Integrating the PROMinsight platform with EMR @SNEC: overcoming technical barriers to PROM implementation

One of the main challenges of collecting PROM data in routine healthcare is integration with electronic medical records (EMR) due to interoperability and system infrastructure issues.

Supported by our software and IT engineers, the team at PROMinsight has overcome this barrier by establishing a workable system to implement our Impact of Vision Impairment CAT (IVI-CAT) in cataract clinics at the Singapore National Eye Centre and provide stakeholders with real-time automated results via full integration with the electronic medical record (EMR) system.

Over a 6 month period, almost 400 patients attending SNEC for cataract surgery answered the visual functioning and emotional well-being IVI-CAT tests on an internet-enabled tablet in English, Chinese, Malay or Tamil before seeing their treating doctor.

The IVI-CAT data were saved on our secure AWS (Singapore) server and the overall scores were automatically pushed to patients’ medical records, ready for doctors to review during the consultation.

Uptake by patients was high, with 85% of patients agreeing to participate and, importantly, 2 in 3 patients were able to complete the IVI-CAT tests without assistance.

The tests were efficient, taking patients only 3 minutes to complete with only 7-8 items needed per test to obtain highly precise scores (equivalent to 0.85 reliability).

The next phase of this implementation initiative aims to optimise the implementation workflow by enabling patients to complete the relevant CAT tests prior to their appointments via a secure link to the PROMinsight platform.

The PROMinsight team are excited to work with clinician champions at SNEC to expand data collection to other speciality clinics at SNEC, including retina (RetCAT), glaucoma (GlauCAT), and cataract and refractive error (IVI-CAT) and to use these data to improve health outcomes and treatment experience in patients with vision problems.

Dr Shamira Perera, a glaucoma Consultant at SNEC sees many potential benefits to collecting PROM data for patients, doctors, and government agencies more widely.

“Simply chasing safety and efficacy outcomes is outdated. Enlightened clinicians and scientists rely on PROMS to change policy and add value. PROMinsight smooths the path for anyone striving for this kind of supporting data.”

The secure integration of PROMinsight CATs with SNEC’s EMR is a first in Ophthalmology and aligns with our vision to revolutionise how patient-reported outcomes are measured, particularly as healthcare shifts from a volume- to value-based model.