Explaining Outcome Measures to Patients

Educating Your Patients on Outcomes Collection

• Emphasize the ‘Why’ behind Patient-Reported Outcomes 
• Identify the ‘How’
• Map out ‘How Often’

Emphasize the Why

• Patient-Reported Outcomes give your patients an opportunity to voice the status of their pain or function, and contribute to their care plan
• Outcome measures completed at the start of care can provide valuable baseline data, and help determine the best course of treatment
• The same outcome measure completed periodically throughout the plan of care can help determine if the treatments are effective and appropriate, or if a new approach is needed

Identify the How

• Patients will automatically receive links to complete their outcome measures via email and/or text message
• Patients should be instructed to simply click on the link, and complete the associated survey
• Remember, assessments can also be administered manually in the clinic through the Limber portal.

Map Out How Often

• Outcome measures are sent at the following cadence for a total of 2 years, even post-discharge to allow for continued monitoring of a patient’s pain and function
• Remember, additional assessments can be sent manually to patients throughout their plan of care if needed!

Monitoring Patient-Reported Outcomes long-term gives insight into pain and function trends, enabling early triage back to clinic if necessary

A Script for Explaining Outcome Measures to Patients

Initial Assessment Explanation

“Please take a moment to complete this important health questionnaire. Your therapist will be reviewing your answers to learn more about your injury or condition, to create a therapy plan designed specifically for you.

Please answer each question specific to your injured body part or condition. The questions are designed to find out what you can or cannot do, due to pain or function limitations of that area.

Our plan is to have you complete a quick reassessment every 2 weeks during your course of care, so we can track your progress, and make sure you are achieving the best improvement possible. You will also receive reassessments periodically after you are done with your care, for your therapist to determine how you are doing long term as it relates to your injury. You will receive these reassessments via email and text message for you to complete on your mobile device, tablet, or computer.

Thank you for taking a moment to provide us this valuable information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.”

Reassessment Explanation

“Please take a moment to complete a quick reassessment for us. These reassessments are important to allow your therapist to track your progress, and update your therapy plan accordingly.

Remember to answer the questions specific to your injured body part or condition. In this reassessment, you will also be asked a satisfaction question - please answer the question specific to your experience at our facility. This feedback is important to us!

Thank you for taking a moment to provide us this valuable information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.”