Rollout of the Health Outcomes and Patient Experience (HOPE) platform commenced this month, to give clinicians greater access to patient feedback at the point of care.
The statewide Patient Reported Measures Program gives patients the opportunity to provide direct, timely feedback about their health-related experiences and outcomes.
“The data collected through this program will be used to improve clinical practice and quality of life for patients,” explains Melissa Tinsley, ACI’s Manager, Clinical Information and Decision Support. “It will help to identify excellence in healthcare and drive system-wide improvements.”
Patient-reported measures (PRMs) are captured in patient surveys to give clinicians an insight into the needs and expectations of patients at the point of care.
Clinicians, consumers and managers across the state supported the co-design of a custom-built IT solution to support the program.
The platform, known as Health Outcomes and Patient Experience (HOPE), allows clinicians to access timely reporting of patient-reported measures following routine collection of survey data. It also allows patients to see their own survey results.
Patients will access the HOPE platform via an easy to use online portal that will capture survey responses based on their outcomes and experiences of care, and how it impacts them.
The HOPE platform went live in St Georges Basin Osteoarthritis Chronic Care Prevention Program in Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District on 1 February.
The program will roll out in a phased approach, with a focus on health services connected to NSW Health Leading Better Value Care and Integrated Care initiatives over the next 18 months.
“The PRMs program will be a key driver for NSW Health to deliver better value health care,” adds Ms Tinsley. “Listening to patients and putting them at the centre of their care is a key driver for this.”
Success in practice
The PRMs program gives patients the opportunity to explain what is important to them at the point of care, which sometimes goes beyond their current health concern.
“We are already seeing the true benefits of the program,” explains Ms Tinsley. “Earlier this month, a gentleman arrived for his appointment at an outpatient clinic to follow up after a total knee replacement. He was asked to provide consent for the collection and use of patient-reported measures.
“When he completed the survey, the gentleman reflected in his survey responses that his biggest worry at the time was his wife who was unwell, and not his knee replacement. This enabled the clinician to have conversations with him about this as the biggest priority for him.
“The program enables patients to share what matters most to them, so care can be tailored to those needs and expectations of the patient.”
Ms Tinsley credits the partnership between the ACI, eHealth, Ministry of Health and local health districts for delivering this statewide program.
“Other critical success factors include having solid governance over the program (centrally and locally) and providing robust training and educations sessions for PRM leads and clinicians at a local level. This is reflected in the positive feedback from clinicians, who have said that the program is intuitive and easy to use.”
Find out more about the Patient Reported Measures Program.