Patients Are Knowledge Workers in the Clinical Information Space

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Human Factors in Medicine
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• Limited research exists on understanding patient knowledge and cognition.
• Patients possess unique insights vital for informed clinical decision-making.
• Characterizing patient knowledge is essential for achieving patient-centered care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the relevance of patient knowledge in healthcare provision.
• To propose a framework for representing patient knowledge types.
• To highlight the utility of human factors in eliciting patient knowledge.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical overview of patient knowledge in care.
• Application of historical knowledge acquisition perspectives.
• Illustrative vignettes to demonstrate concepts.
• Utilizing human factors principles and methods.

Main Results:

• Patient knowledge is integral to the clinical information space.
• Patient contributions are essential for a complete clinical picture.
• A human factors perspective enhances patient-centered care.

Conclusions:

• Patients are vital contributors to clinical information.
• Incomplete patient knowledge leads to an incomplete clinical picture.
• Human factors approaches support patient-centered care and health IT solutions.