A multicenter, randomized, open study to evaluate the impact of an electronic data capture system on the care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine the impact of an electronic data capture system on patient satisfaction and patient-physician interactions in a rheumatology clinical setting.

Study design: In this multicenter study, 1079 patients with rheumatoid arthritis completed questionnaires quarterly about their health and satisfaction with care using a computer. At 6 months, 901 eligible patients were randomized 2:1 to receive or not to receive graphical summarized health information or Health Tracker (HT) reports. Data collected at each visit included patient satisfaction with care; patient-physician interaction assessments; a 56‑joint self-assessment for patients; a 28‑joint assessment for physicians; patient pain, fatigue, and global assessments (visual analogue scale, physician global assessment, Health Assessment Questionnaire, and Short Form‑12) all of which were cumulatively recorded in the HT report.

Results: Patient demographics at baseline were similar between groups. Changes from baseline to1 year showed that patients in the HT-viewers group were significantly more satisfied with their care ( p < 0.001) than those in the HT-nonviewers group ( p = 0.131). Physicians reported improved interactions with patients at 1 year in both the HT-viewers ( p < 0.001) and HT-nonviewers groups ( p = 0.002); however, the improvement was significantly larger for the HT-viewers group than for the HT-nonviewers group ( p < 0.001). Adverse events were comparable between groups.

Conclusions: Patient access to systematically collected patient data reports promoted self-involvement and improved patient satisfaction and patient-physician interactions more in the HT-viewers than in HT-nonviewers groups at 1 year ( p < 0.001). This was an open, observational study; no formal hypothesis testing was conducted. The HT system was not validated and some bias may have existed with respect to patient comfort level with a computer, user error, and timing of data entry of the physicians’ assessments.

Key words: :

• Electronic data capture system
• Health tracker
• Patient satisfaction
• Patient-physician interaction
• Rheumatoid arthritis