There has always been a gap between what matters most to patients, and what health factors doctors routinely like to measure. There’s no doubt that healthcare providers are attempting to monitor an ever-greater number of health factors, but none of these are what really matter to patients. Patients are much more concerned with their symptoms, quality of life, daily activities, functional status, and their mental health state. Health systems simply cannot measure these things – only patient-reported outcomes (PROs) can. 

Given the fact that all data associated with PROs come directly from the patients themselves, it is exactly what matters most to them, and what they most care about. The most successful healthcare facilities in the future will be those that measure the factors comprising a favorable outcome, which means both patient and physician must agree the outcome was positive. It’s just not enough to measure the length of stay, lab values, readmission rates, and procedure measures. None of those have meaning to a patient, and that’s why it’s so important to incorporate PROs into the mix as well.

How PROs will grow your practice  

Some forward-thinking healthcare companies such as Marvel Group have recognized the increasing relevance of PROs and have taken steps to have that data included in the overall medical care delivered. Any spine surgeon who partners with Marvel Group will have access to cutting-edge data collection and analysis software, which can be used with patients to collect data directly from them in the pre-surgical, intraoperative, and post-surgical settings. All data collected is analyzed and returned to the surgeons, who can then use it effectively to communicate favorable outcomes to the patients themselves, as well as to referral sources and insurance carriers.

Marvel Group offers this service to their partners as one component of their Surgical Stewardship Program, and any surgeon equipped with hard PRO facts about successful outcomes can be linked up with insurance carriers who pay a premium for such favorable outcomes. The structured outbound marketing program associated with this Surgical Stewardship will funnel more patients to the independent spine surgeon, thus helping to grow the practice. Marvel Group connects these more successful surgeons with private commercial insurance carriers who pay more for superior outcomes.

With more patients coming into your practice, and better reimbursement rates based on your superior outcomes, it will only be a matter of time before your practice is elevated to that next level, and you enjoy the benefits of increased revenue streams. Not only that, but your patients will enjoy a better overall patient experience because you’re monitoring the things that matter to them and you’ll be able to better answer the questions they have about their ongoing health and wellness.