Abstract
Purpose
Current practice requires all post-operative hip and knee arthroplasty patients complete a series of clinical questionnaires at each visit. The patients responses to these questionnaires are used as a clinical evaluation tool for the surgeons to assess functionality, satisfaction and pain at routine pre and post-operative visits. The recent installation of 4 touch screen computer terminals, located in the patient waiting area, has created the opportunity to have the patients complete these questionnaires by using only the touch screen entry system. This eliminates the need for clinic staff to manually enter the patients responses into the clinics database, eliminate potential data entry errors, and will significantly reduce the amount of time and paper required to prepare questionnaires for each patient. In addition to possibly increasing the volume of data we can collect in our clinic, this also allows the surgeon to have immediate access to the patients responses which can be reviewed prior to seeing the patient in the office. Our goal was to determine the overall level of patient satisfaction with using the new touch screen direct entry system, the efficiency of completion and the quality of data entry occurring from the direct entry system.
Method
During the month of April, 2010, a consecutive series of 100 patients entering the orthopaedic clinic, were directed to the touch screen kiosks to complete the required questionnaires (SF-12, Oxford Knee/Hip, Harris Hip/Knee Society Score, and the Patient Satisfaction Survey). Once the patients completed the touch screen questionnaires they were asked to complete a paper copy of the Touch Screen Satisfaction Questionnaire. This questionnaire asked 6 questions regarding their satisfaction with the touch-screen system, the ease/difficulty of use, and which method they would prefer to complete such questionnaires if given a choice.
Results
Our sample resulted in a mean age of 68.5 years (range 41.7 to 93.8 years), with 53 females and 47 males. Ninety-six percent of patients who used this system reported they had never used a touch-screen for health purposes, 71% found it very easy to use, and 49% reported that it was very quick to use. When polled about their preferences regarding questionnaires, 82% of patients preferred to use the touch-screen system, over filling out paper copies (2%), using an external internet site from home (1%) and 15% reported having no real preference for any of these methods. Patients were unable to continue without answering all questions, therefore this method of data collection prevents the occurrence of missing values and incomplete records.
Conclusion
Our results support our initial hypothesis that the new touch-screen system is a superior tool for obtaining clinically relevant patient information regarding function, pain and satisfaction in an effective and timely manner. These findings support our decision to integrate touch-screen systems into the information flow in an orthopaedic clinic.
