Patient-reported outcomes integrated within electronic medical record in patients with head and neck cancer.

Abstract

e14026 Background: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) tools have been shown to improve outcomes including overall survival for cancer patients. However, routine implementation of PROs in clinical practice within the electronic medical record (EMR) remains limited. We studied the use of a PRO tool for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) integrated in an EMR. Methods: Between August 2017 and December 2019 patients with newly diagnosed HNC were surveyed at baseline, then every 3 months using the FACT-G7 and FACT H&N (Version 4). A medical assistant (MA) performed a baseline survey around the time of diagnosis and then notified patients electronically every 3 months for two years and then every 6 months until patients completed their 5 years of surveillance. Patients who did not respond to online PRO surveys could complete them via telephone appointments with MAs, or in office pre-rooming. Abnormal findings on PRO surveys were referred to appropriate members of the care team or the treating ENT physicians. Results: 290 patients received baseline surveys. Patients received up to a maximum of 8 subsequent surveys (table). Out of a total of 597 electronic surveys, 585 (97.9%) were completed. The percentage of patient completing each survey ranged from 92-100%. Conclusions: PRO tools can be effectively deployed within the EMR for HNC patients with a high completion rate provided that there is strong engagement from a dedicated member of the care team. This has important implications for designing clinical trials and symptom monitoring in clinical practices that incorporate EMRs.