In various countries, such as the Netherlands, there is a clear shift towards the patient in a central role and the patient an integral member of the caregiver team.
The old model was that the caregivers decided what was good for the patient, that is changing. The patient’s voice is being heard more and more as part of the treatment team.
The terms PROMS and PREMS are now appearing everywhere as part of collecting the patient’s voice, but what do these actually mean?
PROMs stands for Patient Reported Outcome Measures. This is a questionnaire that measures the patient’s experience in the aspects of his/her own health or function, The patient completes the measure, not a healthcare provider.
PREMs stands for Patient Reported Experience Measure. This is a questionnaire that measures how the patient experiences the delivery of health care they receive.
The use of PROMs and PREMs does not only benefit the patient themselves but can also be useful for other patients for example, in compiling more data for research. What is also important is that these issues enable the patient to help better themselves and can lead to improved self-confidence. Self-reliance is also an important keyword as patients are further empowered in their healthcare journey. Culture change
Culture change comes from talking about the patient to talking with the patient. The expression ”nothing about us without us” emblemizes the direction healthcare is shifting. This also requires a change in culture or behaviour in patients to be more empowered, to ask questions. To help patients advocate for themselves we have developed a separate leaflet
