PREM at OUH

AIM

The development project “PREM at OUH” aimed to use questionnaires to collect information about patients’ experiences (Patient Reported Experience Measures = PREM) in order to provide current data that could support the departments in their quality work.

The project differed from, for example, the annual “LUP” (in English: Nationwide Survey of Patient Experiences) and monthly LUP-Light by the fact that,

1. data were collected on an ongoing basis and as close to the patients’ treatment as possible, which allowed for rapid adaptation of treatment options, and
2. the solution was “operated” locally and thus was more flexible, for example in relation to changes on common and department-specific issues.

Two clinical departments were included as pilot departments in the project. Their patients were sent a questionnaire after visits to the ward, and the ward management received standard reports with the patients’ answers weekly.

RESULTS

A total of five department-specific questionnaires were prepared and pilot trials were conducted in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Nephrology with data collection for eight weeks. A total of 6,632 patients were contacted and of these, 2,426 answered the questionnaire (response rate = 37%).

The pilot departments found that local PREM data is both useful and valuable in their work. The pilot departments emphasise that with the LUP results they can identify where the challenges are, while the local PREM data can point to relevant solutions to a greater extent.

The pilot period of eight weeks was perceived by both pilot departments as too short to have the local data incorporated as part of the regular management follow-up. The circumstances with covid-19 generally made it difficult to implement the project in the two departments.

For various reasons, it was chosen at OUH not to work further with PREM, but only to focus on the nationwide study of patient experiences (LUP) purely in terms of data.

PARTNERS

The project was a collaboration between various departments at OUH: Clinical IT, Department of Finance and Planning, Department of Surgery and Department of Nephrology.

EXTERNAL FUNDING

The project was financed by strategic funds provided by OUH’s management.