Electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) platform engagement in cancer patients during COVID-19.

Abstract

172 Background: Tennessee Oncology partnered with an ePRO platform solution to support patients during their cancer care journey. This cloud-based ePRO platform is designed to assist in improving the management of symptoms. Providing two core pieces of functionality allow both the patient and care teams to retrieve information quickly and communicate effectively. The patient portal is patient input driven and allows the patient to communicate with their care team, track symptoms, and access their health records via website or mobile app. The clinician portal provides multiple care teams the ability to manage and prioritize patient needs as well as communicate directly with patients. In March 2020, due to the pandemic, patients needed a convenient and remote way to communicate with the care team. Our communication plan had to be nimble and provide immediate updates to our large patient population. We leveraged our ePRO platform to meet this need. Methods: We focused efforts on increasing patient engagement by educating them on the benefits of this communication platform. We utilized secure messaging to send appointment details and for Telehealth visits a link to the visit was sent. We were able to provide weekly updates outlining our latest information regarding our safety protocols. Results: We noted an increase in the activation of patient accounts and patient-initiated messages in our ePRO platform. We saw an average of 1,000 new patient accounts activated each month during March, April and May. We saw that patient-initiated messages through the platform showed a 15% increase from February to March. The response rate for patients completing post-treatment questionnaires increased 8% from February to May. Conclusions: By providing patients with a single communication platform to contact their care teams outside of their office visits, patients become an active part of their care journey. As an organization, we continue to identify ways to connect our patients to their care team in a meaningful way through technology. Whether during normal business hours or after-hours, patients need a simple, reliable and consistent way to engage with their care team.