Patient Reported Outcomes

By Clive Riddle, May 15, 2015

The National Quality Forum defines Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) as "any report of the status of a patient's health condition that comes directly from the patient, without interpretation of the patient's response by a clinician or anyone else." They elaborate that “in other words, PRO tools measure what patients are able to do and how they feel by asking questions. These tools enable assessment of patient–reported health status for physical, mental, and social well–being.”

The concept is obviously not new, but has certainly been overlooked at times. In an era with tremendous advances and emphasis in patient engagement, mobile health technologies, patient-centered care, we need to continue to see application of PROs receive the attention they deserve.

Dr. Bruce Feinberg, vice president and chief medical officer of Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions, tells us "As our healthcare system moves toward a value-based care model, the role of the patient is becoming increasingly important. We need to reframe the way we think about care to include not only the cost and clinical effectiveness of the treatment, but also the burden of disease and therapy on the patient's perceived sense of well-being. Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) are key to this equation, particularly for patients being treated for high-cost, complex diseases such as cancer or rheumatoid arthritis (RA)."

Dr. Feinberg’s organization is presenting a series of new clinical studies demonstrating the potential role of PRO research in improving the quality and reduce the costs of treatment provided to patients with complex diseases, at the International Society of Pharmacoeconomic and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) annual meeting.

Here's an overview of some of the key findings they will be presenting:

• One study used PRO to demonstrate that rheumatologists significantly underestimated the negative impact of RA disease burden and treatment on their patients' sense of well-being. Understanding this disparity in perceptions can help physicians make effective treatment decisions that lessen the burden on patients – and can sometimes also reduce the costs of their care.
• Another study showed that PRO can be critical to identifying and managing medication access and adherence challenges for high-cost specialty drugs.
• Of a total of 239 oncology and rheumatology patients who were contacted at the time of their initial prescription to provide patient reported outcomes, 28% were identified as having problems that either restricted access or adherence to the drug.
• Armed with this information, interventions and support services were provided to address those challenges. With the support of these interventions, a medication possession ration exceeding 95% was achieved – enabling nearly all patients to initiate or continue treatment.
• A third study  proved the feasibility of collecting PRO at the point of care. In the clinical study involving 3,185 RA patients, PRO data was captured during 90% of physician visits. The participating physicians were then able to utilize the data to inform real-time treatment decisions at the point of care.