Challenges in Developing a Patient-Reported Symptom-Based Risk Stratification System for Suspected Head and Neck...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Cancer Care Technology

Background:

• The Symptom Input Clinical (SYNC) system aims to improve head and neck cancer symptom reporting and expedite diagnosis for high-risk patients.
• Key features include a co-designed digital questionnaire and a validated risk-scoring algorithm.
• Development faced challenges requiring systematic evaluation of processes, roles, and team experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify challenges during the SYNC system's development.
• Document how these challenges were addressed.
• Determine implications for future digital health innovations.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative single-case study adhering to Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines.
• Purposive and snowball sampling for 8-12 participants (clinical, research, IT roles).
• Semistructured interviews, audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using framework analysis guided by actor-network theory.

Main Results:

• Anticipated identification of key technical, organizational, and collaboration barriers and facilitators.
• Detailed account of encountered challenges (delays, security, coordination) and mitigation strategies.
• Lessons learned and recommendations for co-design, technical integration, and stakeholder engagement.

Conclusions:

• The case study offers valuable insights into developing digital health technologies in complex, multistakeholder environments.
• Documenting SYNC system development challenges contributes to best practices in digital health innovation.