Improving the patient experience is at the heart of our mission at Carevive. In 2020, we were able to incorporate the voice of the oncology patient more fully into our development processes. Volunteer patients were engaged as test users of Carevive PROmpt® and they provided invaluable feedback to help guide Carevive product development. This was part of a series of patient-centered initiatives in the Carevive Patient Engagement and Values Project launched by our product team to identify what patients’ value most while undergoing treatment for cancer. See below for an update on the data-driven insights and product improvements derived from these initiatives.
Update from the Carevive Product Team
Aligned with our mission to illuminate the real-world cancer patient experience, Carevive’s product team undertook a Patient Engagement and Values Project in Q3, 2020. With a goal of better understanding of the patient experience, specifically the experience of Carevive PROmpt® users, this was the beginning of what will be an ongoing focus on patient behavior. This project was exploratory in nature, providing insight into patient values, perceptions, and connections for continuous improvement of Carevive PROmpt® and the patients’ experience with it.
Phase 1: Survey
In the first phase of the project, a survey was developed with our consultants at Concatenate to solicit information from patients around their use of technology and communication of symptoms with their care teams. The survey has had over 100 patient respondents and is still open. The most significant distribution of the survey came through a patient advocacy and support group, NCAN, that you may have read about in our blog post.
- We have included a pdf form of the survey with this update, should you wish to view its detail.
- This is an example of what we will have available to analyze once we close the survey:
- Mean patient age 60-69
- A majority have reported that symptoms make life uncomfortable and/or impair their overall ability to get things done
- 90% responded favorably regarding whether they would use a mobile phone and/or text messaging to report symptoms
- A majority, 88%, would like to see their care information and data in an online digital app
Phase 2: Carevive PROmpt® Mock User Interviews
In the second phase of the project, we conducted a mock-user situation with 5 patient volunteers who enrolled in PROmpt, took surveys, and received care plans and notifications to view. Qualitative interviews were conducted with each volunteer at the completion of the test days. The interview feedback is currently being reviewed for application in Carevive’s continuous quality improvement processes. Here are a few quotes from participants regarding their overall experience and motivation:
- “I’m sure my care team would really benefit from sending this to patients like me”
- “I thought it was a really great experience. Self-assessment is super important in patient care.”
- “I like helping new companies. Anything to do with advocacy and medical help. There’s a real need out there…”
- “I did like the links to the [National Comprehensive Cancer Network] NCCN pages. Excellent!”
Phase 3: Carevive PROmpt® Real-World Patient Interviews
In our third and final phase, we are recruiting patients who are using Carevive PROmpt® through one of our existing customers. These real-world volunteers will participate in qualitative interviews similar to the mock interviews conducted in Phase 2. Insights derived from these patients will drive Carevive’s continuous quality improvement process to enhance the patient experience with Carevive PROmpt®.
Patient feedback has already enabled us to enhance our product by addressing patient concerns and removing barriers to care. For example, patients indicated that our Clinician Notes were too clinical, so we are now communicating this information with more personalized, patient-friendly descriptions. Among other areas identified to enhance the patient experience was the ability to view previously submitted items (surveys); patients can now access their entire history of responses, which helps them identify errors or recall how they were feeling. Patients indicate that the ability to view their own symptom trends (via our dashboard) increases their engagement and sense of reward because they can see their own information displayed over time and in relationship to their personal journey. It was suggested that this context would promote autonomy in self-management and provider communications.
Continuing Data Collection
Our survey, which gained central IRB exemption status, remains open at this time. If you know of a patient who would like to help us better understand his or her cancer journey, or a group that would be open to helping us further distribute our survey, please contact april.guillen@carevive.com or share the survey link on our behalf https://tinyurl.com/y62zxaco
