Principal Investigators: Deborah Schrag, MD; Raymond Osarogiagbon, MD; Sandra Wong, MD
A multidisciplinary team from six health systems, including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Baptist Cancer Center, Lifespan Cancer Institute, Maine Medical Center and West Virginia University Cancer Institute, have formed the Symptom Management Implementation of Patient Reported Outcomes in Oncology (SIMPRO) Research Center. SIMPRO's overarching goal is to develop, implement, and evaluate a multi-component ePRO reporting and management system to improve symptom control for patients recovering from cancer surgery or patients receiving palliative chemotherapy in small, rural, and community cancer centers. Following the adaptation of operational ePRO prototypes and full integration into an EHR, the SIMPRO investigators will conduct a pragmatic cluster randomized trial with stepped wedge rollout to investigate the effectiveness of a symptom monitoring system from a patient, clinician and health system perspective. Across all study phases, the implementation process itself, including ePRO adoption, appropriateness, acceptability, penetration/scalability, and adaptation, will be critically evaluated. This approach will create knowledge that can be used to guide dissemination of ePROs and other interventions to improve cancer care delivery.
