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Johns Hopkins University Uses Assist Technologies' Touch-screen System for Low Income, Low Literacy Patient Population; Results Surpass Expectations07:58 a.m. Nov 12, 1998 Eastern SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 12, 1998--Johns Hopkins University is using Assist Technologies' computer-based patient-reported outcomes system at the renowned Moore Clinic for HIV/AIDS, to evaluate quality of life and drug compliance. Because the clinic's population is low income and low literacy, the traditional paper and pencil surveys do not produce a good quality result and interviewer administered surveys are too expensive and burdensome on the staff. "We believed that using touch-screen to administer the MOS-HIV and drug adherence survey would solve the problem," stated Albert Wu MD, MPH at Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health. The initial project used the touch-screen administered surveys along with the traditional methods and compared the results. Both patients and staff report that the touch-screen is "easier than they expected" and that they "enjoy using it very much." The system is running Touch Outcomes Collector(TM) software, developed by Assist Technologies, and displays one question per screen in large, easy-to-read text. Patients respond to questions by touching the large onscreen buttons. As they do so, they are entering data directly into the computer and eliminating the need for manual survey checking, costly survey revisions, manual scoring and data entry. "There was an initial concern about whether this population would be able to use computers to answer health-related questions," stated Albert Wu MD, MPH at Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health. "But the response from the patients and the staff has been extremely positive. We are discussing adding additional systems." The population at the clinic is approximately 70% African American, 50% Medicaid, and 40% IV drug users. Traditional patient-reported outcomes are often compromised by a patient's ability to comprehend and respond to the questions, especially in populations of low literacy and low income patients. "We have found that in elderly populations and those with low literacy, touch-screen technology can actually improve the accuracy of the data collected," stated Theron Taber, co-founder of Assist Technologies Inc. "Because patients enter survey answers directly into the computer, errors occurring from manual processing are eliminated." Based in Scottsdale, Assist Technologies is the leading innovator of software and services for patient-reported outcomes surveys. The company has successfully participated in more than 60 research projects worldwide and is often recommended by many industry experts and leading healthcare researchers. Depending on a facility's requirements, Touch Outcomes Collector can run on a variety of Windows-based hardware such as laptops, pen pads, Internet access devices and kiosks, making it easily accessible to various populations and research studies. In addition to its software development, the company also offers a complete turnkey solution including: research/site team training, electronic uploads, data consolidation and quality assurance. For more information on the Assist Technologies family of products and services, contact: Joy Hebert 602/874-9400. Touch Outcomes Collector is a trademark of Assist Technologies Inc.
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