Using an ICT System to Increase Efficiency and Effectiveness in Patient-Practitioner Communication

Sammanfattning: The number of people dealing with mental health issues like depression is increasing in Sweden. One common tool used by healthcare practitioners when treating depression is the use of self-assessment questionnaires, which estimates how severe the depression is. The current modus operandi is to let patients answer questionnaires with pen-and-paper, a practice with major inefficiencies. Our aim was to develop an ICT (information and communication technology) system that enables efficient and effective communication between patients and practitioners. Efficient in the way that manually transferring questionnaire results from pen-and-paper into the medical record is not necessary and effective in the way that the system enables data visualisation that makes it easier for the healthcare practitioner to make decisions. The result was an ICT system, ready for use by a healthcare provider, that was developed with the current regulations in mind. The system developed was deemed to make the utilisation of self-assessment questionnaires more efficient and effective. However, some features in the system can be further improved or added, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of patient-practitioner communication.