Mayo Clinic has already experienced that electronic point of care patient care decision support systems are improving patient outcomes for patients with diabetes, although telemedicine-based specialist intervention appeared to have limited value. Nevertheless, the importance of data interchange and sharing was shown to improve care, a finding we plan to extend to the 11-county Beacon region using standards-based health information exchange (HIE).
Improved care and coordination of care should produce measurable improvements in quality and efficiency. Where treatment plans are known in our delivery systems, adherence consistently improves. We well understand that there may be complex and numerous reasons for lack of adherence. Using technology to facilitate improved clinical work flows should make it easier for us to deploy treatment plans to all patients, and to all providers, and to identify patients with difficulties in their care sooner.
Overview of Beacon Diabetes Initiative – Victor Montori, M.D., Mayo Clinic endocrinologist
Assessment of Quality of Life & Patient Reported Outcomes
The overall goal of an Integrated Real-time Patient-Reported Outcome Quality of Life Clinical Monitoring System for Southeast Minnesota is to Integrate patient-reported outcomes (PRO) consistently and efficiently into the network with minimum burden to the patient, clinicians, and affiliated systems to improve clinical outcomes. Each patient can complete brief, targeted PRO assessments at different points of care. PRO data will be coded and displayed to healthcare providers in real time with suggested clinical pathways, which allows for triggering of need for supportive care or treatment modification as well as longitudinal surveillance.
After years of work on the development, validation and implementation of PRO measures, our Mayo Clinic team and colleagues have compiled substantial evidence that PROs are indeed credible targets for assessment and intervention. In fact, we have shown that the scientific value of many PROs is actually superior to many commonly used laboratory and clinical outcome variables. We know, for example, that PRO-based measures of quality of life (QOL) are more sensitive prognostic factors for survival across a broad spectrum of patient populations than commonly evaluated variables such as disease stage.
PROQOL Toolkit
PROQOL Clinical Pathways – Sample
Shared Decision Making
In collaboration with the Wiser Choices Program at the Knowledge and Evaluation Research (KER) Unit at Mayo Clinic the Southeast Minnesota Beacon is leveraging shared decision aids with a goal of identifying and evaluating ways to help diabetic patients make well-informed decisions that reflect their values and goals with their clinician. Click here to learn more about or access the diabetic decision aids deployed in Southeast Minnesota.
Southeast Minnesota Beacon Program 