Using clinical simulation to evaluate a video telehealth consultation summary application

Area of Science:

• Digital health
• Palliative care
• Health informatics

Background:

• Patients forget up to 80% of medical consultation information.
• Telehealth limits opportunities for providing written summaries.
• Palliative care patients have complex information needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a consultation summary application (CSA) for video telehealth in palliative care.
• To identify and resolve socio-technical factors impacting digital health innovation adoption.
• To assess the CSA's usability and workflow integration before real-world implementation.

Main Methods:

• Developed a consultation summary application (CSA).
• Utilized the Service Readiness Level Framework for phased evidence generation.
• Conducted clinical simulations with clinician-simulated patient dyads using a metastatic lung cancer scenario.

Main Results:

• The CSA was perceived as valuable by both clinicians and simulated patients.
• The tool supports palliative care patients in information recall and self-management.
• Clinical simulations helped address usability and workflow integration issues.

Conclusions:

• Clinical simulation is recommended to de-risk real-world deployment of digital health innovations.
• The CSA shows promise for enhancing patient understanding and self-management in telehealth palliative care.
• Optimizing digital health innovations requires addressing socio-technical factors early in development.