A multidisciplinary team at Johns Hopkins University has produced a draft users’ guide that focuses on best practices for integrating (PROs) in electronic health records (EHRs). Developed for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Users’ Guide for Integrating Patient-Reported Outcomes in Electronic Health Records specifically addresses PRO data such as patients’ direct reports of symptoms, functioning, and health-related quality of life, rather than more general patient-generated health information. The users’ guide offers a range of options, highlighting relative advantages and disadvantages, so that users can determine the best approaches for their environment. The guide is organized around these key questions:
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What strategy will be used for integrating PROs in EHRs?
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How will the PRO-EHR system be governed?
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How can users be trained and engaged?
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Which populations and patients are most suitable for collection and use of PRO data, and how can EHRs support identification of suitable patients?
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Which outcomes are important to measure for a given population?
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How should candidate PRO measures be evaluated?
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How, where, and with what frequency will PROs be administered?
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How will PRO data be displayed in the EHR?
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How will PRO data be acted upon?
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How can PRO data from multiple EHRs be pooled?
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What are the ethical and legal issues?
Important dates:
– The Draft Users’ Guide is available for public comment through Friday, April 7, 2017.
– PCORI will host a public meeting on Integrating PROs in EHRs: Presentation of a Users’ Guide and Discussion of Standardization on May 25-26, 2017.