Our objective is to investigate patient needs and understand information gaps in radiology reports using patient questions that were posted on online discussion forums. We leveraged online question and answer platforms to collect questions posted by patients to understand current gaps and patient needs. We retrieved six hundred fifty-nine (659) questions using the following sites: Yahoo Answers, Reddit.com, Quora, and Wiki Answers. The questions retrieved were analyzed and the major themes and topics were identified. The questions retrieved were classified into eight major themes. The themes were related to the following topics: radiology report, safety, price, preparation, procedure, meaning, medical staff, and patient portal. Among the 659 questions, 35.50% were concerned with the radiology report. The most common question topics in the radiology report focused on patient understanding of the radiology report (62 of 234 [26.49%]), image visualization (53 of 234 [22.64%]), and report representation (46 of 234 [19.65%]). We also found that most patients were concerned about understanding the MRI report (32%; n = 143) compared with the other imaging modalities (n = 434). Using online discussion forums, we discussed major unmet patient needs and information gaps in radiology reports. These issues could be improved to enhance radiology design in the future.

Background: Studies documented the important role of health-care professionals in encouraging their patients to adopt and use mobile health applications. Health-care professionals who use and believe in mobile health applications are more likely to encourage and empower their patients to use it. Likewise, students in health-profession related specialties who use mobile health applications are more likely to continue to do so when they join the workforce. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the rate of adoption of mobile health applications in students in health colleges, identify the types of health applications used by health students, and identify the barriers that prevent the use of mobile health applications. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among university students. Students were invited to participate in a self-administrated survey from five health colleges. The survey included questions about the pattern of utilization, the purpose of the health-related application being used, and the barriers to adoption. The analysis included descriptive statistics using SPSS. Results: A total of 383 students participated in this study. The within gender comparison showed that more female students were using health-related applications 59.8% compared to male students 49%. The most frequent purpose of using mobile health applications were tracking physical activities 72.5% followed by counting calories intake 44%. We also identified the frequency and duration of use as well as the factors which may impact students intention to use. Conclusion: Fitness and dietary related applications were more common which might be explained by the fact that we only included a younger age group. The reported levels of perceived usefulness, accessibility and ease of use suggest that students will continue to use it.

Background: Despite the many benefits of electronic health records (EHRs), studies have reported that EHR implementation could create unintended changes in the workflow if not studied and designed properly. These changes may impact the time patients spend on the various steps of their visits, such as the time spent in the waiting area and the time spent with a physician. The amount of time patients spend in the waiting area before consultation is often a strong predictor of patient satisfaction, willingness to come back for a return visit, and overall experience. The majority of prior studies that examined the impact of EHR systems on time focused on single aspects of patient visits or user (physicians or nurses) activities. The impact of EHR use on patients’ time spent during the different aspects of the visit is rarely investigated. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of EHR systems on the amount of time spent by patients on different tasks during their visit to primary health care (PHC) centers. Methods: A time and motion observational study was conducted at 4 PHC centers. The PHC centers were selected using stratified randomized sampling. Of the 4 PHC centers, 2 used an EHR system and 2 used a paper-based system. Each group had 1 center in a metropolitan area and another in a rural area. In addition, a longitudinal observation was conducted at one of the PHC centers after 1 year and again after 2 years of implementation. The analysis included descriptive statistics and group comparisons. Results: The results showed no significant difference in the amount of time spent by patients in the reception area (P=.26), in the waiting area (P=.57), consultation time (P=.08), and at the pharmacy (P=.28) between the EHR and paper based groups. However, there was a significant difference (P<.001) in the amount of time spent on all tasks between the PHC centers located in metropolitan and rural areas. The longitudinal observation also showed reduction in the registration time (from 5.5 [SD 3.5] min to 0.9 [SD 0.5] min), which could be attributed to the introduction of a Web-based booking system. Conclusions: The variation in the time patients spend at PHC centers is more likely to be attributed to the facility location than EHR use. The changes in the introduction of new tools and functions, however, such as the Web-based booking system, can impact the duration of patients’ visits.

The aim of this study discusses the gap between the patient web portal and providing a full radiology report. A literature review was conducted to examine radiologists, physicians, and patients’ opinions and preferences of providing patients with online access radiology reports. The databases searched were Pubmed and Google Scholar and the initial search included 927 studies. After review, 47 studies were included in the study. We identified several themes, including patients’ understanding of radiology reports and radiological images, as well as the need for decreasing the turnaround time for reports availability. The existing radiology reports written for physicians are not suited for patients. Further studies are needed to guide and inform the design of patient friendly radiology reports. One of the ways that can be used to fill the gap between patients and radiology reports is using social media sites.

Background Maintaining a sufficient consultation length in primary health care (PHC) is a fundamental part of providing quality care that results in patient safety and satisfaction. Many facilities have limited capacity and increasing consultation time could result in a longer waiting time for patients and longer working hours for physicians. The use of simulation can be practical for quantifying the impact of workflow scenarios and guide the decision-making.Objective To examine the impact of increasing consultation time on patient waiting time and physician working hours.Methods Using discrete events simulation, we modeled the existing workflow and tested five different scenarios with a longer consultation time. In each scenario, we examined the impact of consultation time on patient waiting time, physician hours, and rate of staff utilization.Results At baseline scenarios (5-minute consultation time), the average waiting time was 9.87 minutes and gradually increased to 89.93 minutes in scenario five (10 minutes consultation time). However, the impact of increasing consultation time on patients waiting time did not impact all patients evenly where patients who arrive later tend to wait longer. Scenarios with a longer consultation time were more sensitive to the patients' order of arrival than those with a shorter consultation time.Conclusion By using simulation, we assessed the impact of increasing the consultation time in a risk-free environment. The increase in patients waiting time was somewhat gradual, and patients who arrive later in the day are more likely to wait longer than those who arrive earlier in the day. Increasing consultation time was more sensitive to the patients' order of arrival than those with a shorter consultation time.