Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Mar 5, 2019
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 6, 2019 - Apr 6, 2019
Date Accepted: Apr 21, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Fertility Consult: independent and online advise for infertile patients, a pilot study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Patients search for care that is tailored to their personal wishes and needs, i.e. patient-centered care. This especially counts for healthcare areas where patients suffer from a high burden of disease, such as fertility care. Currently, one hospital provides both the diagnostic and treatment phase for infertile couples. Consequently, patients might not come to optimal independent advices regarding their fertility problem. The Internet could offer an optimal opportunity to make an independent advice feasible for larger groups of patients without the limitations of large travel distances and with low overhead costs.
Objective:
What are both patients’ and professionals’ experiences with an online platform using video consulting for infertile patients seeking an independent advice for their fertility problem?
Methods:
In this pilot study, we evaluate an online platform, Fertility Consult, where infertile patients can get an independent advice by a gynaecologist through a video consult, without meeting the doctor physically. Semi-structured interviews with two gynaecologists and the Dutch patients association’s chairman were performed. This information was used for a patients’ questionnaire about their first experiences with Fertility Consult, including questions about the level of patient-centredness and shared decision-making, using the PCQ-infertility and the CollaboRATE questionnaire respectively.
Results:
Of the first 27 patients enrolled at Fertility Consult 22 responded (82%). The majority of patients (81.8%) visited Fertility Consult for a second opinion and searched for more personal attention and an independent advice. The mean level of patient-centredness on the PCQ-Infertility questionnaire was 2.78 (SD 0.58) on a scale of 0-3. For the CollaboRATE questionnaire (scale 0-9), patients provided a median score of 8.0 (range 7-9) on all three questions about shared decision-making.
Conclusions:
Patients are satisfied with an independent, well prepared, online advice. Professionals feel they can provide patients with a proper advice in a way they come to patients’ needs, without loss of quality. Future studies should focus more on the separation of advice and treatment and on online consultations compared with face-to-face consultations to find out if we can involve patients even more in their process and improve the level of patient-centred care. Clinical Trial: None
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