Don't Forget the Doctor: Gastroenterologists' Preferences on the Development of mHealth Tools for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

• Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth 2015-01, Vol.3 (1), p.e5-e5
• Main Authors: van Mierlo, Trevor, Fournier, Rachel, Fedorak, Richard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinical decision making; Costs; Decision making; Design; Gastroenterology; Health care expenditures; Health care policy; Immunology; Inflammatory bowel disease; Internet; Intervention; Irritable bowel syndrome; Original Paper; Patient compliance; Physicians; Questionnaires
• ISSN: 2291-5222; 2291-5222
• DOI: 10.2196/mhealth.3987

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) encompasses a number of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Treatment for IBD is lifelong and complex, and the majority of IBD patients seek information on the Internet. However, research has found existing digital resources to be of questionable quality and that patients find content lacking. Gastroenterologists are frontline sources of information for North American IBD patients, but their opinions and preferences for digital content, design, and utility have not been investigated. The purpose of this study is to systematically explore gastroenterologists' perceptions of, and design preferences for, mHealth tools. Our goal was to critically assess these issues and elicit expert feedback by seeking consensus with Canadian gastroenterologists. Using a qualitative approach, a closed meeting with 7 gastroenterologists was audio recorded and field notes taken. To synthesize results, an anonymous questionnaire was collected at the end of the session. Participant-led discussion themes included methodological approaches to non-adherence, concordance, patient-centricity, and attributes of digital tools that would be actively supported and promoted. Survey results indicated that 4 of the 7 gastroenterologists had experienced patients bringing digital resources to a visit, but 5 found digital patient resources to be inaccurate or irrelevant. All participants agreed that digital tools were of increasing importance and could be leveraged to aid in consultations and save time. When asked to assess digital attributes that they would be confident to refer patients to, all seven indicated that the inclusion of evidence-based facts were of greatest importance. Patient peer-support networks were deemed an asset but only if closely monitored by experts. When asked about interventions, nearly all (6/7) preferred tools that addressed a mix of compliance and concordance, and only one supported the development of tools that focused on compliance. Participants confirmed that they would actively refer patients and other physicians to digital resources. However, while a number of digital IBD tools exist, gastroenterologists would be reluctant to endorse them. Gastroenterologists appear eager to use digital resources that they believe benefit the physician-patient relationship, but despite the trend of patient-centric tools that focus on concordance (shared decision making and enlightened communication between patients and their health care pro