Researchers from the Chan Lab have published a study on how patients and health care providers at the UC Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center perceive the implementation of an electronic patient-reported outcome tool.
In “Perceptions of Implementing Real-Time Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes and Digital Analytics in a Majority-Minority Cancer Center,” which was published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics in November 2024, the research team aimed to answer the question, “How do patients and health care providers perceive the use of a digital real-time electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) tool in a cancer center located in a majority-minority county, and what are the perceived implementation barriers and facilitators?”
Along with Dr. Alexandre Chan, the qualitative study was authored by Chan Lab research coordinator and clinical psychology doctoral student Daniela Arcos; research assistant Mary Dagsi; student pharmacists Reem Nasr and Carolyn Nguyen; and PhD in Pharmacological Sciences student Ding Quan (Quinton) Ng. The researchers interviewed 15 patients and 16 health care providers to collect their opinions on the ePRO tool and how it has impacted their experience of being cared for or providing care.
“This qualitative study follows up on a published implementation study of an ePRO tool for pharmacist-led symptom management at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Although past qualitative studies have evaluated implementation strategies and explored health care providers’ experiences using ePRO in oncology clinical settings, there is a lack of qualitative data from both patients and providers in oncology settings regarding its use to monitor wellness, symptoms, and toxicities,” Dr. Chan explained.
“Through our in-depth interviews with healthcare providers (including oncologists, oncology nurses, and oncology pharmacists) and patients, we have identified the potential of real-time ePRO tools to reduce health disparities and inform strategies for enhancing care delivery in diverse clinical settings.”
Based on the interviews, as well as a focus group discussion with participants, the researchers reported that the use of the ePRO tool helped to foster communication between patients and their health care providers, increase symptom awareness and tracking, and guide interventions. Additionally, patients reported feeling more positive about their care that incorporated the use of the ePRO tool, and both patients and health care providers felt the ePRO tool was beneficial. In order to successfully implement the ePRO tool, however, the team must address certain barriers.
“To ensure successful and sustainable implementation, there is a need to continue to improve our ePRO-guided care program by integrating ePRO scores into electronic medical records for the ease of distribution to providers, developing care pathways to guide necessary physician and community referrals, and tailoring ePRO assessments to individual patients based on their cancer disease type and treatment,” said Ng. “It is also important to study the benefits of having language-dependent patient navigation and how such navigation can be supported by ePROs.”
