Springsted, Martha

Abstract Objective To evaluate the feasibility of collecting Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) data within an electronic health record (EHR) for patients undergoing basivertebral nerve ablation (BVNA). Design: Retrospective feasibility study. Setting: Academic community-based health system. Subjects: Seventy-one unique patients (73 procedures) treated with BVNA between 2022–2025. Methods PROMIS Pain Interference, Pain Intensity, and Physical Function surveys were administered at baseline and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up using EHR-embedded automated workflows. In parallel, a structured quality improvement intervention was implemented to improve survey completion via emphasis on baseline survey completion. The intervention included a standardized nursing rooming checkpoint to verify PROMIS completion prior to the procedure, staff education with scripted patient engagement language, real-time EHR visual prompts using dot phrases to identify incomplete surveys, and monthly site-level performance dashboards reviewed with clinical staff and leadership. Completion rates were extracted from institutional dashboards and workflow bottlenecks were identified through process mapping and staff feedback. A two-proportion test compared pre- and post-intervention baseline completion rates. Clinic visit duration was tracked as a balancing measure to evaluate potential workflow burden. Results Seventy-one patients underwent 73 BVNA procedures. Completion rates were 31.82% at baseline, 77.78% at 3 months, 40.00% at 6 months, and 100% at 12 months among patients reaching those timepoints. Longitudinal engagement was 56%, while longitudinal completeness was 33%. Baseline survey completion improved from 31.82% (21/66) before intervention to 100% (6/6) following implementation (z ≈ 3.0, p ≈ 0.003) durable through three months. Clinic workflow efficiency was not adversely affected, with 83% of visits remaining within the standard 30-minute time slot and no statistically significant increase in visit duration (p ≈ 0.36). Conclusions PROMIS data collection during interventional spine care is feasible and can be reliably integrated into routine clinical workflows when supported by targeted quality improvement interventions. Improving baseline survey capture substantially expands the denominator of patients eligible for longitudinal outcome measurement without increasing clinical workload. Hybrid implementation strategies combining automated EHR deployment with structured clinical oversight may enable reliable PROMIS integration in procedural spine practice.

ABSTRACTRationalePatient reported outcome (PRO) measures are a critical tool to understand the patient's experience of their illness. Our institution collects PRO measures for patients receiving spine care through several modalities, including direct patient outreaches.Aims and ObjectivesWe designed a quality project to increase the total number of patient outreaches within 1 year, without increasing program resources or costs, by utilizing a return‐to‐work program.MethodSpine PRO collection rate data was extracted from the electronic health record by a data science analyst. This data included how many direct patient outreaches were completed each month and the average number of patient outreaches being completed by the patient outreach representative. For the balancing measure, full‐time equivalent costs were monitored throughout the baseline and pilot periods.ResultsDuring the 6‐month baseline period, 3477 patient outreaches were made, representing 14.5% of possible outreaches. During the first 3‐month post‐intervention remeasure period, 6272 patient outreaches were made, an increase of 55.44%. During the second 3‐month post‐intervention period, 9099 outreaches were made, an increase of 38.21% from the first remeasure. There was no increase in cost to the program related to the project.ConclusionThis increase in patient outreaches by return‐to‐work employees will translate to improvement in overall PRO collection rates, which may ultimately improve individual and population health care delivery.