Standards for evaluating patient-reported outcome (PRO)-based performance measures.
45 Background: There is growing interest to use performance measures that integrate patient-reported outcomes (PROs), but there are no existing methodological standards for developing, implementing, or analyzing such measures in this context. Methods: To develop standards for evaluating PRO-based performance measures submitted to or developed by the American Medical Association-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, a multi-disciplinary expert technical panel was assembled. A systematic literature review and landscape overview were conducted to identify use cases and existing PRO standards in related contexts. Lessons learned from use cases and existing standards guided development of discrete methodological standards. Results: The systematic review identified only one use case, whereas the landscape overview identified eight. Five purposes were identified for which PROs might be measured to assess performance, including one categorized as process and four as outcome. Eight discrete methodological standards were developed which will be detailed at the meeting. Conclusions: The patient perspective is an essential but missing component of performance evaluation. When appropriately elicited, data from patients can be informative. Lack of adherence to good practices and inadequate patient input when developing measurement strategies are potential pitfalls to be avoided.