What Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) look like
Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) often takes the form of a short questionnaire that is administered to a patient periodically. These questionnaires are often administered electronically and sent to patients over email or text message. In a clinical setting, the questionnaires may be administered on a tablet or with with pen and paper.
Here are examples of a PROM: The Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9):
PROMs are considered objective measure
PROMs are considered objective for a number of reasons:
- Standardized and validated instruments. They are designed to provide robust and meaningful measurements and undergo rigorous psychometric testing to ensure objectivity, reliability, and validity.
- Quantifiable Results. Responses are converted to numerical scores that allow for objective quantification of patients' health status, symptoms and quality of life.
- Consistent Measurement. They capture specific constructs (e.g., pain, function, quality of life) in a standardized manner.
- Minimized Clinician Interpretation. PROMs reduce the potential for clinician bias in assessing patient outcomes because they provided directly from the patient.
Implementing Patient Reported Outcome Measures at your practice
The most effective way to implement Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) at your practice is to incorporate them in your clinic workflow. It should feel natural to both the patient and clinicians.
When to implement patient reported outcome measures in the care journey
Patient reported outcome measures should be administered at the beginning of treatment, periodically during treatment, and at the end of treatment.
The first administration should take place before care begins so you can establish a baseline for the patient's outcome measure. The first PROM should be administered at the first visit or prior to the first visit. This is often done as part of patient intake.
PROMs should also be administered periodically through the course of treatment to measure the effectiveness of the treatment. Most outcomes measures are administered at a set interval. For example, the PHQ-9 is meant to be administered every 2 weeks:
"Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems? ... "
At the end of the treatment PROMs should be administered so that the treatment effectiveness from start to completion can be measured. For some treatments PROMs may continue to be administered because it can be used as a tool to identify if a patient is relapsing or the treatment is no longer working.
Using patient reported outcome measures to engage with patients
Effective utilization of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) requires active engagement between clinicians and patients. In each session, clinicians should thoroughly review the reported outcomes, identifying significant changes or areas of concern. To maximize the benefits of PROMs, clinicians should encourage patients to reflect on their scores and use targeted questions to elicit context for observed changes or patterns. This collaborative approach transforms PROMs into powerful tools for shared decision-making, enabling clinicians and patients to jointly refine treatment plans based on concrete, patient-centered data. By fostering open dialogue around PROMs, clinicians can gain deeper insights into their patients' experiences, leading to more personalized and effective care strategies.
