In 2014, more than 18 organizations spanning payers, providers, patient groups and government had the opportunity to examine, explore, and provide recommendations on PROs, measures that assess quality from the patient’s perspective. PROs are becoming an increasingly important component of our healthcare system given of the rise of new payment and delivery models that rely on good definitions of “value,” and therefore, must ensure patient perceptions of that value are measured.

The group developed the following recommendations to facilitate a transition to using PROs to measure performance:

1. Supplement existing PRO-related efforts by establishing a national measure development research agenda that reflects patient experience and patient engagement.
2. Continue to identify clinical areas where PRO measures can support high-quality, patient-centered care.
3. Refine and prioritize existing measures to establish their clinical practicality via testing and evaluation.
4. Invest in openly accessible tools that providers, payers, and patients can build into health information technology and clinical practice.
5. Create an interoperable, data-sharing mechanism that allows PRO data to be entered, used, and interpreted by every level of a care team (e.g., patient, caregiver, nurse, physician’s assistant, post-acute care/long-term care provider).
   Support workforce development, training, and education to advance best practices for PRO data collection, interpretation, use, and evaluation.
6. Provisionally adopt PRO-based performance measures in pay-for-reporting and accreditation programs.
7. Gradually integrate PRO-based performance measures into provider practice transformation initiatives such as pay-for-performance, then into new payment and delivery models.