eHealth Survey System for Public Health: Feasibility and Usability

描述(由申请人提供)： 美国公司每年花费数百万美元赞助员工的健康行为矫正计划。这些组织需要更好的工具来实现对这些计划的有效性的有效设计和方便的评估。我们利用行为风险因素监测系统(BRFSS)的问题，开发了一个广为人知的、有充分记录的、非常成功的电话健康调查工具的增强网络版本。我们的原型eHealth Survey是使用一种名为Survey Markup Language(SuML)的新技术构建的，这是一种用于通过Web以电子方式收集、存储、访问、分析和报告数据的XML模块化调查系统。SuML引擎和仪器本身可以作为开放源码分发。电子健康调查工具由公共领域的内容组成，可用于评估基线风险概况；为特定的“高危”员工群体设计计划；评估员工福利、工作场所政策和健康促进计划的有效性；以及基准员工群体随时间、跨雇主和国家和州的数据而产生的风险。我们正在将原型开发成生产系统。在这里，我们试图通过增强系统能力来论证SuML-Engine电子健康调查技术作为人口评估工具的可行性，并在应用环境中评估SuML技术-电子健康调查工具的可用性。我们将把新兴的万维网联盟(W3C)标准(如XForms)整合到体系结构中，并添加模块以支持分层随机抽样、自动提醒和不考虑身份识别的跟踪。我们将招募一小群付费志愿者参加用户测试会议和后续访谈，目的是评估可用性eHealth调查。测试结果将推动设计更改。在第二年，我们将在佤邦大型雇主中使用以用户为中心的方法，为流行病学健全的人口跟踪后端管理界面的组成部分制定一套规范。这些发现可能会影响在各种环境中收集健康数据的方式。SuML是传播基于网络的调查和标准化工具的新的潜在标准。这项研究将使我们能够证明这种公共卫生信息学方法的潜力，如果被证明是可行的，将促进其广泛应用。 在第二节中，我们提供了具体的目标。这些增强的基本原理在第3节中详细说明，并通过与华盛顿州统一医疗计划的先前工作和试点测试提供信息，华盛顿州统一医疗计划是我们中心的长期合作伙伴。第四节概述了我们之前在调查技术领域的研究，以及与西北雇主建立长期健康促进关系的证据。第5节详细说明了实现本提案具体目标所使用的方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Millions of dollars are spent annually by American corporations to sponsor health behavior modification programs for their employees. These organizations need better tools to enable both effective design and convenient assessment of the effectiveness of these programs. We have developed an enhanced web-based version of a well-known, thoroughly documented, and highly successful telephonic health survey instrument with questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Our prototype, eHealth Survey, was built using a novel technology we call Survey Markup Language (SuML), an XML modular survey system for electronically collecting, storing, accessing, analyzing, and reporting data over the web. The SuML engine and instrument itself can be distributed as open source. The eHealth Survey instrument is made up of public domain content and can be used to estimate baseline risk profiles; design programs tailored to specific groups of "at-risk" employees; assess the effectiveness of employee benefits, workplace policies, and health promotion programs; and benchmark employee populations' risks over time, across employers, and with national and state data. We are developing the prototype into a production system. Here, we seek to demonstrate the feasibility of the SuML-engine eHealth Survey technology as a population assessment tool by enhancing the systems capabilities, and evaluate the usability of the SuML technology-eHealth Survey instrument in an applied setting. We will incorporate emerging World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards such as XForms into the architecture and add modules to support stratified random sampling, automated reminders, and tracking despite de-identification. We will recruit a small group of paid volunteers for user testing sessions and follow-up interviews aimed at evaluating usability eHealth Survey. Results from testing will drive design changes. In year two we will use a user-centered approach in large WA State employers, to develop a set of specifications for the components of an epidemiologically sound population tracking back-end administrative interface. These findings could influence how health data is collected in a variety of settings. SuML is a new potential standard for disseminating web-based surveys and standardized instruments. This study will enable us to demonstrate the potential of this Public Health Informatics method and, if shown to be feasible, promote its widespread application. In Section 2, we provide the specific aims. The rationale for these enhancements are detailed in Section 3 and are informed by prior work and pilot testing in partnership with the State of Washington Uniform Medical Plan, a long-time collaborator with our Centers. Section 4 outlines our prior research in the survey technology field and evidence of longstanding health promotion relationships to Northwest employers. Section 5 details the methods used to accomplish the Specific Aims of this proposal.