Feasibility of collecting patient-reported outcomes for inpatient rehabilitation quality reporting

OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate rehabilitation inpatients' willingness and ability to complete patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and the burden of completion on patients and staff.

DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING:
Two inpatient rehabilitation facilities.

STUDY DESIGN:
Patients with neurological disorders were assigned randomly to receive a nominal monetary incentive during or 1 month after the stay.

DATA COLLECTION:
Patients responded using a tablet computer or paper.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
Of the 1,055 admissions, 74 percent were eligible, and 51 percent of eligible patients completed the survey. Most answered without assistance. A majority completed the survey 1 month after discharge; incentive timing was unrelated to postdischarge completion. Half of the 285 follow-up respondents required at least two reminder calls.

CONCLUSIONS:
Collection of PROs from rehabilitation patients is feasible. Results inform policy makers regarding feasibility of PRO data in evaluating rehabilitation quality.