University of Washington

Heal WA Annual Report 2016

Issue link: http://uwashington.uberflip.com/i/759513

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 3 of 7

Evaluation Study Over 7,000 Washington State health care professionals from the authorized professions completed the HEALWA evaluation survey conducted in 2014. The survey looked at the perceived value of health information provided by the HEALWA web portal. HEALWA users who responded to the survey reported the most frequent daily information searches covered drug information (23%); information for patients (21%); diagnosis information (16%); and adverse effects (15%). Professional Journals were reported to be the most frequently used HEALWA resources, across all topics, with 61% of respondents reporting using professional journals via HEALWA to access some type of information. Respondents who use HEALWA reported steady levels of success in fi nding the resources they need. Some 91% of respondents stated they often or sometimes successfully found the information they were looking for in Professional Journals, the most frequently used resource. Across the board, most HEALWA users say that the resources available to them help with giving advice/information to patients, diagnoses, choosing drugs, choosing treatments, and handling cases. The most regular aid comes from providing information to patients and their families, with 30% reporting HEALWA resources frequently assist in this process. The vast majority (around 80% of users who use HEALWA resources) report that HEALWA contributes to higher quality of care, provides clinical value, results in better-informed clinical decisions, and provides them with new knowledge. Some 33.7% of users report that HEALWA makes a signifi cant impact to quality of care, 31.9% state the resources provide signifi cant clinical value, and 31.4% say using HEALWA results in better-informed clinical decisions and provides new knowledge. The following three areas of focus for improvement of the HEALWA web portal includes: marketing, website development and eligible professions. Individual interviews and focus groups with respondents who expressed interest in participating during the survey will be held at a later date. Healthcare professionals fi nd value in the resources available, but either do not know the full extent of content available to them or have diffi culty in accessing these resources. Consistently surveyed participants commented that they "didn't know they were eligible" or "the website was cumbersome and I didn't want to take the time." The key next step for HEALWA will be to bridge the gap between eligible professionals who consistently utilize the resources and those who have no experience with HEALWA at all. In addition, a major website redesign project will be completed soon. "Essential, [the] main reason I maintain my WA license is for access to this resource." – Registered Nurse, King County healwa.org healwa.org 4

Articles in this issue

view archives of University of Washington - Heal WA Annual Report 2016