The Opportunity
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly being used for a variety of healthcare-related activities, including care provision, performance measurement, and clinical, health services, and comparative effectiveness research.
Yet important challenges remain in the selection and implementation of PROs for healthcare performance measurement. These include, but are not limited to: clinicians’ desire to use PRO data for care planning and communication and their need for assistance in interpreting changes in outcomes reported by patients; the burden associated with collecting PRO data, including workflow concerns and time and privacy issues for patients; and concerns regarding the quality of PRO data, which is impacted by modes and methods of administration, selection bias, missing data, and non-response.
About the Project
NQF will convene a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to identify best practices to address challenges in PRO selection and data collection and ensure PRO data quality. The TEP will apply these recommended best practices on PRO selection and implementation to use cases related to burns/trauma, heart failure, and joint replacement. To facilitate this work, NQF will conduct a comprehensive environmental scan of current practices in selecting PROs and collecting PRO data. A report detailing the findings of the environmental scan will be released for public comment. NQF also will document the best practices identified by the TEP and their application to burns/trauma, heart failure, and joint replacement in a report that will be released for public comment.
Objectives
The TEP will:
- Review and assess current approaches and best practices on PRO selection and data collection
- Identify promising solutions to address challenges in PRO selection and data collection
- Make recommendations to HHS on best practices to ensure PRO data quality
- Apply the recommended best practices to selected use cases related to burns/trauma, heart failure, and joint replacement
NQF Process
Over the course of the project, NQF will conduct an environmental scan to identify current approaches to, and challenges with, PRO selection and implementation; how these approaches and challenges affect the quality of PRO data; and identify PROs, PROMs, measures, and measure concepts relevant to burns, trauma, heart failure, and joint replacement. The TEP will provide input and feedback on the environmental scan, and recommend best practices to address challenges in PRO selection and data collection and ensure PRO data quality. The TEP will then apply the recommended best practices to use cases related to burns, trauma, heart failure, and joint replacement.
Funding
This project is funded under a contract with the Department of Health and Human Services. For information about the availability of auxiliary aids and services for NQF’s federally funded projects, please visit http://www.medicare.gov/about-us/nondiscrimination/nondiscrimination-notice.html
Related NQF Work
Contact Information
For more information, please contact Roara Michael or Suzanne Theberge at 202.783.1300 or via email at PRO@qualityforum.org.