Development of a REAL-time multiplatform telemedicine application for doctor-patient interaction

Objective: This study aimed to develop an application to help doctors and patients with diabetes plan and manage healthcare processes via a visual and audial communication channel by allowing them to record, summarize and exchange daily data. Method: A literature search and an examination of existing similar applications provided the base for the determination of the features of the application, further justifications and a final set of features were determined following the interviews done with endocrinology and internal medicine specialists. The full-stack application was developed with MongoDB, Express.js, Vue.js, and Node.js configuration and tested with eighteen users in total (ten patients and eight doctors). The participants were asked to implement the tasks and then answered System Usability Scale (SUS) questions. Results: As a result of usability tests, the overall usability of the application was found satisfactory. On one hand, for patients, the median SUS score was 80. The number of unique problems identified in the system was 80. The pages containing the bigger number of problems were the landing page, profile page, and blood sugar detail page. When the detected problems were investigated according to Nielsen's heuristics visibility of system status, match between system and the real world, aesthetic and minimalist design, and error prevention were found the most frequent ones. On the other hand, the median SUS score for the doctors was 77,43. The number of unique problems identified in the system was 24. The most violated heuristics were aesthetic and minimalist design and helping users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors. Conclusion: The study provides an overview of the web application development process, overall usability level, and the problems. The application can be perceived as a standing point for distinct research design implementation in the future. Key words: Patient-physician interaction, Telemedicine, Usability, System Usability Scale