Laila Nasser, Emily Morris, Irene Mathias, Justin N Hall
{"title":"Considerations for emergency department virtual triage.","authors":"Laila Nasser, Emily Morris, Irene Mathias, Justin N Hall","doi":"10.1177/08404704241298643","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Health leaders are increasingly interested in harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to remotely conduct virtual triage for Emergency Department (ED) patients. This study explores equity considerations and patient attitudes to virtual triage in a Canadian ED. A cross-sectional study surveyed 150 ED patients, with 32 additional patients interviewed in-depth. Descriptive statistics and qualitative descriptive methodology were employed. 84.7% of patients would consider virtual triage. 71.3% were comfortable following advice to seek alternate care, including their General Practitioner or virtual ED. Approximately 38.2% of patients >60 years would require assistance using virtual triage, with confidence in using technology to direct care decreasing with age. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes: value of decision support; care access expectations; technological literacy demographics; trust in AI; and confidentiality. In conclusion, virtual triage is a viable and promising tool if barriers to technological literacy are addressed, and tools are endorsed by health providers and patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":39854,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare Management Forum","volume":" ","pages":"8404704241298643"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Healthcare Management Forum","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08404704241298643","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Health leaders are increasingly interested in harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to remotely conduct virtual triage for Emergency Department (ED) patients. This study explores equity considerations and patient attitudes to virtual triage in a Canadian ED. A cross-sectional study surveyed 150 ED patients, with 32 additional patients interviewed in-depth. Descriptive statistics and qualitative descriptive methodology were employed. 84.7% of patients would consider virtual triage. 71.3% were comfortable following advice to seek alternate care, including their General Practitioner or virtual ED. Approximately 38.2% of patients >60 years would require assistance using virtual triage, with confidence in using technology to direct care decreasing with age. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes: value of decision support; care access expectations; technological literacy demographics; trust in AI; and confidentiality. In conclusion, virtual triage is a viable and promising tool if barriers to technological literacy are addressed, and tools are endorsed by health providers and patients.
期刊介绍:
Healthcare Management Forum is the official journal of the Canadian College of Health Service Executives. It is the only peer-reviewed journal that covers issues related to advances in health services management, theory and practice in a Canadian context. The quality of its contributors, the rigorous review process and the leading-edge topics make it truly unique!