This post by LivingMatrix Founder and CEO Dr. Priya Kamani defines PROMIS and explains its benefits and value to the field of Functional Medicine.
The Promise of PROMIS
The value of PROMIS extends well beyond academic institutions and can play an essential role in every Functional Medicine practice.
Strengthening the evidence base is a critical strategic initiative for the entire functional medicine industry. As such, the Institute for Functional Medicine has formed several key partnerships with academic organizations that are generating research, including the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine and the Tallahassee Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program.
Standardized data collection and validated patient-reported measures are essential components of documenting evidence for functional medicine practices. The Patient Reported Outcome Measures Information System (PROMIS) is a global health questionnaire that both academic and medical practices use to collect and report patient outcomes in a standardized way.
What is PROMIS?
PROMIS is a publicly available global health assessment tool that was developed, validated and is administered using NIH funding. It was designed to assess health status in various clinical cohorts and delivers measurements of symptoms, functioning and aspects of healthcare-related quality of life. More about PROMIS:
- Demonstrates improved efficiency and sensitivity compared to legacy instruments
- Has been correlated with disease activity, quality of life, mortality and cost of care
- Has been shown to be applicable across clinical, research and population studies
PROMIS was built on the foundation of previous work done by John Ware’s instruments (SF-36, SF-12) and other legacy functional status instruments.
What are the benefits of implementing PROMIS Global Health Measures for a functional medicine practice?
- Demonstrate improvement in patient health status using a validated instrument promoted by the NIH and recognized and respected across multiple medical disciplines
- Enhance communication with patients using an objective measure to demonstrate improvement
- Effectively compare the functional medicine population to the general population and other populations with chronic conditions
- Gain credibility for the Functional Medicine approach with medical peers
- Participate in research studies with industry partners and others looking for practitioners who can demonstrate outcomes and can collect data in a standardized way
What do I need to know about the PROMIS-10 Global Health Questionnaire?
The PROMIS-10 Global Health questionnaire is a short form, consisting of 10 items that are easy to administer and are used by preeminent functional medicine organizations like the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. The Global Health questionnaire assesses general domains of health and functioning including:
- Overall physical health
- Mental health
- Social health
- Pain
- Fatigue
- Overall perceived quality of life
Widely used in clinical care and research studies, PROMIS-10 is easy to incorporate into clinical practice and takes approximately 90 seconds to complete.
How do I incorporate the PROMIS-10 questionnaire into my practice?
PROMIS-10 is available in PDF format and can be scored by hand using the PROMIS methodology or by using the HealthMeasures Scoring Service powered by the Assessment Center.
PROMIS-10 is also available through the LivingMatrix application and is fully integrated with the IFM Questionnaires, the Timeline, the Functional Medicine Matrix and the FM Prescription. LivingMatrix automates the process of inviting patients to fill in their forms, while the system trends results, requiring no hand scoring.
