Translating Your Medical Tests into Results ... - cmsc434-s13

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other clickable elements to put the numbers on the paper in context. This data would be presented in a colorful interact
Learn to Speak Doctor: Translating Your Medical Tests into Results 111252350 Problem background/motivation: Results from medical tests, whether good or bad, rarely lead to behavioral changes in patients for the better. This is because tests results are difficult to interpret unless you are a physician. However, if patients could interpret the results of their tests, they would have personalized data on their progress, which is a key component in motivating the patient to improve his or her health. In addition, if these results were put in context, comparing them to normal results and providing suggestions for how to improve them, this would translate the results into action [1]. Problem statement: We should encourage patients to take control of their health by using their test results as a tool to improve their wellbeing. Providing an interface which shows clearly what their results mean and what the patient should do next will help reduce patient noncompliance with doctor recommendations. Proposed solution: The interface would allow users to enter their test results for a particular test using checkboxes, sliders, and other clickable elements to put the numbers on the paper in context. This data would be presented in a colorful interactive infographic which would explain what each metric means, whether you are in a healthy range for Blood test redesign. Source: Wired magazine [2]. that measure, and predictions for risks such as heart disease. In addition, there would be a set of checkboxes with behaviors that the patient could select to see how this could change their results; the patient could also move pointers up and down the metric ranges to see what changes they would need to make to change their scores. Differentiation from past solution: Currently, test results are unreadable, don't put the results in context, and don't translate the results into actions [2]. This project is inspired by a medical test redesign by Wired magazine, who asked graphic designers to design what a blood test might look like while consulting physicians for context like risks and suggested behaviors [3]. However, they did not provide an interface to do this yourself, and did not allow you to interact with the data by adding behaviors or moving test values to see the outcome. Who benefits and why: Patients would benefit from better understanding and engagement in their health, and doctors would benefit from reduced noncompliance. Evaluation plan: We would begin with a lo-fi prototype based on current tests, interview physicians to confirm risk analysis and behaviors taken from academic sources, and test the prototype on patients. We could focus on blood tests for the purposes of this class. References 1. Goetz, T. (Jan 2011). It's Time to Redesign Medical Data. TED talk. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_goetz_it_s_time_to_redesign_medical_data.html 2. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (6 Jan 2012). What Are Blood Tests?. Retrieved from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/bdt/. 3. Leckart, S. (29 Nov 2010). The Blood Test Gets a Makeover. Wired Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/11/ff_bloodwork/all/1.