Patient-reported outcomes via electronic health record portal versus telephone: a pragmatic randomized pilot trial of anxiety or depression symptoms in epilepsy

Quality of life during usual epilepsy care for anxiety or depression symptoms: Secondary patient-reported outcomes in a randomized trial of remote assessment methods

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent and impactful in epilepsy. American Academy of Neurology quality measures emphasize anxiety and depression screening and quality of life (QOL) measurement, yet usual epilepsy care QOL and anxiety/depression outcomes are poorly characterized. The main objective was to assess 6-month QOL, anxiety and depression during routine care among adults with epilepsy and baseline anxiety or depression symptoms; these were prespecified secondary outcomes within a pragmatic randomized trial of remote assessment methods.

METHODS

Adults with anxiety or depression symptoms and no suicidal ideation were recruited from a tertiary epilepsy clinic via an electronic health record (EHR)-embedded process. Participants were randomized 1:1 to 6 month outcome collection via patient portal EHR questionnaires vs. telephone interview. This report focuses on an a priori secondary outcomes of the overall trial, focused on patient-reported health outcomes in the full sample. Quality of life, (primary health outcome), anxiety, and depression measures were collected at 3 and 6 months (Quality of Life in Epilepsy-10, QOLIE-10, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory-Epilepsy). Change values and 95 % confidence intervals were calculated. In post-hoc exploratory analyses, patient-reported anxiety/depression management plans at baseline clinic visit and healthcare utilization were compared with EHR-documentation, and agreement was calculated using the kappa statistic.

RESULTS

Overall, 30 participants (15 per group) were recruited and analyzed, of mean age 42.5 years, with 60 % women. Mean 6-month change in QOLIE-10 overall was 2.0(95 % CI -6.8, 10.9), and there were no significant differences in outcomes between the EHR and telephone groups. Mean anxiety and depression scores were stable across follow-up (all 95 % CI included zero). Outcomes were similar regardless of whether an anxiety or depression action plan was documented. During the baseline interview, most participants with clinic visit EHR documentation indicating action to address anxiety and/or depression reported not being offered a treatment(7 of 12 with action plan, 58 %), and there was poor agreement between patient report and EHR documentation (kappa=0.22). Healthcare utilization was high: 40 % had at least one hospitalization or emergency/urgent care visit reported and/or identified via EHR, but a third (4/12) failed to self-report an EHR-identified hospitalization/urgent visit.

DISCUSSION

Over 6 months of usual care among adults with epilepsy and anxiety or depression symptoms, there was no significant average improvement in quality of life or anxiety/depression, suggesting a need for interventions to enhance routine neurology care and achieve quality of life improvement for this group.

Feasibility of Implementing Patient-Reported and Physical Performance Measures to Identify and Manage Fall Risk in Older Adults Within a Secondary Fracture Clinic

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of implementing both electronic and in-person assessments to assess falls risk in an older adult secondary fracture clinic. Electronic data capture feasibility was defined as the proportion of patients that completed the electronic questionnaires prior to their clinic visit. In-clinic feasibility was defined in two ways: (1) the proportion of patients that consented to participate at their clinic visit; (2) time to complete testing. Patients were contacted electronically through their health system portal for electronic consent. Patients were invited to complete consent, the STopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) falls risk assessment tool, and the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain. The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) was performed at the clinic visit. A total of 310 patients were contacted electronically. No patients (0%) provided consent through their health portal. Of the 310 patients, 200 (65%) consented in person (Ineligible: 67 [21%]; Declined: 43 [14%]), resulting in an 82% response rate. In-person data collection took a median of 38.48 (Range: 12.34-54.30) minutes to complete. It was not feasible to contact and collect older adult patient data electronically prior to clinic; but, was feasible to obtain these patient-reported outcomes and physical performance data in person.

The implementation, use and impact of patient reported outcome measures in value-based healthcare programmes: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC) focuses on the value of patient outcomes and is achieved by ensuring resources already available are managed to realise the best possible individual and population health outcomes. Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) measure the impact of illnesses from the patient perspective. We conducted a scoping review to understand how PROMs were implemented and used, and their impact in the context of VBHC.

METHODS

Arksey and O'Malley's overarching framework supplemented by principles from mixed-methods Framework Synthesis were used. CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Google Scholar and reference lists were searched. An a priori data extraction framework was created using the review question and objectives as key domains against which to extract data. Mixed-methods data were organised, integrated and preserved in original format and reported for each domain.

RESULTS

Forty-three studies were included with 60,200 participants. Few studies reported a well-developed programme theory and we found little robust evidence of effect. PROMs were universally considered to have the potential to increase patient satisfaction with treatment and services, enhance patient awareness of symptoms and self-management, and improve health outcomes such as quality of life and global health status. Evidence is currently limited on how PROMs work and how best to optimally implement PROMs to achieve the target outcome. Implementation challenges commonly prevented the realisation of optimal outcomes and patients generally needed better and clearer communication about why PROMs were being given and how they could optimally be used to support their own self-management.

CONCLUSION

PROMSs have yet to demonstrate their full potential in a VBHC context. Optimal PROMs implementation is poorly understood by clinicians and patients. Future studies should explore different models of PROM implementation and use within VBHC programmes to understand what works best and why for each specific context, condition, and population.

Impact of an Electronic Medical Record-Connected Questionnaire on Efficient Nursing Documentation: Usability and Efficacy Study

BACKGROUND

Documentation tasks comprise a large percentage of nurses' workloads. Nursing records were partially based on a report from the patient. However, it is not a verbatim transcription of the patient's complaints but a type of medical record. Therefore, to reduce the time spent on nursing documentation, it is necessary to assist in the appropriate conversion or citation of patient reports to professional records. However, few studies have been conducted on systems for capturing patient reports in electronic medical records. In addition, there have been no reports on whether such a system reduces the time spent on nursing documentation.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to develop a patient self-reporting system that appropriately converts data to nursing records and evaluate its effect on reducing the documenting burden for nurses.

METHODS

An electronic medical record-connected questionnaire and a preadmission nursing questionnaire were administered. The questionnaire responses entered by the patients were quoted in the patient profile for inpatient assessment in the nursing system. To clarify its efficacy, this study examined whether the use of the electronic questionnaire system saved the nurses' time entering the patient profile admitted between August and December 2022. It also surveyed the usability of the electronic questionnaire between April and December 2022.

RESULTS

A total of 3111 (78%) patients reported that they answered the electronic medical questionnaire by themselves. Of them, 2715 (88%) felt it was easy to use and 2604 (85%) were willing to use it again. The electronic questionnaire was used in 1326 of 2425 admission cases (use group). The input time for the patient profile was significantly shorter in the use group than in the no-use group (P<.001). Stratified analyses showed that in the internal medicine wards and in patients with dependent activities of daily living, nurses took 13%-18% (1.3 to 2 minutes) less time to enter patient profiles within the use group (both P<.001), even though there was no difference in the amount of information. By contrast, in the surgical wards and in the patients with independent activities of daily living, there was no difference in the time to entry (P=.50 and P=.20, respectively), but there was a greater amount of information in the use group.

CONCLUSIONS

The study developed and implemented a system in which self-reported patient data were captured in the hospital information network and quoted in the nursing system. This system contributes to improving the efficiency of nurses' task recordings.