A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Electronic Outpatient Symptom Monitoring After Ambulatory Cancer Surgery

We implemented routine daily electronic monitoring of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) for 10 days after discharge after ambulatory cancer surgery, with alerts to clinical staff for worrying symptoms. We sought to determine whether enhancing this monitoring by adding immediate automated normative feedback to patients regarding expected symptoms would further improve the patient experience.

PRO monitoring reduces symptom severity in cancer patients. In ambulatory cancer surgery, it reduces potentially avoidable urgent care center (UCC) visits, defined as those UCC visits without readmission.

Patients undergoing ambulatory cancer surgery (n = 2624) were randomized to receive standard PRO monitoring or enhanced feedback. The primary study outcome was UCC visits without readmission within 30 days; secondary outcomes included patient anxiety and nursing utilization.

There was no significant difference in the risk of a potentially avoidable UCC visit [1.0% higher in enhanced feedback, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.2-3.1%; P = 0.12]. There were similarly no significant differences in UCC visits with readmission or readmission overall (P = 0.4 for both). Patients randomized to enhanced feedback demonstrated a quicker reduction in anxiety (P < 0.001) and required 14% (95% CI 8-19%; P < 0.001) and 10% (95% CI 5-16%, P < 0.001) fewer nursing calls over 10 and 30 days postoperatively.

Providing patients with feedback about symptom severity during recovery from ambulatory cancer surgery reduces anxiety and nursing workload without affecting UCC visits or readmissions. These results support wider incorporation of normative feedback in systems for routine PRO monitoring.