Progress Tracker

At Pure Sports Medicine, we recognised early on the importance of great data in facilitating the best care for our patients. 

This led to the implementation of a robust Patient-Reported Outcome Measures programme (PROMs) in partnership with Cemplicity and from there, the Progress Tracker was born. 

Dr Simon Lack, Head of Research and the driving force behind this initiative, explains more. 

What is a progress tracker? #

The Progress Tracker is a clear and robust method of capturing and measuring the progress that patients are making towards their personal goals. This process of collecting results and outcomes acts as the most valid and reliable tool to establish the effects of treatment and where more attention is needed. 

Completing these measures at specific stages of the recovery journey allows us to monitor patients’ progress throughout treatment and offer more tailored support. 

The process starts with two simple baseline questions, about the levels of pain and restrictions in function and these questions are repeated at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after the initial appointment so that we can track progress and trigger alerts for necessary interventions. 

Simon explains, ​“we gather up this data and start to see trends and overall characteristics of the populations. I’m starting to pull out information at a much broader level, than I ever could do before, to give inferences.”

How does it benefit patients? #

Prior to this program, Pure Sports Medicine clinicians would ask patients, ​“How are you feeling?” and ​“Roughly better or worse than last time?”

This lack of standardised questions meant the answers couldn’t be compared and they left a poor record of outcomes as they relied heavily on the clinician’s point of view and record keeping. Also, vitally, when patients left treatment, clinicians were unable to know what the long-term outcomes were, because ​“the minute they stop coming through your door, you no longer know. You’ve got no clue. So, for this to follow up people through to 12 months, and they’re still overall trending upwards, that’s awesome.” notes Simon.

Now, with an aligned set of questions and a systemised approach to follow-ups after care, we have a much more detailed understanding of the quality of the care. 

Pure Sports Medicine now has data to compare the outcomes it drives against published studies. Having this information is vital to ensuring quality of care — knowing when we are working at our peak for patient care and when more needs to be done in certain areas. 

“If we’re collecting outcomes or delivering treatment that’s comparable to a randomised controlled trial (RCT) for an individual with that diagnosis code, brilliant. If we’re not, and if we’re off the mark, then we know where to invest time, energy and effort into improving clinical skills to ensure outcomes are achieved. Otherwise, we’re doing a disservice to patients.” says Simon.

For the first time, Pure Sports Medicine has evidence-based information on the success of the care we are delivering to patients. Our mission now is to dig down level by level to get more detailed comparisons. 

Extending beyond benchmarking, Pure Sports Medicine are two years down the track and building our own data bank from which to pull insights. Currently we have data to accurately benchmark our outcomes against the existing evidence base but to go further, we are collecting and refining the background information about our own patients to get even more layers of insight.

Simon enjoys that the data ​“is set up really nicely within Cemplicity. We are pulling out these diagnostic codes so in time that the volume builds, we will be able to make direct comparisons here.” 

Long Term Vision #

“What are we doing? How are we treating these people? Let’s communicate this and have some data to back up the fact that we are presenting it as a gold standard way of treating people because it’s better than any of the published data that’s out there. So that would be with a real scientific lens.” Simon confirms.

We aim to have a data set across 12 months that has enough engagement that it is representative of our overall cohort. This would allow us to draw robust conclusions. 

The overall goal of the program is to improve patient outcomes, but a huge aspect of that is to enable clinicians to be the best versions of themselves they can be. For the program to work, patients also need to engage with the surveys. 

The Progress Tracker can provide individual insights into how effective a clinician’s approach is and highlight ways of working that have been successful, and to what degree, so others can learn from them, which is very positive for both patients and clinicians. 

With Head of Research Dr Simon Lack at the helm, and by taking an iterative approach, involving both clinicians and patients throughout the process, we are embedding research-driven philosophies to benefit the organisation, clinicians, and patients alike.