Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are a promising way to assess individuals’ health and well-being in a manner that upholds the person-centered principle of complex care.

Through PROMs, individuals assess their own health status using a structured tool that can be either self-administered or completed in an interview. However, simply including PROMs in a complex care measurement strategy is not enough to uphold person-centered values. While PROMs are patient-reported by definition, they must be thoughtfully implemented using person-centered principles.

This brief from the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs and the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy and Care Management Institute examines the factors that support or hinder the implementation of PROMs in complex care programs.

The brief outlines what stakeholders — including clinicians, evaluators, consumer experts, and program administrators — can do to support person-centered measurement in their programs. Case studies provide additional resources for teams looking to implement PROMs and other person-centered measurement strategies.