Enhancing the User Experience of a Perioperative Digital Health Tool for Information Exchange Using a Human-Centered...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Surgical Care

Background:

• Perioperative patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are valuable but underutilized in clinical practice due to perceived impact uncertainty and clinician hesitancy.
• Digital health tools offer a pathway for PRO integration, but require person-centered design for usability and relevance.
• The Perioperative Shared Health Record (PSHR) was developed to facilitate PRO sharing but faced initial user experience challenges impacting adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore factors influencing the user experience of the PSHR in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC).
• To apply human-centered design principles to optimize the PSHR for patient engagement and usability.

Main Methods:

• An observational qualitative user experience study employing the 5 stages of design thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.
• Semistructured interviews with postoperative patients in South Africa's public and private sectors.
• Thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke's framework and Karagianni's Optimized Honeycomb UX model, followed by paper prototyping and usability testing.

Main Results:

• Patient needs for connection, feedback, information, and support were identified.
• Patients found lengthy questionnaires acceptable if perceived as purposeful.
• Key factors for sustained use included trust, communication, user-friendly interfaces, feedback loops, and clinician engagement.
• Usability testing indicated excellent usability and high user satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• This study pioneers the application of human-centered design to a perioperative digital health tool in an LMIC.
• Effective communication, feedback, and information access are crucial for patient engagement with digital health tools.
• Digital tools like the PSHR can enhance person-centered perioperative care by integrating PROs into clinical workflows.