The Consultation Prompt-Sheet Builder
An app that creates a personalized list of questions for patients to ask their doctor.
An app that turns a patient's upcoming medical appointment into a one-page, personalized list of questions to ask the clinician — with follow-up probes for vague answers — so they leave the consultation with the information that matters to them.
Concept
A patient-facing web tool, distributed through health charities and hospital patient portals, that builds a personalized one-page question sheet before a medical appointment. The patient or caregiver enters the appointment type (first oncology consultation, treatment decision, follow-up) and their top concerns in plain language. The tool sequences the sheet using a documented questioning typology: opening questions that set the agenda, probing follow-ups for vague answers, clarifying checks, and closing questions about next steps and warning signs. Every question carries a tick-box and a one-line "if the answer is unclear, ask…" follow-up, drawn from codified techniques for situations where questioning proves ineffective. The output is a printable sheet or phone screen the patient can hold during the consultation. The product is one thing only — a better prompt sheet — not a symptom tracker or portal.
Why now
The new corpus book demonstrates that questioning in medical clinics is a schematized, transcript-backed practice, with explicit techniques for the moments when questions fail [0] — meaning the content of a good question sequence can be encoded in a tool rather than left to improvisation by either party. The older corpus trial of prompt lists shows that handing patients a prepared list of questions measurably increases their question-asking and is linked to greater consultation satisfaction, lower anxiety and distress, and a more autonomous patient role [1]. Static generic question sheets already exist; what the two sources jointly enable is personalization and sequencing — the right follow-up probes for the specific appointment — which is the difference between a leaflet and a working instrument.
Written by GLM · 9 Oct 2026
AI assessment
A highly focused, evidence-backed tool that transforms a generic patient experience into a structured clinical interaction using codified questioning techniques.
- Evidence strength 5/5
- The idea synthesizes a specific behavioral intervention (prompt lists) with a technical framework for questioning (The Practice of Questioning), both of which are supported by the provided research.
- Market pull 4/5
- Health systems and charities have a strong incentive to reduce patient anxiety and improve consultation efficiency, though the B2B sales cycle for NHS/Kaiser is slow.
- Novelty & moat 5/5
- Unlike the listed catalog items which focus on data logging or narrative writing, this is a real-time interaction tool based on a specific linguistic typology.
- Feasibility 5/5
- The MVP is a simple logic-based form that maps user inputs to a predefined library of question sequences, requiring minimal technical complexity.
- Wedge clarity 5/5
- The 'one-page prompt sheet' is a sharp, tangible deliverable that provides immediate value without requiring integration into complex EHR systems.
- Simplicity / focus 5/5
- The product is strictly limited to the prompt sheet, explicitly rejecting the 'platform' trap of adding symptom trackers or portals.
Scored by Gemma 4 · 9 Oct 2026. Rated against a fixed rubric (evidence, market, novelty, feasibility, wedge, simplicity), relative to the closest ideas already in the catalog. A prior estimate to compare ideas before real-world signal arrives.
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Who benefits
- Macmillan Cancer Supportorganization
Already publishes static question-prompt resources for people facing cancer consultations; a builder that personalizes and sequences those questions to the specific appointment upgrades their existing patient-support offer at low cost.
- NHS Englandorganization
Promotes shared decision-making and patient question-asking in consultations; delivering a prompt-sheet builder through its patient app and cancer pathways gives that agenda a concrete, scalable instrument.
- Cancer Research UKorganization
Its patient information service already advises people on talking to their doctor; a personalized question sheet deepens that support with a working tool rather than another leaflet.
- Kaiser Permanentecompany
A large integrated health system with patient portals and high oncology volumes; offering the builder ahead of major consultations can raise visit satisfaction and cut repeat clarification visits.
Research it builds on
- The Practice of QuestioningJ. T. Dillon · 2025 · 181 citationsAll ideas from this paper →
- Can a “prompt list” empower cancer patients to ask relevant questions?Aneta Dimoska, Martin H.N. Tattersall, Phyllis Noemi Butow et al. · 2008 · 169 citationsAll ideas from this paper →