Examining the Impact of ePROMs in a Pharmacist-Led Telephone Clinic
Patients who completed electronic patient-reported outcome measures said they made them feel more involved in their care and better supported.
Electronic patient-reported outcome measures (ePROMs) can help increase service efficiency and strengthen patient engagement, according to study results presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2024, held September 13 to 17 in Barcelona, Spain.1
Examining the Impact of ePROMs in a Pharmacist-Led Telephone Clinic / terovesalainen - stock.adobe.com
Patient-reported outcome measures are evaluations of a patient’s condition that are reported directly by the patient to a health care professional. These types of assessments allow clinicians to monitor a patient’s tolerance of therapy, response to therapy, and disease symptoms over a certain period of time.2 They can also help empower patients to describe subjective symptoms, which are often under-reported due to inadequate communication.
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Investigators from the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, United Kingdom conducted a study to compare service before and after implementing ePROMs in a nurse- and pharmacist-led telephone clinic for patients with metastatic prostate cancer on novel hormonal therapies. Data for the study was collected over 12 weeks and participants were randomly selected to fill out an online survey for their opinions on the service.
All of the patients in the clinic were invited to complete an ePROMs questionnaire 5 days before their appointments. The questionnaire included 19 disease specific symptom questions adapted from the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) and the EQ-5D-5L, as well as patient blood pressure readings and blood test results. The study included 366 appointments before ePROMs were implemented and 418 after.
After ePROMs were implemented, the overall completion rate was 70%. Appointments where patients did not have blood test results or blood pressure readings dropped from 15% to 10% and 22% to 15%, respectively. By the time of their appointments, 72% of patients had their blood test results and 50% had their blood pressure readings after initially reporting on ePROMs that they did not have them.
Out of 27 patients who provided feedback about the ePROMs service, 100% said they were easy to complete, 96% said they were useful as part of their care, 96% said they helped focus the consultation on the issues that matter to them, 85% said they made them feel more involved in their care, and 89% said they made them feel better supported.
“After implementing ePROMs, in addition to the overall increased number of patients booked to the clinics, the proportion of appointments without blood pressure and blood tests has reduced,” the authors concluded. “This indicates that ePROMs help enhance our service efficiency and foster greater patient engagement with their own care.”
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