In healthcare, there is a goal to provide patient-centred care as a hallmark of achieving effective, quality health care. What this means is that care focuses on the needs and perspectives of the patient. As such, healthcare providers are faced with the challenge focus on what matters to the patient during their encounters with the healthcare system.

One problem that needs solving is: how do we assist health care providers to incorporate patient-centered measurement and how can providers routinely use this information to inform patients’ care?

To address these questions, we studied how providers can interpret and integrate data from patient-centered measures (assessment tools) into clinical care through a mixed-method systematic review (154 peer-reviewed articles), provider interviews (21 interviews), and stakeholder review of our findings at a deliberative dialogue forum (50 participants). The outcome of this rigorous research study is the Healthcare Provider Resource Guide that is based on implementation science frameworks (i.e., Consolidate Framework for Implementation Research, Theoretical Domains Framework, and the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behavior Change Model (COM-B)).

Clinical-based Outcomes (or clinician-based) – Objective measures that clinicians perform for the assessment of a conditions (e.g., injury, illness, disease, impairment), interventions (e.g., treatment), physiological measures (e.g., blood pressure, strength, and bone density), and test results (e.g., lab values, x-ray).

Healthcare provider (HCP) – Also known as clinician, refers to individuals from any health discipline or profession that provide direct health services to patients, clients, and/or families. Providers are regulated or licensed healthcare professional; however, this may vary by country or jurisdiction. Common healthcare providers include but are not limited to registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physicians, social workers, dieticians, psychologists, pharmacists, and midwifes.

Patient-centred care (PCC) – The World Health Organization (WHO) (2019) defines person-centered care as care that is focused and organized around the health needs and expectations of people and communities rather than on diseases. People-centred care extends the concept of patient-centred care to individuals, families, communities, and society. Whereas patient-centred care is commonly understood as focusing on the individual seeking care—the patient—people-centred care encompasses these clinical encounters and also includes attention to the health of people in their communities and their crucial role in shaping health policy and health services. This guide specifically refers to patients or clients seeking care.

Patient-centred approach – A model of care that puts patients at the forefront of their health and care, ensures they retain control over their own choices, helps them make informed decisions and supports a partnership between individuals, families, and health care services providers. Patient-centered care incorporates the following key components: (a) self-management; (b) shared and informed decision-making; (c) an enhanced experience of health care; (d) improved information and understanding; and, (e) the advancement of prevention and health promotion activities. Reference document (PDF 327 KB).

Patient-centred measures or measurement (PCM) – Is an umbrella term used to include assessment tools for measuring patients’ experiences or outcomes. There are a variety of standardized and validated patient-centred measures (also referred to as assessment tools, instruments, or questionnaires) for HCPs to collect decision-aiding information from patients to better understand and address what matters to them. These tools are intended to make healthcare more person-centred, responsive, and efficient. For clinicians this may mean incorporating these tools within therapeutic encounters for screening, assessment, monitoring, planning, and evaluating care (e.g., interventions, treatment, referrals, and tests) as well as creating decision aids. There are two types of tools that assess either health status or experiences: patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs).

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs, also known as PROs) – These tools are used to measure patients’ health status in a standardized and quantitative manner at a point in time. These inquiries may capture how patients function or feel with respect to their health; disease condition and its treatment; or functional status, quality of life, or mental wellbeing.

Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) – Measures that focus on how patients feel with respect to their health care or illness experience. PREMs are commonly used to solicit information about patient satisfaction with service delivery in a clinical setting, or describe patient experience of a therapy or plan of care.

Shared Decision Making – An approach where clinicians and patients share the best available evidence when faced with the task of making decisions, and where patients are supported to consider options, to achieve informed preferences. Achieving shared decision making depends on building a good relationship in the clinical encounter so that information is shared and patients are supported to deliberate and express their preferences and views during the decision making process (Elwyn et al., 2012, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-012-2077-6).