Challenges and Opportunities in Using Patient-reported Outcomes in Quality Measurement in Rheumatology

Use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROs) in rheumatology research is widespread, but use of PRO data to evaluate the quality of rheumatologic care delivered is less well established. This article reviews the use of PROs in assessing health care quality, and highlights challenges and opportunities specific to their use in rheumatology quality measurement. It first explores other countries' experiences collecting and evaluating national PRO data to assess quality of care. It describes the current use of PROs as quality measures in rheumatology, and frames an agenda for future work supporting development of meaningful quality measures based on PROs.