Conduct a Pilot Test

Start by testing a new implementation of HealthMeasures in one clinic to identify and resolve technical and workflow challenges.

Pilot Testing is Critical

Implementing HealthMeasures for patient care is a complex system change. Identifying and resolving challenges in a single clinic increases the likelihood of success when implementation is expanded to multiple clinics. When patients and clinicians have a negative experience with implementation, there is a risk they will be unwilling to try again with a revised implementation. Therefore, having a positive initial experience is important.

Select a Pilot Clinic

  • Select a clinic with a clinician who has a clear and persuasive rationale for implementing patient-reported measures in clinical care. Learn more>>
  • Institutions may utilize a specific library of measures. Review available measures and select a clinic for piloting where these measures add value for patient care. For example, physical function and pain measures are informative in total joint arthroplasty. Recommended measures for numerous health conditions are available at Recommended HealthMeasures. Implementation is most successful when measure results can be utilized for patient care. Learn more>>
  • Pediatric patients can self-report (age 8+) but there may be situations when parents need to complete proxy measures on their behalf. Self- and proxy-completed measures are different. This complexity may make it easier to pilot test in an adult clinic to resolve issues before implementing HealthMeasures in pediatric clinics.

Test, Revise, and Expand

  • A pilot should test all aspects of implementation including technology, patient actions, staff actions, and clinician actions.
  • An unofficial “soft launch” can be used to test workflow initially before initiating a full pilot test. The first month is crucial for long term success. A soft launch allows for correcting problematic aspects of workflow, revising training, and answering questions from the team.
  • Utilize the change management tools available at your organization.
  • Evaluate the implementation including monitoring patient portal usage. Learn more>>
  • Revise technology, training materials/approaches, and workflows as needed.
  • Evaluate revisions.
  • Conduct post-training check-ins focused on workflow, ability to complete tasks, and other questions from the team.
  • It is preferable to expand to other clinics slowly rather than large-scale simultaneous implementation.