Assessing the acceptability and usability of MedSafer, a patient-centered electronic deprescribing tool

Deprescribing is the clinically supervised process of stopping or reducing medications that are no longer beneficial. MedSafer is an electronic decision support tool that guides healthcare providers (HCPs) through the deprescribing process. We recently developed a novel patient-facing version of the software, allowing patients and caregivers to generate a personalized deprescribing report to bring to their prescriber.

The study aimed to evaluate the usability and acceptability of MedSafer among older adults, caregivers, and community HCPs (physicians, nurse practitioners and pharmacists).

A mixed-methods feasibility study was conducted with a convenience sample of 100 older adults/caregivers, and 25 healthcare practitioners. Participants were invited to test MedSafer and answer telephone or electronic surveys via RedCap. The Extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) and System Usability Scale (SUS) were used for evaluation. A semi-structured interview was also conducted with a subset of participants (5 per group) who were selected on a volunteer basis, and thematic analysis was used following Braun & Clarke's approach.

Healthcare providers scored more favorably on TAM2 constructs such as perceived usefulness (PU) (median: 4.25 for HCPs; 3.75 for caregivers; 3.00 for patients), and SUS compared to patients and caregivers (mean: 79.50 for HCPs; 52.95 for caregivers; 55.75 for patients). Thematic analysis revealed that participants recognized MedSafer as an empowering tool but noted the need for some usability improvements.

MedSafer is a promising tool to support deprescribing conversations. Enhancing usability, accessibility, and patient education may improve adoption.