07/05/2023
Revolutionizing Healthcare: Overcoming Barriers in Interactive Patient Education
By Moe A. Ajam, Ph.D.
Patient education is undergoing a metamorphosis, driven by technological advancements and a steadfast belief in patient-centered care. Integrating interactivity and multimedia into patient education is viewed as a game-changer. It promises to enhance learning experiences and improve health outcomes. However, like any significant transformation, it presents its challenges. Today, I delve into these challenges and explore how their resolutions shape patient education’s future.
The Technology Gap
The technology gap presents one of the most significant obstacles. The core of interactivity and multimedia in patient education lies in technology. Yet, the accessibility of devices and reliable internet access varies widely among patients, creating a digital divide. To facilitate the universal adoption of interactive materials, healthcare providers and organizations must bridge this divide. At the Patient Education Institute, we've developed X-Plain for Tablets (https://www.patient-education.com/tablets.html) . This app enables healthcare providers to offer interactive tutorials to patients who don’t own a smartphone (19% of US patients as of 2023).
Addressing Language and Literacy Barriers
Language and literacy barriers also pose significant issues. Interactive patient education tools are often designed in a single language, with a specific literacy benchmark in mind. This approach could exclude patients with limited language proficiency or lower literacy levels. True accessibility requires these tools to be inclusive, necessitating the development of materials in multiple languages and formats. Our interactive tutorials, available in several languages, come with varied formats like video and illustrated guides, helping to dismantle these barriers.
The Need for Personalized Content
The demand for personalized content is another crucial consideration. The power of interactivity and multimedia resides in its potential for personalization, but many existing tools need to catch up. Generic materials may not address patients' cultural sensitivities or diverse learning styles. Consequently, creating a wide spectrum of interactive resources that cater to individual needs is critical. Our patient education software, X-Plain, meets this need by localizing illustrations for various markets, including North America, Latin America, and the Middle East. Furthermore, we accommodate different learning styles by offering content in interactive tutorials, videos, and textual guides.
Overcoming Resistance Among Healthcare Providers
Despite the clear advantages of interactive and multimedia tools, many healthcare providers are reluctant to adopt these methods. Reasons may range from time constraints to lack of training. To address this, we've refined X-Plain to require less staff time by automating patient education based on medical coding through integration with EMR, patient portals, and other healthcare IT systems.
Overcoming staff resistance involves fostering a culture of change within healthcare institutions. Still, raising awareness among hospital staff, particularly new members, is crucial for these valuable resources. One successful approach is sending a newsletter with articles about best practices in implementing patient education and engagement and a synopsis of content updates.
Evidence, Efficacy, and Research Challenges
While the potential benefits of interactive and multimedia patient education interventions, such as improved patient engagement and knowledge retention, are recognized (see https://www.patient-education.com/research.html), further research is needed to solidify their impact on patient outcomes. A lack of robust evidence may dissuade healthcare providers and institutions from investing in these technologies. Over the past three decades, our research teams have conducted numerous evaluations with leading healthcare institutions, highlighting the benefits of patient education in risk mitigation, reduced readmissions, and other vital healthcare goals. However, these findings are often kept internal, exacerbating the challenge. (We hypothesize that such reluctance stems more from an amplified fear of liability — due to studies potentially violating regulations and privacy laws — rather than from a desire to protect proprietary information.)
Cost Evolution
The cost of patient education solutions incorporating interactivity and multimedia was initially quite high. Upon launching X-Plain Neurosurgery in 1995, the price was a one-time fee of $3080 (for a 17” resistive-touch monitor), supplemented by an annual subscription of $3,768 for the neurosurgery library of ten topics. Today, with most organizations and patients having access to touch devices, the subscription cost can be as low as $14 per topic per year for a large library or $80 per topic per year for a single topic.
This significant price reduction can be attributed to technological advancements, increased efficiency in our development and update operations, and our ability to reduce the per-unit cost after recouping the initial R&D expenditure.
The cost of developing interactive elements can still be prohibitive for newcomers to the patient education industry. However, with the emergence of AI, these costs are expected to decrease significantly (for more details, see this article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beyond-content-how-ai-redefining-patient-education-moe-a-ajam ).
Summary
Despite these hurdles, we're improving patient education through interactivity and multimedia. With ongoing efforts to improve technology access, an increased focus on cultural and linguistic inclusivity, and ongoing research into the effectiveness of these tools, we're witnessing a positive shift.
In summary, the future of patient education depends on overcoming the challenges associated with using interactive tools. As we continue to design accessible, tailored, and evidence-based interactive resources, we can deepen patients' understanding of their health and improve health outcomes. The journey may be challenging, but it offers the potential for an engaged patient population, a goal we're committed to achieving.
X-Plain for Tablets offers X-Plain tutorials to patients and their families in inpatient settings, outreach clinics, and in-home visits. Built for iPad and Android tablets, this solution can increase patient satisfaction and optimize staff time.
