Patient Priorities Care

Project description

Patient Priorities Care (PPC) will implement and test an online version of an interactive questionnaire that has been shown to help patients with complex health issues identify and clarify their health priorities.

Upon completion, patients who volunteer to participate will have a 1-page summary to share with their clinicians.

The goal is for the patients and clinicians to agree on care that reflects patients’ priorities and what they are willing and able to do to achieve their health outcome goals. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine developed an online version of the questionnaire at MyHealthPriorities.org as part of the Patient Priorities Care program.​

Studies indicate that this questionnaire is helpful in face-to-face interviews. This project is the first to bring the questionnaire online and study the effects on patients and providers in clinical settings.

The project includes defining criteria for eligible patients, developing patient communication materials, inviting patients to participate via the patient portal or email, and storing Summaries of their responses in the electronic health record (EHR) in a way that makes them accessible for care.  To minimize workflow impact on clinicians and office staff, the process is being designed to be as automated as possible.

The primary objective is to provide an effective process, measure its use and perceived value among the participants, and identify areas for improvement.  Phase 1 includes identifying clinical settings and recruiting clinicians, establishing clinical workflow and where to store summaries in the EMR, developing patient communications materials, testing the Questionnaire with a small number of patients, and making any necessary adjustments. Phase 2 will expand to a larger number of patients and will encourage them to consider their PPC priorities when they write goals for upcoming scheduled visits.

Project Team

Principal Investigator

Jody Naimark, MD

Family Physician, Winchester Physician Associates, Lahey Health

Co-Investigators

Jan Walker, RN, MBA

Co-Founder, OpenNotes,
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Tom Delbanco, MD

Co-Founder, OpenNotes
John F. Keane & Family Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Cait DesRoches, DrPH

Executive Director, OpenNotes,
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Liz Salmi

Senior Strategist, OpenNotes, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Kendall Harcourt, MPA

Research Coordinator, OpenNotes, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Joe Dong, MS

Biostatistician, OpenNotes, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center