As the shift from episodic to value-based care continues, health systems are seeking to improve clinical workflows and reduce the amount of “inefficient” time with physicians. Patient-Reported Outcomes prove valuable over time, based on a recent article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Partners HealthCare PRO program demonstrates value for both patients and physicians.
ISeeYouCare’s eDoc-on-Call Portal supports the concept of PROs. Our name for it is the Disease Management Protocol (DMP). The purpose of the DMP is for physicians to build questionnaires for patients in response to specific conditions. The patient completes the questionnaire privately. The physician, or his staff, then review the responses. Examples of uses of DMPs include:
- Questions of environmental conditions during an adverse health event (high blood pressure reading, high glucose reading, etc.). These can be triggered by a home health device connected to our home monitoring platform.
- Information gathering for new patients, gathering health history information that does not fit into normal EHR data collection.
- Questions for patients diagnosed with a new condition, in order to gather history and establish a baseline care program.
How Patient-Reported Outcomes Prove Valuable
There are three significant benefits for implementing a PRO program. First, patients provide information on their own time. The physician can then review it in a more timely manner. This promotes a more effective use of our scarce physician resources.
Secondly, it promotes patient engagement. Patients are more likely to share sensitive information in this manner, than they would in an examination room. In the article, the physicians report “we believe PROs have the potential to reengage patients and physicians in the care delivery process”.
Additionally, physician satisfaction seems to also be improved. They report “PROs could help sustain the size and spirit of the physician workforce, providing a much-needed path to a stronger health care system.”
For more information about our eDoc platform and our Disease Management Protocol, contact us.