IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTOMATED PATIENT QUESTIONNAIRES: EXPERT OPINION OF PRIMARY HEALTHCARE PHYSICIANS

Abstract

Aim. To conduct an expert evaluation of a developed automated questionnaire (symptom checker) for primary healthcare (PHC) physicians and to determine the level of readiness of the professional community for its implementation into clinical practice. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted using the method of expert evaluations, a systems approach, and structural-logical analysis. The expert group consisted of 30 physicians (70.00% - therapists, 26.67% - general practitioners-family medicine, 3.33% - pediatricians). The average age of experts was $29.17 \pm 9.26$ years, with an average medical experience of 5.9 years. Evaluation was conducted using a 5-point Likert scale across parameters of clarity, interface usability, diagnostic accuracy, and general readiness to recommend the application. Results. It was established that the general readiness of physicians to recommend the symptom checker for implementation is 4.19 \pm 0.14 points. A statistically significant difference (p<0.05$) in attitude toward the product was found: physicians with experience in using clinical IT applications rated the program higher (4.19 \pm 0.14) than colleagues with moderate experience (3.47 \pm 0.27). User characteristics (navigation, question logic, interface) received a high rating of 4.04 \pm 0.19 points. Diagnostic and recommendation capabilities were rated at an average of 3.83 \pm 0.19 points, corresponding to the statement "rather yes." Discussion. High scores for the interface and logic indicate high-quality technical implementation of the tool. At the same time, relatively lower scores for "correctness and accuracy of result evaluation" and "level of trust in the application" (3.67±0.87 points each) indicate the need for further clinical validation of algorithms. The data confirm the hypothesis that physicians' digital literacy directly influences the perception of innovative history-taking methods. Conclusions. The results of the expert evaluation allow for recommending the implementation of the symptom checker at the primary healthcare level as an effective assistant program for family physicians. The main directions for system improvement should include increasing the accuracy of diagnostic algorithms and strengthening the evidence base to increase the professional trust of practicing physicians in automated decision support systems.

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