"Am I OK?" using human centered design to empower rheumatoid arthritis patients through patient reported outcomes.
Dana Ragouzeos, Julie Gandrup, Beth Berrean and 5 others
PMID 30446358WHAT IT FOUND
Rheumatoid arthritis patients wanted lab results shown to answer 'Am I OK?', while providers prioritized symptom and physical function scores.
A paper dashboard prototype combined both, but it was not tested for improving care.
Key findings
01Patients treated liver and kidney lab results as the main answer to whether they were OK, because medication side-effect fears were salient, while providers did not prioritize labs over PROs.
02The prototype tried to balance these needs by showing lab values simply at the bottom and presenting disease activity and physical function as time-trend graphs with plain language.
03Clinic staff, including a medical assistant, found that giving patients the dashboard before a visit helped answer patient questions without separately looking up lab values.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It was a small convenience sample at two clinics, so other patient groups may have different needs. Focus groups were in English, excluding patients with limited English proficiency. The dashboard was a paper prototype, not an EHR tool or tested intervention. It used clinic-specific PRO measures, CDAI and PROMIS, so other measures may be needed elsewhere. No patient outcomes, safety, or effectiveness results were reported.
Declared interests
The paper is listed as supported by NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the dashboard improves rheumatoid arthritis care or patient outcomes. It was a design study using paper prototypes, not a tested clinical intervention.