, senior, and incarcerated populations. Highest-tier of evidence-based, 6-week, group cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), I consider self-management to be the cure for the current healthcare crisis. To this day, I live, breathe, and preach this program. If I have to fund it myself, my future practice will provide this program.
A principle taught in the workshop was preparing for the most productive healthcare appointment. It makes sense, but patients and caregivers rarely complete a running list of questions to address their symptoms and concerns. At the base of this issue is effective communication, and failing in this regard risks patient safety. When questions are not asked effectively, “…patients are less likely to follow instructions, are subjected to more diagnostic tests and are more likely to have to return to the doctor’s office, the hospital or emergency room. And billions of dollars are added every year to the nation’s health care costs” (Gandel, 2009).
So, I am searching for a senior-friendly app that will assist patients and caregivers in asking more in-depth questions to their care providers. And I am not finding much. Perhaps it is the assumption that the senior population does not use technology. While the older generation lags, this argument is becoming less valid as technology adoption for this demographic rises (Anderson & Perrin, 2017). Seniors are using technology, and user-friendly apps should be available to improve their healthcare.
Under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) resides the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Their Question Builder appears to be the only patient-oriented app designed to improve the ability to ask practical questions to health care professionals (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ], n.d.).
Without a function to magnify type, this app is not entirely senior-friendly, but it does begin with guiding the user through the nature of the appointment. Next, questions are recommended with an option to enter additional concerns. The user then views questions the healthcare provider will likely ask them in the appointment. The example provided asks the patient to describe pain: location, onset, duration, occurrence, severity, quality, and treatments tried. The patient considers the questions and may write down their answers, enabling a more transparent conversation with the provider. Lastly, the appointment and question summary is added to their calendar or emailed to the patient for ease of reference during the meeting. It does seem to effectively enable a quick, more comprehensive list of questions to guide patient/provider dialogue (AHRQ, n.d.).
The app is rudimentary as it does not save or track past appointments. But, additional information is given through available videos detailing the advantages and urgent need for using a list of questions to assist communication in the healthcare setting. Other resources are also offered. Patients may research articles including options after diagnoses, treatment options, tips to prevent medical errors, taking care of themselves after leaving the hospital, and how to use blood thinners safely (AHRQ, n.d.).
The QuestionBuilder App does not entirely solve the current healthcare crisis. But an increased skill in asking effective questions would go a long way towards improving the quality of healthcare appointments and decreasing costs. As a future healthcare provider, I hope to encourage the development and use of user-friendly apps. Anything to improve patient outcomes is worth the effort.
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