Pilot Study to Develop and Evaluate the South Texas Psychiatric PBRNs Session Conversation Starter Tablet-Based Agenda
Setting Tool (SCS TBAST) to Enhance Psychiatric Follow-up Visits
Cervando Martinez, M.D., Alejandro Machuca, BA, Christina Quintanilla, and Jennifer Daniels, BA
Significance & Background
Methods
This study is being conducted by the Psychiatric PBRN in
collaboration with EvaluTrac LLC to develop and test the Session
Conversation Starter Tablet-Based Agenda Setting Tool (SCS
TBAST) in the clinical setting. The SCS TBAST will allow
follow-up patients to flag important issues or concerns prior to the
start of the session.
The project will distribute 5 tablets in 2 month waves to 5
PBRN member practices (N=10 Psychiatrists). Psychiatrists will
be expected to use the device for 2 months with all consecutive
follow-up patients that volunteer to participate in the project.
Estimated patient enrollment for each psychiatrist is 20 or more
patients.
This project aims to integrate technology into the clinical
setting by administering an agenda setting tool to assist the
psychiatrist and patient in the course of treatment. As previous
research indicates, early agenda setting results in fewer hidden
concerns at the end of the visit, resulting in a more efficient
overall visit (Beckman, Frankel, & Darnley, 1985; Frankel,
Salyers, Bonfils, Oles, & Matthias, 2013; Roter, Hall, BlanchHartigan, Larson, & Frankel, 2011; Williams, Weinman, & Dale,
1998; Beckman & Frankel, 1984). The implementation of the SCS
TBAST in the South Texas Psychiatric PBRN practices is
anticipated to significantly improve the time management of
follow-up visits and the quality of the treatment provided to each
patient by being able to personalize each follow-up visit to
address patients menu of concerns thereby improving patient
outcomes.
Three surveys will be administered to evaluate the
effectiveness and overall satisfaction of the patient-doctor
interface.
Mexico
Pre-Patient Questionnaire consists of 6 questions
regarding:
Gender
Age
Patients previous experience with psychiatrist covering all
topics of discussion
Withholding concerns
Overall satisfaction
Post-Patient Questionnaire consists of 3 questions
regarding:
(To be filled out at the end of the follow-up visit)
Ease of use for the SCS TBAST
Psychiatrist covered all of their concerns
Overall satisfaction
Psychiatrist Survey consists of 6 questions regarding:
(To be filled out at the end of the follow-up visit)
Diagnosis
Patient difficulty
Availability of TBAST results
Time needed to review results
Mexico
Helpfulness of information generated
Overall satisfaction
Funding Source: IIMS Community Engagement Small Grant Award
Funding Source: IIMS Community Engagement Small Grant Award
Expected Results
We anticipate that using the SCS TBAST will promote
collaborative decision-making between psychiatrist and their
patients.
Our anticipated results are that psychiatrists will report:
An acceptable and useful process for the SCS TBAST
A more efficient follow-up visit resulting in a decline of
patient-withheld concerns at the end of their sessions
Improved satisfaction for both patient and psychiatrist
Improved overall patient outcomes
Conclusions
We are currently in the process of recruiting more psychiatrists
for the project. May 2016 is our expected start date. We expect to
use the SCS TBAST with over two hundred patients within the
following year.
The Psychiatric PBRN members participating in this project will
provide exit interviews with their views and suggestions for
improving technology like this in the clinical setting for future
purposes. We hope to be able to distribute this product to other
psychiatrists who may need assistance in developing physicianpatient collaborative decision-making.
References
Beckman, H.B., & Frankel, R.M. (1984). The effect of physician behavior
on the collection of data. Annals of Internal Medicine, 101: p. 692696.
Beckman, H.B., Frankel, R.M., & Darnley, J. (1985). Soliciting the
patients complete agenda: A relationship to the distribution of
concerns.
Clinical Research, 33, 7174A.
Frankel, R.M., Salyers, M.P., Bonfils, K., Oles, S., & Matthias, M.S.
(2013). Agenda setting in psychiatric consultations: an exploratory
study.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, September; 36 (3): p. 195-201.
Roter, D.L., Hall, J.A., Blanch-Hartigan, D., Larson, S., & Frankel, R.M..
(2011). Slicing It thin: new methods for brief sampling analysis using
RIAS-coded medical dialogue. Patient Education and Counseling, 82(3):
p. 410-419.
Williams, S., Weinman, J., Dale, J. (1998). Doctor-patient communication
and patient satisfaction: a review. Family Practice, 15: p. 480-492.
