Reporting Outcomes: What, When, and Why Patients Perspectives Matter

This video addresses the need to reconsider how patient reported outcomes are developed and measured. Existing measures can be used as generic or disease specific outcome indicators, but they are inconsistently applied across the spectrum of healthcare services. The variability in implementation is in part explained by traditional approaches to patient reported outcomes measurement (PROM). Health services are increasingly providing care to a growing aging population encumbered by chronic diseases requiring acute intervention. If focus can be shifted from traditional indicators to factors that are patient priorities, in partnership with patients, there is an increased likelihood that there will be successful attainment of collaborative care goals.

PROM also needs to be inclusive and equitable to address the diverse needs of all patients with conditions of interest. Patient and public involvement is central to promoting inclusion and accessibility for patient reported outcome assessment. Empowering participants from underserved groups to inform the design and delivery of patient reported outcomes allows for the identification and mitigation of barriers to successful PROM. To improve care for all, PROM must reflect diverse, multicultural societies and be applicable to the subgroups they are intended to serve. There are highly variable rates of collection of traditional PROMs and the populations from which they are collected mean the reality of the information they reveal is very limited. When patient driven goals are the priority, clinicians and patients are more likely to implement strategies for equitable goal attainment. This approach will improve the quality of care for all concerned.

Reference(s)

Snowdon DA, Srikanth V, Beare R, Marsh L, Parker E, Naude K, Andrew NE. A landscape assessment of the use of patient reported outcome measures in research, quality improvement and clinical care across a healthcare organisation. BMC Health Services Research, 2023:94; https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09050-1