Oncology and Technology: Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes Across Patient Populations

Patients and care teams benefit from electronic, patient-reported outcomes. John Elliott, vice president of sales at Carevive, and Rami Elsabeh, chief product officer at DTX, spoke with Oncology and Technology to stress the importance ePROs play across patient populations.

DTX is a web-based ePRO tool that uses automated SMS surveys to connect with patients throughout their care episode. Elsabeh said this software allows for streamlined information exchange between patients and the care team.

“ePROs historically have been predominantly used more in a research capacity,” Elliott said. “That was the original case for ePROs, and it was fairly removed from any type of reimbursement. What’s really evolved is when you have major payers, and you have CMS, and you start looking at value-based reimbursement models, there is strong advocacy for ePROs.”

Because ePROs were primarily a research tool, the original focus was data collection. “Nowadays, with the increase in value-based care, reimbursement being tied more and more to quality of care versus quantity of care, and the emphasis on patient outcomes and cost-reduction methods, the ePRO systems they need to have extended capabilities,” Elsabeh said.

“What’s huge about the evolution is the integration capabilities now,” Elliott said. “So, taking it from a fairly segmented, siloed, single research population to a standard of care for a much broader patient population with actionable capabilities for the care team. That’s how you get to the improved outcomes.”