SBIR-STTR Award

The phenomenal growth of the Internet and telecommunications technologies offers the next major step in health care: efficient communication between patients and their health care providers. While there is a wealth of information from a variety of sources on health care and medical conditions, the tools to help patients put together their own experience in a framework of recent medical research findings does not exist. We propose to develop an interactive website that will not only provide the latest medical research to health care consumers, but will apply this research to the consumer's specific health requirements. The purpose of this website is to facilitate efficient face-to-face communication between health care providers and patient/consumers. A website will be developed and evaluated during Phase I utilizing postmenopausal hormone therapy as the prototype module (condition). At the conclusion of the interactive website a health profile and a set of questions customized to a patient/consumer's specific situation will be produced to take to the appointment with the health care provider. It will be determined if this instrument benefits both providers and patients by optimizing their time together. The questions and background information will facilitate informed, shared medical decision-making

This Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant application proposes to test a prototype model developed under a Phase I SBIR grant on postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT). Using the technology of the Internet a unique method has been developed for patients to generate appropriate and focused health information along with a customized set of questions directed toward a specific health concern (in this case hormone therapy) to take to their health care provider. This tool, called TalkToYourDoc (SM), is meant to provide a greater benefit to health care than the Internet currently provides. This research is targeted to specific consumer needs in an easy-to-understand, non-intimidating process so that 1) the patient is encouraged to ask questions related to her specific conditions, 2) the patient is guided to communicate their medical history in a focused and organized way, and 3) the health care provider will be able to spend their limited time with the patient in addressing those issues important to the patient and the health issue(s) at hand. The specific aims of this Phase II SBIR grant are to determine if the instrument developed in Phase I: 1) generates better communication in the clinical setting; 2) contributes to a greater understanding on the part of the patient of the health issue (in this case hormone therapy) presented to the provider; 3) results in higher satisfaction with the encounter for both the provider and the patient; 4) creates a more efficient office visit (more information conveyed in less amount of time). Health care providers and their age-appropriate patients (n=280) will be recruited for participation in a clinical trial where half the women will be assigned to the intervention group to access and utilize TalkToYourDoc and half will receive usual care with regards to HT. Both patients and providers will provide feedback regarding the above specific aims. TalkToYourDoc is meant to provide a sound foundation for discussion and subsequent decision-making between health care providers and their patients. It is also intended to increase efficiency of the clinic visit and promote greater satisfaction for both patient and providers.

Thesaurus Terms:
Internet, computer assisted medical decision making, computer assisted patient care, computer human interaction, computer system design /evaluation, hormone therapy, patient care personnel relations, postmenopause aging, communication, health care personnel, informatics, interactive multimedia, patient care planning clinical research, female, human subject