Thursday, November 10, 2005
University of Utah, Marriott Library Room 304A
Conducted by a three-student Service Learning Team from the University of Utah. Oversight was provided by the Utah Department of Health, Office of Health Care Statistics
15 minutes was allotted to the focus group participants to review the MyHealthCare in Utah website. At that time, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that was provided along with the copy of the Maternity Report. During this section of the focus group, the participants were asked to also complete the on-line feedback portion as part of the website.
The majority of the focus group members were pleased with the overall presentation and content of the site. Some confusion was expressed concerning the term “Health Plans” and some discussion focused on definitions of what that term meant to each individual. Suggestions towards inclusion of different health fitness and nutrition plans were discussed as well. Navigation was an issue to some degree. Because of the breath and depth of information, participants felt that it could become difficult to quickly access information, unless they already knew how to navigate the site. In other words, once a participant got deep into a particular field, it became harder to understand its relationship to the rest of the site.
The underlying themes included access to the information, particularly for citizens in a lower social class. Thoughts were expressed regarding a general lack of information and awareness about the site. Another theme was comparison of providers and comparison of health plans. A final theme was the propensity of information and the need for sub-links or pop-up items to help navigation through the site. All participants were very positive about the content and intent of the site and were pleased at the fact that this knowledge was available to them for an everyday life resource.
· Advertise the site to the general public.
· Include comparative information about health fitness and nutrition
plans.
· Add pop-up menus or other identifying structures to aid navigation.
· Change the photos on front page to include an injured or infirmed
patient (or to make the photos less “generic”).
· Consider lessening some verbiage in high content areas.
· Target elderly and underserved access users.
· Make “find out what to do before going to a doctor”
larger and easier to see.
· Add a link on the site to give viewers the option of small, medium
or large font size
· Add a “Frequently Asked Questions” to the site.
· Add a section to discuss prescription drugs in depth including
side effects and if available in generic form.
· Consider adding animation, video, or sound clips into the site
to add excitement/spice to the overall appearance and design.
15 minutes was allotted to the focus group participants to review the MyHealthCare in Utah website. At that time, participants were asked to complete the questionnaire that was provided along with the copy of the Maternity Report. During this section of the focus group, the participants were asked to also complete the on-line feedback portion as part of the website.
Participants enjoyed the site for content and overall design. However, more participants in this group had issues with navigation and the inability to get back to the main page. Both focus groups liked the menu on the side of the site, however, the “related sites” indicator created confusion. There was less confusion over the term “Health Plans” in this group but more dissatisfaction with the actual content being overly statistical. Participants felt the site was a useful instrument in becoming better informed and keeping informed despite changing conditions in health care.
Hospital information was identified as important. “Pick a Procedure” was disappointing because there were only three procedures to choose from. “Find a Doctor” was considered to be useful, as well as “State Health Facts.” “Health Plan Performance Reports” was not found to be useful.
· Generate more public awareness about the site.
· Move “Conditions” from under the “Hospitals”
section
· Consider more information for persons who have more money, or high
incomes as well as underserved populations.
· Use sub-tittles or pop-ups to aid in navigation and explain pages
more clearly.
· Make the focus groups questions based on a Likert Scale or equivalent
arrangement to give more option to the participant and a larger base of
information to the researcher.
· Allow focus group participants more time to navigate the site before
questioning or give them the site before the focus group to allow time at
home to browse the website.
Under advisement from the SB 132 Task Force, Office of Health Care Statistics staff incorporated much of the above feedback into its initial launch of MyHealthCare in Utah on December 13, 2005.
More focus groups are planned in 2007.