⚡ Quick Summary
This qualitative study explored the expectations and requirements of surgical staff regarding an AI-supported Clinical Decision Support System (AI-CDSS) for older patients. The findings highlight the importance of addressing medical challenges and ensuring intuitive usability in the development of such systems.
🔍 Key Details
- 👥 Participants: 15 healthcare professionals including physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and social workers.
- 📍 Location: Surgical departments at a university hospital in Southern Germany.
- 🗓️ Date of Interviews: April 2022.
- 🔍 Methodology: Content and thematic analysis of transcribed interviews.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- 📊 Challenges in Geriatric Care: 111 quotes identified, with medical challenges being the most frequent.
- 💡 Opportunities with AI-CDSS: 37 quotes highlighted the potential for a holistic patient overview.
- ⚠️ Limitations of AI-CDSS: 26 quotes discussed the constraints of AI in clinical settings.
- 🛠️ Technical Wishes: 37 quotes emphasized the need for intuitive usability and mobile access.
- 🤝 Ethical Considerations: Trust in AI and the importance of maintaining the patient-caregiver relationship were key concerns.
- 🌍 Focus on Usability: A holistic approach to usability was deemed essential for successful implementation.
- 🔄 Continuous Development: Insights from this study will guide the ongoing development of AI-CDSS.
📚 Background
The care of older surgical patients presents unique challenges, particularly in ensuring continuity of care and addressing complex medical needs. The SURGE-Ahead project aims to tackle these issues by developing an AI-supported Clinical Decision Support System that enhances geriatric comanagement in surgical settings. This study seeks to understand the perspectives of healthcare professionals on the integration of AI in their practice.
🗒️ Study
Conducted in April 2022, this qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with 15 healthcare professionals working in surgical departments. The aim was to gather insights on the current challenges in geriatric patient care and the potential role of an AI-CDSS. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify key themes and concerns.
📈 Results
A total of 399 quotes were extracted from the interviews, revealing significant insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with geriatric care. The most frequently mentioned challenges were medical in nature, while the potential benefits of an AI-CDSS included providing a holistic overview of patient needs. Ethical concerns centered around trust in AI and the necessity of preserving the human element in patient care.
🌍 Impact and Implications
The findings from this study underscore the critical need for a thoughtful approach to the development of AI-supported systems in healthcare. By addressing the specific challenges faced by surgical staff and ensuring that ethical considerations are prioritized, we can enhance the quality of care for older patients. This research paves the way for more effective integration of AI technologies in clinical settings, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
🔮 Conclusion
This study highlights the importance of understanding healthcare professionals’ perspectives when developing AI-supported systems for geriatric care. By focusing on usability, ethical considerations, and the preservation of the patient-caregiver relationship, we can create AI-CDSS that truly meet the needs of surgical staff and their patients. The future of geriatric care may well be enhanced by these innovative technologies, and ongoing research is essential to realize this potential.
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Expectations and Requirements of Surgical Staff for an AI-Supported Clinical Decision Support System for Older Patients: Qualitative Study.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Geriatric comanagement has been shown to improve outcomes of older surgical inpatients. Furthermore, the choice of discharge location, that is, continuity of care, can have a fundamental impact on convalescence. These challenges and demands have led to the SURGE-Ahead project that aims to develop a clinical decision support system (CDSS) for geriatric comanagement in surgical clinics including a decision support for the best continuity of care option, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.
OBJECTIVE: This qualitative study aims to explore the current challenges and demands in surgical geriatric patient care. Based on these challenges, the study explores the attitude of interviewees toward the introduction of an AI-supported CDSS (AI-CDSS) in geriatric patient care in surgery, focusing on technical and general wishes about an AI-CDSS, as well as ethical considerations.
METHODS: In this study, 15 personal interviews with physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and social workers, employed in surgical departments at a university hospital in Southern Germany, were conducted in April 2022. Interviews were conducted in person, transcribed, and coded by 2 researchers (AU, LB) using content and thematic analysis. During the analysis, quotes were sorted into the main categories of geriatric patient care, use of an AI-CDSS, and ethical considerations by 2 authors (AU, LB). The main themes of the interviews were subsequently described in a narrative synthesis, citing key quotes.
RESULTS: In total, 399 quotes were extracted and categorized from the interviews. Most quotes could be assigned to the primary code challenges in geriatric patient care (111 quotes), with the most frequent subcode being medical challenges (45 quotes). More quotes were assigned to the primary code chances of an AI-CDSS (37 quotes), with its most frequent subcode being holistic patient overview (16 quotes), then to the primary code limits of an AI-CDSS (26 quotes). Regarding the primary code technical wishes (37 quotes), most quotes could be assigned to the subcode intuitive usability (15 quotes), followed by mobile availability and easy access (11 quotes). Regarding the main category ethical aspects of an AI-CDSS, most quotes could be assigned to the subcode critical position toward trust in an AI-CDSS (9 quotes), followed by the subcodes respecting the patient’s will and individual situation (8 quotes) and responsibility remaining in the hands of humans (7 quotes).
CONCLUSIONS: Support regarding medical geriatric challenges and responsible handling of AI-based recommendations, as well as necessity for a holistic approach focused on usability, were the most important topics of health care professionals in surgery regarding development of an AI-CDSS for geriatric care. These findings, together with the wish to preserve the patient-caregiver relationship, will help set the focus for the ongoing development of AI-supported CDSS.
Author: [‘Uihlein A’, ‘Beissel L’, ‘Ajlani AH’, ‘Orzechowski M’, ‘Leinert C’, ‘Kocar TD’, ‘Pankratz C’, ‘Schuetze K’, ‘Gebhard F’, ‘Steger F’, ‘Fotteler ML’, ‘Denkinger M’]
Journal: JMIR Aging
Citation: Uihlein A, et al. Expectations and Requirements of Surgical Staff for an AI-Supported Clinical Decision Support System for Older Patients: Qualitative Study. Expectations and Requirements of Surgical Staff for an AI-Supported Clinical Decision Support System for Older Patients: Qualitative Study. 2024; 7:e57899. doi: 10.2196/57899