Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Patient Reported Measures are brief surveys which are completed by consumers to provide feedback on their health and wellbeing, as well as their experiences of health care.

Patient Reported Measures can be divided into two categories: Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs).

Patient Reported Outcome Measures are surveys that ask you to think about your health condition and your overall health and wellbeing.

You might be asked questions about your quality of life, daily function, emotional wellbeing, and other parts of your health. Responses to these surveys can also show the effect of a treatment or procedure, or changes in health over time.

Each type of outcome survey is different, and instructions on how to fill out the survey will be provided. Mostly, your information and answers will be used in discussion with your healthcare team so that decisions can be made about your care together. Results from Patient Reported Outcome Measures are included as part of your medical record.

Patient Reported Experience Measures are surveys that ask you to provide feedback about the experience you had with the healthcare services. Questions might include how easy it was to access the service, whether the hospital room or clinic was comfortable and clean, and whether you had positive interactions with your healthcare team.

Experience survey results are anonymous which means the information provided is not linked back to the individual consumer. Your feedback is valued and helps health services to find out what they are doing well, and what can be improved.

For more information on the Statewide Patient Reported Measures Program, contact the Patient Reported Measures Team at ceih.prm@sa.gov.au.

Implementation of Patient Reported Measures in clinical services will ensure that consumers and clinicians have the information they need to make the best decisions together, supporting services to provide the care that consumers need and want.

Patient Reported Measures help clinical services better understand what matters most to you, so decisions can be made about your care together with your healthcare team.

Each clinical service has a process for receiving compliments and complaints. Please discuss with your care provider, who can guide you regarding the compliments and complaints procedure for their site/service.

Taking part in Patient Reported Measures surveys is optional. If you do not wish to participate, please discuss this with your treating team.

You will be sent an invitation link via text message (SMS) or email to complete the survey, or may be enrolled via QR code during a visit with your health care team. Surveys can be filled out via a secure website using the digital solution on your own mobile phone, tablet device or computer with access to the Internet.

If you do not have access to the Internet or you need assistance completing the survey you are able to ask a family member, friend or neighbour for assistance. Alternatively, contact your health service, where you received your invitation to complete your survey, for further advice.

SA Health are working with a specialized Health IT company called The Clinician. Survey information is collected for SA Health, Hospital and Health Services for the purposes of evaluating, monitoring or planning health services.

More information about the solution that SA Health is using to collect this patient survey data can be found at https://theclinician.com/proms.

Once you complete your survey, your results will be immediately available through your secure patient access portal, including any previous survey results. You can ask for further feedback and interpretation of these results when you attend a visit with your health care team.

All information you provide will be stored on a secure SA Health solution and handled in line with the Privacy Act 1988 and SA Health’s Privacy Policy Directive. The information will not be used or shared without your consent, unless allowed or required by law.

Completing the survey implies that you consent to your information being shared with your care provider. If you are unsure who will access your data, discuss this with your care provider prior to completing your survey.

The benefits of PRMs include:

• Better decision making – ensuring consumers and clinicians have all the information they need to make the best decisions together.
• Continuous quality improvement – looking at outcomes and experiences for groups of consumers to compare at a service level and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Value-based care – being able to plan services at a population level based on what matters most to consumers.

PRMs are an invaluable tool, assisting services to understand if they are truly delivering excellent healthcare.

PRM use is determined by individual Local Health Networks and/or Clinical Services. Refer to local policies and procedures for clarification .

SA Health has engaged The Clinician to provide ZEDOC, a digital solution which will support the systematic collection of PRMs directly from consumers. This digital solution is available for services to use based on their clinical needs. Consumers will receive automatic reminders to complete surveys digitally via any device (phone, tablet or computer) with Internet access. This may be the consumer’s own device, or a device provided by the clinical service. For more information on the digital solution, visit https://theclinician.com/proms

The Clinician’s ZEDOC solution will provide the following functions:

• Enable consumers (or their families/carers) to report on their healthcare experiences and outcomes in their own time or at the point of care
• Enable PRM survey invitations to be sent electronically to consumers, who can then consent to and complete surveys using their own device (including personal computers, tablet devices or smartphones)
• Enable consumers to access their completed survey data through a consumer-facing application, including viewing past surveys
• Be accessible and support surveys in multiple languages
• Enable clinicians to manage and schedule PRMs surveys, and access consumer and service level data in real time through a clinician-facing application
• Integrate with SA Health’s Sunrise Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
• Enable SA Health system administrators to manage surveys and reference data
• Provide capability for consumers to answer anonymous PREMs surveys (i.e., not associated to any medical record).

Yes, once your service has confirmed their participation in the PRMs Program, training is required to use the digital solution. Training will be provided via online self-directed modules for most users. Staff involved in configuring surveys will be provided with face-to-face training in addition to accessing the online modules.

PREMs data is de-identified and used at an aggregate level. PROMs data is considered as a medical record and is stored in alignment with the medical records guidelines.

All information provided by consumers is handled in line with the Privacy Act 1988 and SA Health’s Privacy Policy Directive.

Release of data is handled in alignment with the PRMs Program Management of Personal Information Guide.

Feedback received via PRMs should be managed according to usual Local Health Network and/or Clinical Service patient/consumer feedback processes.