Obtaining patient feedback in an outpatient lithotripsy service is facilitated by use of a touch-screen tablet (iPad™) survey

• Published in: Urolithiasis Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 317 - 321
• Main Authors: Turney, B. W., Reynard, J. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-08-2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Ambulatory Care; Computers, Handheld; Data Collection - methods; Feedback; Female; Humans; Lithotripsy; Male; Medical Biochemistry; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Nephrology; Original Paper; Urology; iPad; Revalidation; Feedback; Lithotripsy
• ISSN: 2194-7228; 2194-7236
• DOI: 10.1007/s00240-014-0662-3

There is now a requirement for every doctor in the UK to obtain patient feedback for revalidation. This can be an onerous and time-consuming task. The objective of this study was to evaluate a novel electronic patient feedback method in an outpatient lithotripsy service setting. Between September 2013 and January 2014, 100 patients attending an outpatient lithotripsy service in Oxford were asked to complete a selection of pre-approved NHS questions about the service they had received. Questions were presented on a tablet device (iPad™) and answered using the touch screen. Departmental staff were unaware of the questions in the survey. Patients were asked to complete the survey by an independent research nurse. Questions were created online in a free-to-use web-based survey application and presented on the tablet device in a user-friendly format via an application. Data were uploaded via wifi™ to the online system. Data were viewed, automatically analysed and displayed graphically. The age range of the patients surveyed was 20–80 years of age. All 100 patients completed the survey without difficulty. All patients answered every question. Data could be automatically viewed, analysed and presented graphically. This method of collecting patient feedback proved to be rapid and efficient. The feedback highlighted a high patient satisfaction with the lithotripsy service. A touch screen tablet device is an efficient and effective method of collecting truly objective patient feedback. This method of patient feedback could be employed in other clinical environments to collect data for revalidation purposes.