Patient and care team perspectives on an app to support Hospital at Home admission decision making

Abstract

Background

Hospital at Home (HaH) programs are used throughout the United States and are beneficial in both providing patients care in environments most comfortable to them and freeing up inpatient beds. Better informing patients about HaH programs, while promoting shared decision-making (SDM), should be prioritized by health systems. SDM apps may promote increased patient agency and understanding of complex HaH care decisions. We previously developed, usability tested, and refined a HaH SDM app.

Objectives

To evaluate the utility of SDM apps in assisting pneumonia patients with HaH admission.

Methods

Usability surveys (N = 16) and semistructured interviews with patients (N = 9) and nurse navigators (N = 3) were utilized to evaluate our app in assisting pneumonia patients as they contemplated HaH admission. Recruitment occurred at three hospitals in the southeastern United States. Surveys were analyzed consistent with their validated measures, while interviews were analyzed using inductive coding methodologies.

Results

Patients supported receiving HaH information via an app, with many noting that presenting content via multiple modalities (e.g., videos, pictures, text) was helpful and that the app assisted their care decision. App-guided inquiries into patients' care preferences helped patients visualize their priorities and promoted feelings of agency, while providing important information to care teams. Participants found visuals effective at conveying program details, for example, HaH's in-home setup, which may assist with health literacy challenges. Potential barriers included the need to expand app accessibility for vision impaired and non-English speaking patients.

Conclusions

SDM apps may better inform patients' HaH care decisions, allowing patients self-directed access to information and engagement with visual content, which may address challenges related to health literacy and navigating complex, time-sensitive decisions.