Healthcare White Paper
Learn how mobile ethnography can help healthcare researchers undertake remote qualitative research
Exploring the Life of Audiologists with a Diary Study: Understanding the Role of Medical Devices in their Daily Practice and Patient Care
This case study explores the challenges faced by medical device manufacturers in the audiology field and how a mobile diary study helped our client gain insights into the daily activities and challenges faced by audiologists.
With advancements in technology, medical devices can have a positive impact on patients' lives, but it also presents challenges for audiologists who need to understand and program the devices. Working with Indeemo, our client gained unparalleled access to audiologists within the setting of their consultancies, allowing them to analyse their devices in context and in-the-moment.
Through scheduled tasking and photo/video uploads, our client gained insights into how audiologists prescribed, fitted, and programmed their hearing devices and identified design issues that impacted patients' user experience. If you're a medical device manufacturer or brand looking to understand how medical professionals engage with your products, contact us to learn more about diary studies.
The Challenge
The development of audiology medical devices has revolutionised the treatment of hearing loss for patients worldwide. However, with rapid technological advancements comes new challenges.
Our client conducted extensive research on the user experiences of their hearing devices and found that they positively impacted patients' lives. However, a significant challenge in the product cycle was the need for audiology consultants to fit and program the hardware, including using accompanying software to tailor devices to individual patients.
Understanding consultants' user experience with the software and how patients respond in consultation rooms remained a mystery until our client conducted further research.
The Objective
Discover the daily routine of audiologists and the important role their devices play
Learn about how audiologists prescribe, fit, and program hearing devices for patients
Gain insight into the tools audiologists use alongside their hearing devices and software during consultations
43 Respondents
14 Tasks
1 Week
Tasking Strategy: Scheduled Tasking
The Solution
Medical consultants are a particularly difficult target group to understand from a research perspective. Not alone do they have hectic schedules in high-pressure environments, but they must be conscious of patient confidentiality and data protection. For this reason, it is difficult for researchers to gain access to analyse medical devices in context and in-the-moment.
Overcoming the Challenge with Mobile Diary Studies
Working with Indeemo, our client recognized that a mobile diary study would allow them unparalleled access to audiologists within the setting of their consultancies. Not only did Indeemo’s technology allow them access to consultants, but because of its accessibility and cost-effectiveness, it allowed them to simultaneously run the project with consultants in different countries, on different continents.
Gathering Insights through Scheduled Tasks
Throughout the week, our client used a scheduled task list to gather photo and video uploads giving instant feedback on their devices, their software, patient interactions, and consultancy wrap-ups using the Indeemo app on their smartphones. They also built a greater understanding of the routines, challenges, and daily activities which impacted on audiologists and even their patients.
Analysing Trends and Identifying Design Issues
Using the Indeemo dashboard for their analysis, they were quickly able to spot trends amongst audiologists when it came to the challenges their medical devices presented. Indeed, some design issues that had provided a challenge to patients’ user experience were even identified as a result of seeing how consultants adapted the devices for individual patients.
If you’re looking to understand more about how a medical device manufacturer or brand can use diary-studies to understand how medical professionals engage with their products, please get in touch.
Protecting Sensitive Data
At Indeemo we realise the depth and breadth of the strict confidentiality and security regulations associated with Healthcare projects and Healthcare data. Indeemo is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) compliant, GDPR compliant and ISO 27001 certified. Indeemo also offers an anonymized email option and push notifications to fully negate the need to store respondent/patient names or email addresses within the Indeemo platform.
GDPR Compliant
Information Security
Enterprise Ready
HIPAA & ISO 27001 Accredited
Contact Us
Mobile Ethnography is a rich, agile way to get a deeper understanding of participants’ everyday lives and behaviours.
Projects can range from a few days to as long as a year but are typically 1 to 2 weeks in duration.
After analysing the engagement on hundreds of projects, we have learned a lot about how to optimise research for mobile and can activate your Mobile Ethnography projects in as little as one working day.
We’re looking forward to speaking with you.
