TitleA system for interactive assessment and management in palliative care
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2007
AuthorsChang, C-H, Boni-Saenz, AA, Durazo-Arvizu, RA, DesHarnais, S, Lau, DT, Emanuel, LL
JournalJournal of Pain Symptom Management
Volume33
Edition2007/03/16
Number6
Pagination745-55
Publication Languageeng
ISBN Number0885-3924 (Print)
Accession Number17360148
Keywords*Needs Assessment, Humans, Medical Informatics/*organization & administration, Palliative Care/*organization & administration
Abstract

The availability of psychometrically sound and clinically relevant screening, diagnosis, and outcome evaluation tools is essential to high-quality palliative care assessment and management. Such data will enable us to improve patient evaluations, prognoses, and treatment selections, and to increase patient satisfaction and quality of life. To accomplish these goals, medical care needs more precise, efficient, and comprehensive tools for data acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and management. We describe a system for interactive assessment and management in palliative care (SIAM-PC), which is patient centered, model driven, database derived, evidence based, and technology assisted. The SIAM-PC is designed to reliably measure the multiple dimensions of patients' needs for palliative care, and then to provide information to clinicians, patients, and the patients' families to achieve optimal patient care, while improving our capacity for doing palliative care research. This system is innovative in its application of the state-of-the-science approaches, such as item response theory and computerized adaptive testing, to many of the significant clinical problems related to palliative care.