Extending the Austrian National EHR System with Patient-Reported Outcome Data

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Digital Health
• Public Health Infrastructure

Background:

• The Austrian national Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, ELGA, is a population-wide health data infrastructure.
• Currently, ELGA lacks the integration of patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the ongoing efforts to extend ELGA with PRO data.
• To enhance the Austrian national EHR with valuable patient-generated health information.

Main Methods:

• Linking ELGA with the Health Outcomes Observatory (H2O) initiative's infrastructure.
• Utilizing ELGA's identifier registry to connect H2O patients.
• Making H2O outcome data accessible within ELGA using the telemonitoring document type.

Main Results:

• Development of a framework to integrate PROs into ELGA.
• Established a connection between ELGA and the H2O initiative for data exchange.
• Enabled the accessibility of H2O outcome data within the national EHR system.

Conclusions:

• The integration of PROs into ELGA is feasible and underway.
• This extension will enrich the national EHR with patient perspectives.
• The project aims to improve health data utility and patient-centered care in Austria.