Patient-Reported Outcomes and Surgical Quality.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Surgical Quality Measurement
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• High-quality surgical care necessitates robust methods for defining and measuring quality.
• Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) provide essential insights into health outcomes from the patient's viewpoint.
• Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are tools used to capture PROs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define and differentiate patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).
• To explain the application of PROMs in routine surgical care for quality improvement and reimbursement.
• To provide an overview of interpreting PROM data within surgical contexts.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and synthesis of existing knowledge on PROMs in surgery.
• Conceptual clarification of PROMs versus other quality metrics (e.g., patient-reported experience measures).
• Discussion of practical implementation and data interpretation of PROMs in clinical settings.

Main Results:

• PROMs capture meaningful health outcomes directly from patients.
• PROMs are distinct from patient-reported experience measures.
• Understanding PROM data interpretation is key for effective application.

Conclusions:

• Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are vital for evaluating and enhancing surgical quality.
• PROMs support value-based healthcare by aligning care with patient-centered goals.
• The integration of PROMs into routine surgical practice and reimbursement structures is increasingly important.