Patient Perspectives on the Development of a Novel Mobile Health (mHealth) Application for Dietary Supplement Tracking and Reconciliation—A Qualitative Focus Group Study

Abstract

Background: More than 170 million adults use dietary supplements (DS) in the United States, which can have both benefit and harm to patient health. DS use is often poorly documented in the medical record and can pose health risks if not properly communicated with providers. Reasons for poor DS documentation include low disclosure rates, time constraints of clinical encounters, and providers’ failure to inquire about DS use. This study was conducted to assess patients’ views on the facilitators and barriers to using a mobile health (mHealth) application (app) to collect and share DS information with their healthcare providers. 
Methods: Utilizing a theory-based conceptual model, we conducted seven patient focus groups (FGs) to assess opinions on DS safety, provider communication, comfort with technology use, and our proposed mHealth app. Participants were recruited from the general public and through patient advisory groups. Patient views will inform the creation of an mHealth app to improve DS patient-provider communication and tracking and reconciliation in the electronic medical record (EMR). 
Results: Overall, participants believe their DS information is inaccurately represented in the EMR leading to safety concerns and negatively impacting overall quality-of-care. Participants desired an app designed with: 1) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliance; 2) ease of use for a variety of technical efficacy levels; 3) access to reliable DS information, including a DS-drug interaction checker; 4) integration with the EMR.
Conclusion: An app to simplify and improve DS entry and reconciliation was of interest to patients, as long as it maintained health autonomy and privacy and possessed key valuable features.

Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on Improving Dietary Supplement Documentation in the Electronic Medical Record: Current Challenges and Opportunities to Enhance Quality of Care and Patient Safety

“…A parallel study, already reported, investigated patients’ perspectives on the proposed mHealth application and describes the conceptual model we used for both studies in detail. 21 Briefly, the conceptual model, based on the Unified Technology Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model with added constructs from the Health Belief Model, influenced the construction of the interview guide (Appendix 1). 22 , 24 UTAUT has been applied to studies of technology acceptance among providers.…”

“…In a previous publication we reported results from a qualitative focus group study assessing patient perspectives on the development of a novel mHealth app to assist with dietary supplement documentation in the EMR. 21 In this study, we extended our investigation to HCPs where we sought to understand the clinical experiences, opinions, and perspectives of HCPs regarding patients’ use of dietary supplements, patient-provider communication about dietary supplements, and current challenges with accurately capturing and documenting patients’ dietary supplement use in the EMR. We also sought to obtain HCPs’ opinions and recommendations about a proposed mHealth app to improve capture and documentation of dietary supplements in the EMR.…”