In an article published online this week, leaders from the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory share lessons learned about the collection of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in medically underserved patients, including people with incomes below the federal poverty threshold, racial or ethnically minoritized groups, and rural and frontier communities.
The electronic health record and other digital modes are frequently used to collect PROM data, and engagement with these digital tools can be low among disparities-prone populations.
“Our ability to measure PROMs is hampered by patients’ limited digital proficiency, difficulty understanding PROMs as written, and access to portals and the Internet. …With low uptake among disparities prone populations, reliance on portals may inadvertently exacerbate health inequities,” the authors wrote.
Therefore, the authors recommend hybrid approaches:
- multiple outreach modes
- high-touch methods
- creativity in promoting digital uptake
- multimodal participant engagement, and
- text messaging for the collection of PROMs
The authors draw on on experiences from 5 of the NIH Collaboratory Trials and the expertise of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Core and the Health Equity Core.
The article was published this week in Applied Clinical Informatics.