JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Mobile technology (mHealth) interventions to support COPD patients in self-management are emerging. Recently, an evidence-driven mHealth intervention has been developed to support COPD patients in exacerbation-related self-management: the Copilot app. Health care providers (HCPs) are important stakeholders as they should provide the app to patients, personalize the app and review the app during consultations. It is therefore important to investigate at an early stage whether the app is feasible in HCPs’ daily practice.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceived feasibility of the Copilot app in HCPs’ daily practice.

Methods:

A feasibility study with a convergent mixed-methods design was used to investigate how HCPs experience working with the app and how they perceive the feasibility of the app in their daily practice. Feasibility areas of Bowen et al. (2009) were used as guidance. HCPs were observed while performing tasks in the app and asked to ‘think aloud’. The System Usability Scale (SUS) was used to investigate the usability of the app and semi-structured interviews were held to further explore the perceived feasibility of the app by HCPs. The study was conducted in primary, secondary and tertiary care settings in the Netherlands from February 2019 until September 2019.

Results:

In total, fourteen HCPs participated in this study; eight nurses and six medical professionals. The HCPs were able to work with the app and found the app acceptable to use. Expected key benefits of the app were an increased insight into patient symptoms, more structured patient conversations and more tailored treatment and self-management support. The app fits within the available time and workflow of especially nurses. The use of the app will be influenced by the professional’s autonomy, the organization’s focus on eHealth, costs associated with the app and compatibility with current systems used. Most HCPs expressed that there are conditions that have to be met to be able to use the app. The app could be integrated into existing care paths of primary, secondary and tertiary health care settings. Individual organizational factors will have to be taken into account when integrating the app in daily practice.

Conclusions:

This early-stage feasibility study shows that the Copilot app is feasible to use in the daily practice of Dutch HCPs. The app was considered to fit the nurses’ role best. The app is feasible to integrate in both primary, secondary and tertiary health care settings in the Netherlands. The app will be less feasible for organizations in which many conditions need to be met to use the app. This study provides a new approach to evaluate the perceived feasibility of mHealth interventions at an early stage and has resulted in valuable insights for further feasibility testing.