title: Implementation and first results of a tablet-based assessment referring to patient-reported outcomes in an inpatient cancer care unit.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inclusion of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in routine cancer care is of key importance for individualized treatment, shared decision making and patient satisfaction.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the implementation under routine conditions of an electronic self-administered PRO assessment and comparison of PROs before and after inpatient treatment in oncologic care.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a tablet-based survey PROs on symptom burden, global health status/ quality of life (QoL) and health utility were collected twice (at hospital admission and discharge) in an inpatient oncological setting over a 17-month period using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EQ-5D questionnaires. Data were linked to the hospital information system (HIS). Patient acceptability, recruitment rates, symptom burden, and clinically meaningful changes in PROs over time were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From a total of 384 hospitalized patients invited to participate at admission 371 (96.6 %) participated. At discharge, 195 patients were approached for a follow-up assessment, and 192 patients (98.5 %) participated. Despite strong acceptance among patients, recruitment rates were decreasing over time. During the hospital stay clinically meaningful improvements were observed for health utility (33.3 %, n = 64) and global health status/QoL (43.2 %, n = 83). Patients reported a variety of symptoms at admission and discharge.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implementation of PRO assessment in routine care and data integration into the HIS provides valuable information for the entire medical staff as symptom burden is present during the entire hospital stay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Long-term maintenance of PRO assessment in a clinical setting as a prerequisite of value-based healthcare requires continuous involvement of the nursing team, which can only be achieved by allocating resources to this task.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Clinic for Internal Medicine II, HELIOS Hospital Emil von Behring, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuler
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: freya.trautmann@uniklinikum-dresden.de.
authors.forename: Freya
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Trautmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radloff
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; University CancerCenter, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Leopold
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hentschel
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Department of Quality and Medical Risk Management, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Petzold
authors.affiliation: Department of Quality and Medical Risk Management, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eberlein-Gonska
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; University CancerCenter, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ehninger
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), partner site Dresden and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Dresden, Germany; University CancerCenter, University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmitt
mesh_terms: D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D016522:Oncology Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000071066:Patient Reported Outcome Measures; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Implementierung; Lebensqualität; Routineversorgung; implementation study; patient-reported outcomes; patientenberichtete Outcomes; quality of life; routine care