King's Fund urges wide use of PROMS

Patient Related Outcome Measures could have a significant impact on the NHS; but only if staff and patients are engaged to act on the data.

These are the broad conclusions of a new report from the King's Fund and the Office of Health Economics, examining the impact and potential of PROMS a year afrter they were introduced to the health service.

The report argues that PROMS may significantly affect the choices that patients make; encouraging them to look for higher quality rather than faster or more convenient services.

It also argues that primary care trusts should be looking to use PROMS in commissioning and clinical teams should be looking to use them to benchmark their performance and drive productivity.

John Appleby, chief economist at the King's Fund and one of the report's authors, said: "For the first time we have patients' own assessments of their health before and after treatment - and by implication the quality of care they received from the NHS.

"It goes way beyond asking about satisfaction or experience and gets to the heart of what the NHS is in business to do; improve patients' health." 

However, the report says that NHS leaders and managers must engage staff and patients in understanding and using the data if PROMS are to realise their potential.

The report outlines ways in which PROMS data might be used and includes information on how Bupa uses a version of PROMS to evaluate the quality of its care.

Link: Getting the most out of PROMS: putting health outcomes at the heart of NHS decision making.