Capacity-Building for Collecting Patient-Reported Outcomes and Experiences (PRO) Data Across Hospitals.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Health Services Research
• Organizational Capacity Building

Background:

• Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) data are crucial for healthcare quality measurement.
• Many healthcare systems collect PROs, but organizational capacity for data collection and sharing remains a challenge.
• Improving the childbirth experience is a key goal for quality improvement initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors facilitating capacity-building for PRO data collection.
• To examine these factors within a learning collaborative of 16 hospitals.
• To understand the process of implementing PRO data collection for quality improvement.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative case study methodology was employed.
• A conceptual framework guided the study, linking organizational capacity and incentives to project milestones.
• Four project milestones (Agreements, System Design, System Development & Operations, Implementation) were analyzed using critical incident tracking.

Main Results:

• Implementation of PRO data collection varied significantly across hospitals.
• Hospital capacity was limited across eight key dimensions: Incentives, Leadership, Policies, Operating systems, Information technology, Legal aspects, Cross-hospital collaboration, and Patient engagement.
• A capacity-building trajectory for each dimension was identified.

Conclusions:

• Successful implementation of PRO data collection in quality improvement collaboratives hinges on multiple organizational capacities.
• Addressing these eight dimensions is critical for achieving project milestones.
• The study provides insights into optimizing PRO data collection processes in healthcare settings.