Patients at home log into a personal “Symptom Tracker” via the internet, telephone or Blackberry. They interact regularly with our adaptive questionnaires to report symptoms. The system guides patients based on type and severity of symptoms, linking them with information and educational material that helps them understand and manage their symptoms themselves. A matter of concern would alert a nurse to call within a specific time.

Historical symptom summaries allow patient and provider to monitor the course of treatment together.

The home-based Patient Module (“Symptom Tracker”) links to the clinic-based Physician Module which translates the patient-reported information into actionable alerts when indicated, and integrates patient-reported symptoms with care events to track progress historically. We are currently working on integration with the government-standardized PROMIS item banks.

The Dashboard gives nurses a snapshot of actions that need to be taken (including tasks, in order of priority). Emergencies can trigger alerts on Blackberries. Nurses can see graphical summaries of the status of each patient under their care.

Available off-the-shelf, customized or as platform
The BrightOutcome system can be purchased three ways;

1. Off-the shelf, including Provider Module and Patient  Treatment Tracker, to integrate with your workflow system (EMR integration is coming soon). We are currently working with PROMIS so that our off-the-shelf system will utilize the PROMIS item banks.
2. Customized. We will work with you to customize BrightOutcome to your workflows, including utilization of your own survey questions and item banks
3. As a platform. Use BrightOutcome as the engine for a system that you build yourself

Patient Module “Treatment Tracker” – Key Features
Version 2.0 is available now, and updates are in progress...  Key features:

1. Ability to administer static questionnaires with both sequential and branching logic.
2. Ability to administer item response theory (IRT)-based adaptive instruments.
3. Ability to administer both static and adaptive instruments in the same assessment session.
4. Ability to administer both static and adaptive instruments on the Web.
5. Ability to administer both static and adaptive instruments over the phone via interactive voice response (IVR) technology.
6. Ability to administer both static and adaptive instruments on PDAs.
7. Ability to resume an incomplete assessment session.
8. Assessment result trend reports.
9.  “Index card” approach to avoid the administration of unnecessary questions. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
10. Ability to display patient education materials in response to patient’s reported symptoms and severities. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
11. Auto-reminders by email/phone for taking assessments. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)

1. Ability to assign different instruments for different patients.
2. XML-file-based management of instruments.
3. Patient profile management.
4. Interactive and paper-based graphical reports for longitudinal analysis with recognition of clinically significant changes in assessment scores.
5. Comparison of assessment results with population norms, if available.
6. Automated aggregate assessment reports in Excel.
7. Ability to customize all patient messages, including patient education materials. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
8. Email-based alerts for assessment results warranting attention from the care team. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
9. Support for using Smart Phones (e.g., BlackBerry) to update event status. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
10. Auto-reminders by email for pending events. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
11. Auto-notification email to physicians by care coordinator to report care progress. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
12. Dashboard with time-based to-do lists and severity-based patient profiles. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
13. Detailed care log recording assessments and subsequent care events in response to the assessment results. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
14. Interactive and paper-based graphical reports of assessment results overlaid with care history. (Version 3.0, 4Q08)
15. PROMIS instruments (both adaptive and static instruments) are integrated by default. (Version 4.0, 2Q09)
16. Standards-based integration with existing EMR systems. (Version 5.0, 4Q09)

Chemotherapy Module (2Q09)

1. Inclusion of pre-defined instruments for major side-effects, such as pain, fatigue, nausea, anxiety, depression, mouth sores, numbness, associated with chemotherapy treatment for various cancer types.  Some instruments are developed by the NIH PROMIS Project. 
2. Inclusion of patient education materials for symptom self-management in response to patient’s reported symptoms.  These patient education materials are mainly adapted from various NCI publications.

Inclusion of pre-defined instruments for major concerns for HIV-infected patients, including pain, fatigue, sleep, emotional functioning, cognitive functioning, self care, physical activities, life satisfaction, body image, physical symptoms, satisfaction with medical care, work, negative social issues, and positive social experience.