Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) enable both the patient and the clinician to communicate and track health goals and outcomes. Using PROMs by surveying, interviewing and tracking health outcomes overtime not only allows care providers to gain a better understanding of a specific health condition it also allows patients to focus on their specific needs and communicate these specifics to their care provider before they make an office visit.

 

Utilizing PROMs allows health systems to cultivate patient-centered care, by gathering data on each patient's needs and experiences between visits with their clinician. This information provides a better picture of how the patient is doing between visits and when the patient is outside the clinician's office. Using PROMs helps narrow the focus of the clinician more quickly to concentrate on health concerns that matter to the patient, making visits more efficient and effective and to address the patient’s special and changing health needs.

Using PROMs also allows patients to be more mindful of what they want and need from their care providers. Responding to questions designed to help facilitate better care results in patients reflecting on their experience in a thoughtful and concise manner. This allows patients to be ready and able to address and communicate their key concerns having already been prompted to think about them in advance and to give voice to their health goals.

 

Technology in PROMs - Now's the time

 

With the proliferation of mobile computing technologies and cloud computing, integrating PROMs into existing health systems can be affordable and efficient. It is now possible to survey a patient at home or while they wait to see their doctor, and then have the survey incorporated into a patient focused report that the doctor can review with the patient to support shared decision making and the development of a treatment plan that matches the patient’s particular health needs. This also allows crucial information to be shared presented and stored before the patient sits down to speak with their doctor.

 

Time with Doctors and Self Care

The time a patient spends with their primary physician versus the time they spend each day dealing with and managing a chronic illness outside a doctor's office will never be equal. In terms of time spent, self-care and self-management is the dominant mode for delivering health care. This is another reason we need to incorporate PROMs to better measure the quality of health outcomes that patients with chronic illness experience.

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