Background:
Electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) assessment is an important component of healthcare. PROMPT-Care (Patient Reported Outcome Measures for Personalised Treatment and Care) is the first fully integrated eHealth system in Australia that electronically captures information about a cancer patient’s symptoms, distress and unmet needs, provides the ePRO summary and longitudinal reports to the cancer care team in real time to improve patient care, and empowers patients by providing self-management tools and resources tailored to their needs.
Methods:
PROMPT-Care was developed with clinical (n=38) and technical (n=23) input and is currently implemented in 4 Australian cancer centres and used by 35+ clinicians to inform the care of 300+ cancer patients.
Results:
Most patients (96%) found ePRO completion to be easier than paper-pencil assessments, and reported high acceptability and value of assessment completion: “It actually gave me a handle to express something that I hadn’t – couldn’t figure out how to express to the person [doctor] I was speaking to, and it prompted them to ask me.” Oncology staff also reported high acceptability and feasibility “I would have an impression about a patient, that things weren’t going fantastically, but it [reports] gave greater granularity and specificity about where the needs were”.
Conclusion:
ePRO assessments are highly acceptable to patients, supporting the feasibility of implementation as part of routine cancer care. The benefits of implementing this system, challenges experienced and how they are being addressed, and lessons from PROMPT-Care beyond cancer care, will be discussed.
Funding:
Cancer Institute NSW, Bupa Health Foundation