"I Would Just Want to Know What It's Being Used for and Who's Using It": Barriers to the Adoption of SmartSurveys

Abstract

Objective: Smartphones stand to transform the manner healthcare services gather patient experience information. However, there is still limited guidance on the context and circumstances which are appropriate for patients to use their smartphones to share their service experiences. The aim of this thesis is to understand the factors which act as barriers to adopting and using smartphone-based patient experience feedback (SmartSurveys).

Methods: Participants were asked to envision the use of MetricWire®’s mobile application to collect patient experience data. In-depth semi-structured interviews, guided with questionnaires, were conducted with smartphone owners (n=24) in order to capture their experiences, perceptions and attitudes with using SmartSurveys. Individuals were also categorized based on their technical knowledge and motivation to protect their privacy. With consent, interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed using QSR International’s NVivo 11.

Results: Interviews and questionnaires revealed that there were few concerns related to risks or usability of SmartSurveys application. However, three major themes regarding privacy emerged from the interviews. With respect to information disclosure, participants were concerned about the recipients of information, the reliability of the communication structure, and risk of losing of information agency.

Conclusion: The use and adoption of SmartSurveys is highly contextual and nuanced. Participants stressed the need to disclose the purpose of data collection as well as how information is managed and by who. Healthcare providers and mHealth application developers should endeavour to inform end-users of the manner data is handled through their mobile application. Furthermore, providing the rationale for patient experience feedback will help patients comprehend how their opinions drive changes in service quality.