Feasibility Study of Collecting Orthopedic Patient-Reported Outcome Data in Clinic

Patient-Reported Outcomes Collection Feasibility Study

We are pleased to see the release of the study validating the feasibility of collecting patient-reported outcome data as a part of standard care. The more outcomes collected, the better for all! The goal was to show that it is possible to collect PROs in the clinical setting and as others have previously demonstrated, it can be done successfully.

Feasibility of integrating standardized patient-reported outcomes in orthopedic care

However, as other in-clinic programs have demonstrated, the cost of both time and resources was not discussed.

What will it take to achieve widespread adoption?

Widespread adoption of an in-clinic PRO collection program would require further investigation into the three primary areas:

1. What is the pre-op vs. post-op capture rate? Annual post-op data is the bare minimum standard for relevance.

2. What was the total cost of the program? Tablets, software, database management, research assistants, etc… absolutely have to be considered.

3. How will it be possible to follow up on patients who don’t present back to the treating physician’s office or hospital? Numerous studies have demonstrated that over 50% of patients with complications follow up at an outside provider or hospital?

Your solution must be a cost-effective and sustainable system for collecting outcomes at routine intervals outside of the clinic. This can be done either internally, or by using a third-party vendor.