Principal Investigator: David Cella, PhD
Northwestern University’s NU IMPACT builds upon an integrated cancer symptom monitoring and management system (NMPRO), currently deployed by their health care delivery system. They will test the effectiveness of a system-wide symptom management intervention when implemented across the Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Corporation (NMHC) outpatient oncology clinics. Using a clinic-level randomized roll-out implementation trial design, they will further test, using an embedded patient-level randomized controlled clinical trial, the effectiveness of an enhanced care (EC) approach aimed to engage participants actively, and to increase self-efficacy, in the monitoring and managing of their symptoms. The existing NMPRO will constitute usual care (UC), and added patient engagement and activation features will comprise the EC condition. This innovative hybrid trial design allows for a within- and between-site evaluation of implementation along with a sufficiently powered group-based comparison to demonstrate effectiveness on individual patient outcomes. Fatigue, pain, anxiety, and depression will be assessed using PROMIS® computerized adaptive tests (CATs). In addition, NU IMPACT will assess patient clinical outcomes, including healthcare utilization, and cancer treatment delivery outcomes.