Communications of the ACM
Big Health Benefits From a Little Small Talk, Researchers Find
University of Queensland professor Daniel Angus
Credit: University of Queensland
University of Queensland researchers have developed Discursis, an automated computer visualization measurement technique that visually represents conversations and assists medical practitioners in understanding the structure, information content, and inter-speaker relationships of conversations.
The researchers used Discursis to visually map and analyze conversational behavior in medical consultations. The research suggests that computer visualization measurement techniques such as Discursis can be a valuable tool for improving doctor-patient interactions, according to Queensland researcher and study co-author Daniel Angus. He says effective communication between healthcare professionals and patients has been shown to lead to better patient health outcomes.
Discursis automatically builds an internal language model from a transcript, mines the transcript for its conceptual content, and generates an interactive visual account of the conversation. "We have managed to visualize and, through this, analyze doctor-patient interactions through detailed verbal positioning by speakers," Angus says.
The system can identify effective doctor-patient communication as well as poor communication. "Using a checklist style of consultation can hinder patient outcomes, and doctors who spend too much time on 'off-topic' banter can build good rapport, but do so at the expense of developing the health narrative," Angus says.
From University of Queensland
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