PROMs overview
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are recognized as providing valuable and essential information for achieving health system goals. PROMs are measured from the patient’s perspective, and they can be used to more fully assess quality of care. Information from the patient’s perspective is essential to supporting a patient-centred approach to care.
PROMs can also complement traditional sources of data — such as information derived from clinical and administrative data — to inform policies, programs and value-based health care delivery. They are essential to understanding whether health care services and procedures make a difference to patients’ health status and quality of life.
What are PROMs?
PROMs are standardized, validated measurement tools that patients complete to provide information on aspects of their health status that are relevant to their quality of life, including symptoms, functionality and physical, mental and social health.
Many PROMs tools are available. They are categorized as
- Generic: Used to assess general aspects of health and quality of life, and can be applied across different populations
- Condition-specific: Used to assess outcomes that are specific or unique to particular diseases or sectors of care
Typically, generic and condition-specific tools are administered at the same time, as they provide complementary information.
Why collect PROMs?
PROMs provide valuable information that is essential for achieving health system goals and supporting a patient-centred approach to care:
- Provide insights on the effectiveness of care from the patient’s perspective and allow us to understand whether health care services and procedures make a difference to patients’ health status and quality of life
- Inform clinical practices, health services programming, planning and policies
- Measure performance and evaluate effectiveness and quality improvement
- Enrich existing information through data linkages (in a privacy-appropriate manner) with other data sources — such as clinical and administrative data, and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) — to better inform decisions
Who uses PROMs?
PROMs are used by various stakeholders who interact directly and indirectly with a health care system:
- Patients and clinicians: To inform clinical care, and to improve patient–provider communication and patient involvement in decision-making
- Health system decision-makers: To inform health services programming, planning and policies, as well as for performance measurement and quality improvement initiatives
- Researchers and policy-makers: To conduct comparative and cost-effectiveness analyses, as well as to answer other research questions
How to use PROMs
PROMs data can be used to supplement clinical and administrative outcomes at various levels of a health care system for the purpose of quality improvement:
- Micro level (i.e., patient/clinician level): PROMs are used to screen for certain health issues or symptoms, monitor patients’ health status over time, facilitate shared decision-making and enhance patient-centred care and management (e.g., set expectations and goals, facilitate communication)
- Meso level (i.e., hospital/organization level): Aggregate PROMs data can be used to identify, assess and monitor health outcomes in specific patient populations (e.g., identify gaps in care, evaluate health programs, benchmark, measure key performance indicators)
- Macro level (i.e., health system level): PROMs are used to evaluate and enhance overall health system performance through evaluation and policy development (e.g., compare across jurisdictions or over time, assess value-based health care and priorities, support health policy decision-making that takes into account patients’ perspective and priorities)
How to cite:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. PROMs overview. Accessed October 22, 2024.
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