RNOH Patient Outcome Data
Are you a patient looking for help with using RNOH POD? If so please go to: Patient Outcome Data (POD) information for patients.
The NHS commissioning landscape is changing and there has been a shift in focus towards Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), especially in Orthopaedics. With the growing competition in the healthcare industry, practitioners are under increasing pressure to prove the effectiveness of their treatments. In response to these changes the RNOH recognises the need for patient level outcome measures and the RNOH is pleased to announce the launch of our new application for recording Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS).
PROMs are used to assess the quality of care delivered to NHS patients from the patient perspective. They are simple questionnaires that are completed by patients at key points during the patient journey; from the first outpatient appointment until they are discharged by the clinical team and beyond. The differences in the answers allow a calculation to be made of the health gain a patient has achieved as a result of their treatment. One of the challenges faced by specialist organisations within the NHS is their focus on complex patients. For this patient cohort the standardised measures are not always able to capture the full picture. For example a patient having knee surgery as a fourth or fifth revision is unlikely to achieve the health gain of a patient having a knee replacement for the first time. The RNOH has therefore developed a new approach to the collection of PROMS.
RNOH POD is made up of three elements:
Clinician reported patient complexity
With an increasing focus on outcome driven commissioning we are pioneering this solution to enable real time data capture in outpatients and theatres by clinicians. This approach provides:
- An opportunity to record the RNOH Complexity Factors data set for each patient seen by a team
- Additional information chosen by clinical teams that focusses on key areas of patient complexity. For example, previous hip surgery will be more relevant to the Foot & Ankle Unit than the Shoulder and Upper Limb Unit
- Accurate clinician validated data. The system is quick and responsive enough to use within clinics and operating theatres by the clinicians themselves
- Instant access to the information collected as it is stored within the RNOH
Supported patients reporting outcomes
RNOH POD enables patients to fill in their PROMS anywhere with access to the internet. This is a significant improvement over the old paper based questionnaires that could be lost or filled in incorrectly.
At present two medical teams are using RNOH POD and others will start using at later this year.
All new patients in the Foot and Ankle Units, and all new Joint Reconstruction Unit patients with Hip and Knee problems are being invited to complete their PROMS questionnaires via RNOH POD either at home or on an iPad before they present themselves to clinic.
For Patient information please go to Patient Outcome Data (POD) information for patients.
Support in clinic
Patients are approached by one of the small team of POD Advocates when they have checked in at the outpatients’ reception. The Advocates are there to explain RNOH POD to the patient and the need to help the clinician with some additional information i.e. the PROMS. They also help patients with any difficulties they may have and answer any questions.
Support at home
The appointment letter contains the details the patient needs and when booking the appointment the administrative team let the patient know that they’ll have something to fill in online. In the near future we will also be emailing and texting patients to remind them when they have questionnaires to complete. The Advocates are available via rnoh.
Tailored online solution
The system has gone through an extensive analysis and design process to balance the needs of the clinicians for high volumes of quality data against the constraints of patient motivation and available time both in the operating theatres and during busy clinics.
Clinical units have identified the core complexity features of their patient group to focus data collection at the key areas.
RNOH POD has also been integrated with the hospital’s patient administration system (PAS) to minimise the administrative burden of the system and give clinicians a clinic and admissions list to easily locate the patients details when needed.
Summary
RNOH POD allows the collection of outcome data during a patient journey using simple electronic forms. The forms are completed by both clinicians and by patients. RNOH POD provides the following:
A user friendly electronic patient portal which enables patients to complete their questionnaires on line
A consultant dashboard for clinicians which enables them to input clinical data giving additional meaning and detail to patient responses.
For further information please contact Bela Haria, Senior Project Manager at bharia@
Glossary
Clinical Outcomes - The combination of clinician recorded data and PROMS that POD collects which allows us to measure the success/quality of the treatment pathways we offer.
- POD - Patient Outcome Data
- PROMS - Patient Reported Outcome Measures
- EPR - Electronic patient record
- Pathway - The route through the hospital that a patient’s care takes i.e. from referral to discharge from the clinical unit.
Further information - Patient Outcome Data (POD) information for patients