Remote collection of questionnaires

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease associated with rapid loss of function and radiographic damage. Treatment is targeted to achieve low disease activity/remission, as measured by various pooled indices comprised of laboratory measures, patient-derived, and physician-derived measures. Outside clinical trials, it can be difficult to obtain all these components at the time of the visit to provide immediate guidance. Subsequently, several pooled indices of patient reported outcomes (PROs) have been developed and shown to be equally and sometimes more effective as traditional assessor- and laboratory-derived measures in detecting treatment group and predicting long-term outcomes. With growing use of electronic medical record (EMR) and technology, many of these PROs can now be obtained remotely and directly incorporated into EMR to facilitate target to treat approach. Remotely collecting PROs through the internet allows better data capture, easier incorporation into EMR, and more frequent monitoring of patient's disease activity in between clinic visits for quicker assessment of adverse events and therapeutic efficacy. Adapting remotely collected PROs into clinical trials, clinical care, and long-term database has the potential for restructuring medical care while reducing costs and improving quality of care to achieve disease remission.