Objective:

To evaluate the economic implications of electronic patient-reported outcome measures (ePROMs) in oncology and to extract data for financial modeling.

Approach:

• Systematic Review: Conducted a systematic literature review to assess the effectiveness and economic evaluations of ePROMs in cancer care.

Key Findings:

• ePROMs are associated with improved health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and reduced hospital admissions, although findings have been mixed and further research is needed.
• Implementation of ePROMs faces challenges due to sociotechnical factors and complexity in healthcare systems.
• Conventional cost-effectiveness analysis methods are inadequate for analyzing and modeling ePROM interventions due to their complexity.

Interpretation:

ePROMs have potential benefits in improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare resource use, but their economic evaluations are limited by the complexity of their implementation and the inadequacy of existing analytical methods.

Limitations:

• Scarcity of health economic evaluations specifically focused on ePROMs.
• Existing models may lack formal methods and qualitative research to inform their structure.

Conclusion:

Further research is needed to develop appropriate economic evaluation frameworks for ePROM interventions in oncology.

Sources:

• Schwartzberg L. Electronic patient-reported outcomes
• Hang L et al. Effectiveness of ePRO-based symptom management
• Girgis A et al. Web-based patient-reported outcome measures
• Lizán L et al. Additional value of patient-reported symptom monitoring