Three Years of Patient Outcomes? There's an App for That

Surgeons are increasingly feeling the pressure from authorities and their employers to collect patient satisfaction data and measure long-term patient outcomes. If such data is accurate and easily accessible, it can be used for recertification or to support the marketing of services to new patients. For many ophthalmic professionals, the ability to compare practices as well as benchmark against other surgeons would be advantageous, but comprehensive data collection for cataract and refractive surgery is a complex and time consuming process.

Enter the RayPRO digital platform – a free resource for Rayner IOL users that proactively collects patient-reported outcomes (PROs) over the three years following cataract
surgery. Data are collected from patients through five simple email questionnaires (on satisfaction, spectacle independence, refractive achievement, visual disturbances, and requirement for additional procedures) and are automatically compiled into an intuitive dashboard. Similar to sleep and fitness metrics in our personal lives, surgeons can easily access the RayPRO dashboard on a dedicated smartphone app (RayPRO is also accessible using a web browser).

The RayPRO platform ticks a number of boxes, both for surgeons and patients. Notably, patient satisfaction and experience data can be used to draw comparisons between practices, and it can also be used to demonstrate surgeons’ expertise to patients. As noted by Florian Kretz, CEO and Lead Surgeon at Augentagesklinik Rheine, Germany: “RayPRO will be very helpful: it allows surgeons to monitor their own outcomes over time using live data. Plus, we can present the data to patients to show them our overall outcomes, which is important in earning their confidence.”

According to Kretz, patient satisfaction is a key long-term outcome, and it has a direct effect on the number of patients his practices see because of word-of-mouth marketing. “Data capture not only ensures individual patient satisfaction; by allowing patients to make the most informed decisions possible, it also allows us to modify our practices where necessary to ensure the satisfaction of future patients based on the feedback we receive,” he says. Regarding the RayPRO patient questionnaires, Kretz points out that the platform is very intuitive and easy to use.

Fernando L. Soler Ferrandez, MD and owner of Innova Ocular Clinica Dr Soler in Elche, Spain, comments on the benefits of access to large safety and efficacy datasets: “Conducting satisfaction surveys throughout the clinical process and at the end of it is a great opportunity to improve aspects of care that we might not otherwise be aware of.” Another key feature of the platform will be the provision of instant access to large datasets that can be used to not only promote a surgeon or their clinic, but also specific procedures on offer. Such datasets will cover a three-year post-operative window – further assuring the patient that positive outcomes persist. As Kretz explains: “The ability to demonstrate to a patient that surgery is both safe and beneficial – as reported by other patients who have undergone the same procedure – is invaluable.”

Asked about the benefits of using large-scale patient safety and efficacy databases in this way, Fernando Llovet, MD, PhD and Medical Director at Clinica Baviera (AIER Eye Group) in Madrid, Spain, can see other advantages. “The presence of large numbers of cases with correctly evaluated results will undoubtedly allow an improved clarity of the behavior of the intraocular lens, which means that we can subsequently improve our own technique and patient outcomes,” says Llovet. Availability of comprehensive and reliable patient satisfaction measures can also influence the choice of a particular IOL, as Llovet says, “The choice of an IOL model is made after a detailed evaluation of surgical
results and patient satisfaction at discharge.”

Overall, RayPRO will empower surgeons and patients to make informed and evidence-based decisions in the clinic. What’s more, given the current paradigm shift in medical research towards PROs and further patient centric measures, the large database promises to provide substantiated supporting data for clinical studies that consider the patient and their experience to be the priority. In this sense, the RayPRO platform and its data help care for the patients being treated today, but will likely also inform the care of patients tomorrow.

Kretz is clear as to why he thinks practices should begin using the RayPRO platform: “You don’t have to handle and manually transfer questionnaires – everything is automated and patients can do it at home. I think the system will be fantastic for most mainstream surgeries – of which many do not currently gather such data – due to the importance of these outcome measures today.”

Learn more about RayPRO at www.rayner.com/RayPRO and download from your app store today