T&Cs vs Transparency and Clarity: Digital Law, Meet Mindset
Are you a Harvey or a House?
Why Bother?
Have a think about what T&Cs actually are: a corporation’s legal compliance team writes a binding legal agreement for you, a user with no legal know-how or negotiation powers. From the corporation’s perspective, it’s my way or the highway. There’s little conversation, little transparency and as a result, we click ‘agree’ without a second thought.
As a medical company, there’s zero room for opacity when it comes to consent. With guidelines for good practice in mind, we designed our T&Cs to address two common issues:
- Complete transparency with how your data is being used
- Assurance that the user has capacity to agree to T&Cs
With healthcare now venturing into the digital world, ethical practice must also extend beyond the treatment room. Patients should feel the same level of security using our app as they do under the care of an experienced neurologist in a top teaching hospital. That’s why Mindset present to you…
5 Clinical Principles in our T&Cs UX
- Making our intentions clear
Picture this. You wake up in your local hospital’s operating theatre, about to go under the knife. Just before the anaesthetist puts you to sleep, you ask the surgeon what they are actually going to do to you. They respond “after administering 150mg of 1% propofol, we will cause cardioplegia via a cooled potassium mixture, before ligating your greater saphenous vein to your coronary artery, sound good?” I’m in my third year of a medical degree and even I would stare back with a blank expression, with most of those words in one ear and straight out of the other.
As a doctor, failing to make your intentions clear damages trust between you and your patient. We’ve applied the same logic to Mindset. We outline exactly why we need your data — the humble reason of advancing dementia research — making our intentions crystal clear with no bells, whistles or confused expressions!
2. Clever UI for informed consent
“A patient should be given all practicable help before they are deemed unable to make their own decisions” — the Medical Defence Union (MDU)
As illustrated by that nightmare surgeon example, designing our T&Cs as a wall of legalese (or medicalese) can hardly be labelled as gaining proper consent or acting with transparency!
We’ve delivered a digestible summary of the key parts of the T&Cs, written in plain language, a crisp font and with a splash of colour, all to help the user to make an informed decision. Clinicians must not only help the patient understand the decision, but also communicate it. The purple, capitalised ‘AGREE’ button facilitates this. In addition, the Mindset AI tells you that, in the interest of complete transparency, there is more to our initial 4 main points, which of course can be easily accessed via a “read more” button.
3. Addressing user concerns
“Failure to maintain confidentiality may mean a patient is reluctant to reveal private or sensitive information that you may need to know in order to treat them appropriately”
As with any medical interaction, we take our user’s right to confidentiality very seriously. Given the sensitivity of the information being handled, in bullet point 2 we reassure users in simple terms that their information is secure, which is paramount in creating a bridge of trust between us.
Our focus group research shows that vulnerable users become anxious when asked about drug and alcohol use. How can we expect an honest answer to the question “Have you ever used recreational drugs” without absolute assurance of confidentiality? That’s why we provide a reminder that their data is secure.
4. The presumption of capacity
“You must not assume someone is unable to make a decision based on their medical condition or disability”
For an app it’s impossible to make the tricky assessment of capacity for an under-18 user. It takes a clinician years to understand the intricacies used to discern a minor’s capacity to consent, a capability an app, at least while AI is still in its infancy, does not possess. Applying Occam’s razor leads us to the simplest solution — an entry of below 18 leads to the polite notice that perhaps Mindset isn’t yet for you.
5. We hear you
Think of the medical experiences you’ve had. Now think of the ones where you’ve come out of the consultation feeling happy with what’s been achieved, content in the knowledge you’re in the warm hands of a doctor that actually listens. The key ingredient to that dream consultation all clinicians are striving for? A dialogue.
Our ‘email us’ button creates precisely this. The phrase ‘ideas, concerns or expectations’ is snatched straight from the clinical handbook — a mantra any doctor is frankly tired of hearing at this point. Nonetheless, it perfectly encapsulates the relationship Mindset wants with its users — an open and honest conversation.
