Computer generated self-care advice via web-based triage of complaints in primary care

Computer generated self-care advice systems are used in health care to support self-management and to respond to an increasing demand for care. Web-based triage is an innovative system aimed at empowering patients and saving costs while maintaining the same or better quality of care. Such systems consist of a symptom driven questionnaire for minor ailments based on the criteria: high frequency, no physical contact required to assess medical situation, and the possibility to rule out emergencies. We evaluated the feasibility of such a system for self-care. A retrospective analysis was carried out among 6538 patients by investigating the frequencies of complaints that have been entered to the system and the frequencies of the kinds of generated advice; online surveys (n=192) based on behavioral theories were held to determine factors influencing compliance with generated self-care advice. Web-based triage can promote self-management for minor ailments, especially for patients who have a positive attitude towards computer-generated advice. This positive attitude leads to intentions to follow up the advice and to actual follow up. To reduce unnecessary doctors’ visits and to lower health care costs the system has to be brought more in to line with users’ needs because the systems are more medical driven than user-centered.