Dynamic Duos: Enabling Complex Qualitative Research Setups

Overview

A prominent healthcare research firm needed a secure and flexible platform to conduct a series of intricate qualitative interviews. The study, focused on understanding patient-HCP (Healthcare Professional) interactions, required real-time observation and feedback from multiple parties, including healthcare professionals and clients. The firm initially tried to work with a competing platform but faced challenges when it was determined it could not accommodate their unique setup needs. The researchers turned to Civicom CyberFacility for a solution.

The Challenge

The research firm's study required a dynamic setup: two patients would be observed by two HCPs during a single 45-minute webcam session, followed by a second session where only the HCPs interacted. The challenge was to enable real-time observation by clients without compromising the quality or flow of the interviews. The previous platform the research firm tried couldn't support this configuration, leading to concerns about the feasibility of their project.

What We Delivered

The Civicom CyberFacility team stepped in to address these challenges. Leveraging our private cloud and secure Adobe Connect platform, we facilitated the following:

1. Breakout Room Setup: Two patients and a primary moderator, were hosted in the main web room by a Civicom Facilitator, while the HCPs and a client moderator were placed in a breakout room with a secondary Civicom Facilitator. This configuration allowed the HCPs to listen, observe stimuli, and interact via chat without disrupting the patient interviews. The second facilitator moderated this chat, allowing HCPs to provide observations and comments discreetly.
2. Dual-Facilitator Support: We had two Civicom Facilitators on board—one with the moderator and patients, and the second overseeing the chat in the breakout room with the HCPs and client moderator. The seasoned expertise of the facilitators in this type of interview setup ensured seamless coordination between both rooms.
3. Client Access: Clients had the flexibility to discreetly observe the main interview or join the breakout room. Facilitator management of our Adobe Connect platform prevented respondents from seeing, hearing, or communicating with the doctors and observers during the discussion.
4. Anonymization: The Civicom Facilitators enabled role-based settings in our platform to ensure anonymity. We disabled observers’ microphones and webcams so they were not visible or audible to respondents and could only use backroom chat to view stimuli or webcam images. Meanwhile, respondents could only see the stimuli, communicate with the moderator, and had no access to the attendee list or chat feature.
5. Proprietary Conference Lines: We also utilized our proprietary conference lines, giving patients, doctors, and observers the option to dial in for the interviews, ensuring uninterrupted participation. The value of a conferencing line in addition to the web-based event is that it provides an extra layer of assurance through an audio recording file.
6. Smooth Transitions: After the patient sessions, the HCPs were moved to the main room for their discussion, with webcams activated for a seamless and smooth transition.
7. Recording and Documentation: Along with both the web-based and audio recording files and transcripts of all, we also provided a transcript of the breakout room chat so that all valuable insights were captured.

The setup was based on a similar methodology we had successfully implemented for the firm in previous months, which reassured the clients of our capability to meet their needs.

Value-Driven Outcomes

The client gave us the feedback that we are the only provider who can execute this methodology for them. We believe it's because of the following factors: real-time assistance of our well-trained Civicom Facilitators, their expertise in utilizing breakout rooms, and our proprietary conference lines.

The use of CyberFacility not only met the technical requirements but also enhanced the research process:

- Uninterrupted Observation: The ability to place HCPs in a breakout room allowed for uninterrupted patient observation and client participation, a functionality critical to the study’s success.

- Streamlined Workflow: Our efficient setup and coordination minimized the need for extensive training and setup time, allowing the research team to focus on their core tasks.

- Reliable Data Capture: With recorded sessions and chat transcripts, the firm had comprehensive documentation for analysis, ensuring no detail was overlooked.

This successful partnership highlights Civicom’s commitment to providing innovative solutions for complex qualitative research needs. The ability to facilitate this type of research experience requires both creativity and know-how. At Civicom, we thrive on client challenges and how to solve them. For over 20 years, our client motto has been: Your Project Success Is Our Number One Priority. We live this daily in the delivery of our services.