'Own-point-of-view' video method leverages power of perception to improve emergency care

The study, by Dr. Thierry Pelaccia, et al., represents the first time the own-point-of-view perspective has been used in the study of medical decision-making, particularly clinical decision-making in emergency medicine.

The method consists of recording a physician's activity by fixing a micro-camera on the temple or the branch of his or her eyeglasses and positioning it so as to film his or her encounter with a patient from the physician's own-point-of-view. A trained research associate then interviews the physician using the video recording to help the physician reconstruct the situation and explain his or her reasoning.

The technique is a powerful tool to stimulate recall, providing a "return to the event" experienced by the person being interviewed and allowing researchers the opportunity to confront the physician with a record of the event actually experienced.

"This study is an exciting, albeit preliminary, extension of others' work on decision-making. It melds classic qualitative techniques with novel technology. The technique presented in this study has numerous obvious applications for studying and improving physicians' cognitive processes, biases, and interactions with patients," said Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH, FACEP, director and founder of the Emergency Digital Health Innovation Program at Brown University; associate professor, The Warren Alpert Medical School, at Brown; and attending emergency physician, Rhode Island Hospital.