Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions on Advances in Digital Health Devices for Growth Hormone Therapy: Clinical Expert Panel Discussion in the UK and France

Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions on Advances in Digital Health Devices for Growth Hormone Therapy: Clinical Expert Panel Discussion in the UK and France Octavio RIVERA ROMEROa,1, Abigail ATTERBURYb, Indraneel BANERJEEc, Solenn COCHETd, Ritika R KAPOORe,f, Verghese MATHEWg, Kevin PERGEh, Pratik SHAHi, Sally TOLLERFIELDj, Marie-Agathe TROUVINk, Ekaterina KOLEDOVAm, and Matthew KEISERn aUniversidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain bGreat Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, United Kingdom cManchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom dHôpital Charles Nicolle, Rouen, France eKing’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK fKing’s College London, London, UK gHull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Hull, UK hHôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France iThe Royal London Children’s Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK jGreat Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK kBicêtre Hospital, Paris Sud University, Kremlin Bicêtre, Paris, France mMerck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany nEMD Serono, Inc., Rockland, MA, USA, an affiliate of Merck KGaA ORCiD ID: Octavio Rivera Romero https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7212-9805; Indraneel Banerjee https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4280-7470; Ritika R Kapoor https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4335-2159; Pratik Shah https://orcid.org/0000-0002-44028297; Ekaterina Koledova https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2572-9052 Abstract. Assessing healthcare professionals’ (HCPs’) perceptions on the appropriateness, ease of use and reliability of connected digital health technologies can help to understand acceptance and their recommendations to patients/caregivers for personalization of growth hormone (GH) therapy. Two study cases representing different versions of a digital device were used to facilitate expert panel discussions in the UK and France involving 19 paediatric HCPs. Panel members commented that the new functionalities embodied user-friendly technological progression. The evolution of the easypod device should sustain clinical decision support and enhance personalized approaches to care and management of patients receiving GH therapy. Keywords. Digital health, growth disorders, growth hormone, technology 1 Corresponding Author: Octavio Rivera-Romero, PhD, Electronic Technology Department, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes, Seville, 41012, Spain. Telephone: +34 954 55 27 89; E-mail: [email protected]. Intelligent Health Systems – From Technology to Data and Knowledge E. Andrikopoulou et al. (Eds.) © 2025 The Authors. This article is published online with Open Access by IOS Press and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). doi:10.3233/SHTI250610 1301 1. Introduction Digital solutions provide good support for patients with paediatric growth problems and digital health is increasingly utilized to support clinical care [1]. Expert panel discussions explored the opinions and expectations of paediatric HCPs on how technological evolution influences their acceptance and intention to recommend a digital health solution. The objective was to identify influential factors and to gain understanding of barriers and facilitators of digital device acceptance for the administration of paediatric growth hormone (GH) therapy. 2. Methods Two expert panel workshops were conducted in Paris and London with 19 HCPs who had experience of GH therapy for paediatric patients with growth failure, and may have had prior experience of the easypod connect ecosystem. The methodology of the participatory discussions have been largely reported for a similar study carried out in Spain [2]. In each workshop, two study cases were used to facilitate the discussions on general topics and the currently available easypod device (EP2) and the new EP3. 3. Results, Discussion and Conclusions Panel members considered the physical characteristics of the device to be significant as they could affect perceived ease of use. It was also agreed that development of new interaction methods have made use of the EP3 easier and has improved acceptance. The provision of touch-screen capability and a larger screen on the EP3 were considered major improvements. Multiple language options and a scheme for colour-blind users were highly valued. Automatic transmission of data was considered the most significant improvement in functionality of the EP3 device. Mean scores among panel members for perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived ease of learning and intent to use/recommend for the EP3 device vs EP2 were all ~4.25 out of max 5 (5 = excellent). The expert panel agreed that new functionalities in the EP3 easypod device represented technological progression. The touch-screen, better visualization, and automatic data transmission were considered key features. The evolution of the easypod device should enhance clinical decision-making and allow a more personalized approach for the clinical management of children and young people receiving GH therapy. References [1] Oikonomakos IT, Steenblock C, Bornstein SR. Artificial intelligence in diabetes mellitus and endocrine diseases - what can we expect? Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2023;19(7):375-6. [2] Labarta JI, Dimitri P, Keiser M, Koledova E, Rivera-Romero O. Evaluating the Usefulness and Ease of Use of a Next-Generation-Connected Drug Delivery Device for Growth Hormone Therapy: Qualitative Study of Health Care Professionals' Perceptions. JMIR Hum Factors. 2023;10:e46893. O. Rivera Romero et al. / Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions on Advances1302