Medical experiences of patients with breast cancer using smart hospital apps: A qualitative study

To examine medical experiences of patients with breast cancer with smart hospital apps and their expectations for future development.

A descriptive qualitative research method was employed to conduct in-depth interviews with 40 patients with breast cancer who used smart hospital apps. Content analysis was performed to analyze and organize the interview data.

Five main themes and two sub-themes were identified. The main themes were as follows: positive experiences with using smart hospital apps, difficulties with data sharing across multiple campuses, interpersonal communication and coping, smart healthcare not a free choice, and expectations for development of smart hospitals. The sub-themes were as follows: precise information delivery mechanisms and intelligent healthcare navigation.

Researchers should enhance communication from the patient's perspective to understand the problems patients encounter when using smart hospitals for medical treatment and their expectations for development of smart hospitals. Efforts should focus on minimizing patient usage barriers and accelerating smart hospital development.