Patient-Centered Goals for Treatment of Pelvic Floor Disorders

To review the current literature on patient centered goals for the treatment of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs).

Patients have a poor understanding of their PFDs, regardless if they had prior PFD treatments or received counseling, emphasizing the need for improved education from healthcare providers. Understanding the patient perspective provides insights into identifying patient goals, which facilitates communication and allows for tailored counseling, management of expectations, and assessment of treatment response. Functional outcomes are consistently important to patients, often listed as their main treatment goals. The achievement of these goals is fundamental to satisfaction. IMPACT and PROMIS are examples of PCO measures that can be utilized in both research and clinical settings. Finally, telemedicine has emerged as a viable alternative to clinic visits that offers improved access to care with no increase in adverse events or dissatisfaction, in order to aid in monitoring and meeting patient treatment goals.

Patient involvement is fundamental to providing value-based care. Provider understanding of the patient perspective is necessary to guide counseling and treatment. Patient-centered goals offer a way to engage patients, facilitate communication, and improve patient satisfaction. Although there are multiple validated PCO tools, further development and research involving patient input is needed.