PRO-based clinical communication
PRO-based communication with other HCPs
In order to benefit from the use of PROMs most effectively, successful communication between HCPs and across different professions is crucial. PRO data facilitate effective team communication and information exchange across handovers, referrals, and case reviews. Patient care can be divided within the team according to the reported needs and the team member's competencies and resources
The following quotes from HCP interviews highlight some aspects to be considered.
Communication between nurses, physicians and other professions concerning PRO data should be integrated into the workflow.
Nurse
“If [patients] only get oral chemotherapy, then we [nurses] don't see them. This is then purely a doctor-patient story and we are not involved at all from the nursing side. Then it is more difficult for us to react to it - if the patient has any problems. […] In this sense […] it would be all the more important for educational talks to take place with caregivers, especially with regard to side-effect management.”
Physician
“[We communicate about PROMs by] looking at them with the nurses and see whether the reported complaints correlate with what the impression of the nursing is or what our impression is too.”
Nurse
“At the moment it is really important that nurses have good contact with their medical colleagues. There are patients for whom certain actions are required. That has to be explained in the conversation, but through these assessment instruments (PRO measures), if they are also written down or visible in the patient files, this is also important for the doctor so that he can derive further steps from it.” → share information on PRO data with all HCPs involved in the patient’s care
Nurse
“It would also make it easier if we sort of decide that together as a team – it's a team decision. It is also a decision of the doctors, who also use [the PROM data]. We need to get the feedback, our data is used. I have a simple example: We weigh our patients every time they come and nobody looks at the weight. Then I think to myself: Wow, I wrote it, [the patient] weighs ten kilos less than last time, why don't you read it?! […] if you do this kind of assessment and nobody looks at it, it's just dead material so we can tell [] that we did it, then it doesn't make much sense.” → Use PRO data in interdisciplinary conferences to make treatment decisionsAll quotes: Interviews, Sztankay et al. 2022