Health information kiosk use in health organisations: the views of the health professionals

Abstract

A series of in-depth one to one and group interviews were undertaken with health professionals and surgery practice managers in medical locations where a touch screen information kiosk was available for use by patients. The purpose of these interviews was to provide context and understanding for the kiosk log data that was being gathered that provided data on number and length of use sessions, pages viewed and age and gender of users. The interviews were also concerned with issues beyond those raised by the logs - principally the benefits and problems inherent in providing health information ‘online’ and the impact of electronic information for patients on the work of the medical practitioner. The reasons why kiosks were purchased and the extent to which expectations were met were also areas of interest. Results showed that disproportionately high use of the kiosk by children, identified by the log data, could be explained in a number of ways. Medical practitioners spoke of helping children both use the system for school projects and access pages on behalf of parents and grandparents. Inappropriate use, however, was also reported by practice managers. A number of factors cited by professionals, such as poor IT skills and cultural barriers, help explain low use by the 55-74 age group. A resurgence of interest amongst the over 74s, however, remains a mystery awaiting the next stage of the fieldwork, when patients are interviewed directly. Extensive encouragement by staff to encourage patient use may account for some of the condition specific pages accessed, by all age groups. Nurses tended to be far more pro-active than doctors, and saw many health-related benefits in referring patients to the kiosk. By contrast, doctors saw the system in very practical ways - praising its space saving potential, for example, not enthusing about its possible value to patients in health terms. Practice managers and others with responsibility for the maintenance of the system were unhappy with the extra work they were required to undertake, and complained about children ‘playing’ and about printer and other problems.