Patient-Reported Data in Clinical Practice: How Do Physicians Use it?
Danny Mou1,2, Daniel Horn1, Marcela Del Carmen1, Timothy Ferris1, Rachel Sisodia1, Marilyn Heng1 1 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA 2 Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Introduction: In 2014, our large academic medical center implemented a systems-wide Patient-Reported Data (PRD) initiative that has collected 4,753,285 questionnaires across 231 clinics, 56 specialties, and 98 geographical locations. However, we currently lack an in-depth understanding of the end-user physician’s perspective of PRD.
Methods:
A semi-structured interview guide was developed from literature review and expert panels. We conducted phone interviews with primary care physicians (PCPs), orthopedic surgeons, and otolaryngologists (ENTs) from our institution. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded. Themes were identified using a Grounded Theory approach.
Results:
We interviewed 23 PCPs, 7 orthopedic surgeons and 5 ENTs. 52% were male and median years in practice was 14 years. Participants’ use of PRD varied significantly according to specialty (Figure 1). PCPs reported using PRD primarily to fulfill required screening tools (e.g., depression and anxiety screening questions) to facilitate clinic efficiency. Orthopedic surgeons expressed that PRD in aggregate was useful to assess comparative effectiveness and to better show patients their progress after surgery. In contrast, otolaryngologists relied significantly on PRD to guide clinical decision-making (e.g., using the Sino-nasal Outcome Test [SNOT-22] to help determine whether patients will receive sinus surgery).
Conclusion:
Physicians of different specialties reported using PRD in very different ways. These data suggest that hospitals seeking to develop successful PRD programs should encourage flexible approaches to utilizing the data for patient care. 
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