Automated direct-from-patient information collection for evidence-based diabetes care.

BACKGROUND: Computer-based clinical decision support tools can improve physician performance in ambulatory care settings. Acquiring and entering the patient-specific information necessary to take advantage of this technology, however, can often be a major impediment. OBJECTIVE: To develop and evaluate a self-administered electronic questionnaire for acquiring patient-specific information to be used for generating diabetes-related evidence-based care recommendations. METHODS: An initial paper questionnaire was developed that evaluated current diabetes management, complications, and screening interventions. This was then coded for electronic presentation using software that can also analyze patient responses and produce personal feedback. To evaluate the electronic questionnaire, 47 patients completed it using a small laptop computer and also responded to a personal interview that assessed similar topics. RESULTS: Patients required between 7-29 minutes to complete the questionnaire (mean: 15 min.). For 21 of the 23 topic assessed, the agreement between the electronic questionnaire and the personal interview was 80% or higher. CONCLUSIONS: An electronic, self-administered questionnaire can be used to acquire information for generating patient-specific care recommendations.