Understanding PROMs in a Value-Based Landscape
Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are standardized, validated tools that capture a patient’s self-assessment of their health status, functional outcomes, and quality of life. Unlike clinical metrics collected by providers, PROMs come directly from patients, offering insights into how a patient feels and functions, both before and after a medical intervention.
In today’s shift toward value-based care, PROMs have become an essential metric. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) now mandates PROMs collection for procedures like total hip and knee arthroplasty under the THA/TKA PRO-PM measure. Hospitals failing to meet minimum PROMs thresholds can face substantial financial penalties, making PROMs more than just a nice-to-have; they are a quality, compliance, and reimbursement imperative.
Why PROMs Matter for Hospitals, Health Systems, and ASCs
PROMs provide a fuller picture of clinical effectiveness by integrating the patient’s voice into quality improvement initiatives. For orthopedic episodes of care, they are particularly valuable because:
- They quantify improvements in pain, mobility, and function
- They enable longitudinal tracking of recovery outcomes
- They drive standardization of care across sites and surgeons
- They enable registry participation
- They help hospitals meet CMS mandates and avoid penalties
Yet despite their importance, many health systems struggle to consistently meet required PROMs collection rates.
Low Engagement, Low Completion
Collecting PROMs is operationally complex. CMS requires both preoperative and 1-year postoperative forms to be completed and matched by over 50% of eligible patients. Missing just one form, or even a single required data element, can disqualify a patient from counting toward compliance.
This is where patient engagement plays an important role; patients who are engaged in their virtual care plans are significantly more likely to complete all required PROMs. This is specifically true for the 1-year post-operative mark; whereas pre-operative PROMs can be made easier to collect by urging the patient to complete them in person during consultations or pre-operative check-ins, 1-year PROMs are substantially more difficult to collect because most patients–having seen their lives improved with new joints–lose interest and do not want to present for in-person appointments, failing to complete the required forms. This compels care teams to undertake manual outreach by phone or email to remind patients about their forms, and even then, many do not end up completing them.
Ultimately, without high patient engagement, hospitals face low PROMs capture rates, staff burnout from manual outreach and data entry, inefficient workflows across EHRs and tools, compliance risk, and financial exposure.
High Patient Engagement Through Digital Care
Force Therapeutics bridges this gap with a provider-prescribed patient engagement platform that simplifies PROMs collection across the episode of care. With an industry-leading 89% PROMs collection rate, Force enables hospitals and ASCs to exceed CMS compliance requirements and improve quality reporting.
So how does Force do it?
1. Intelligent Workflows and Automation
Force automates PROMs enrollment, timing, delivery, and reminders, eliminating the need for manual FTE outreach. Personalized daily tasks ensure that no patient falls through the cracks, and matched pre-/post-op forms are easily tracked for CMS reporting.
2. Embedded PROMs Within the Patient Experience
Rather than treating PROMs as standalone surveys, Force embeds them within the patient's virtual recovery journey, making it easy and intuitive to complete. Patients receive timely prompts through the same platform they already use for:
- Pre-op education
- Rehab exercises
- Discharge instructions
- Direct messaging with care teams
This integration boosts compliance, reduces friction, and drives higher completion rates.
3. A Proven Engagement Engine
Beyond compliance, Force is built on a core belief: engaged patients recover better. The platform delivers personalized, clinically validated education and recovery plans, guiding patients through every phase of their surgical journey. Key proof points include:
- 89% average patient opt-in rate
- 96% patient support satisfaction
- 90% patient preparedness for surgery
This engagement drives not only PROMs compliance, but also better outcomes, evidenced by superior functional and quality-of-life outcomes, reduced readmissions, shorter lengths of stay, and higher rates of discharge to home.
4. Seamless EHR Integration and Interoperability
Force integrates directly with EHRs to ensure PROMs collection is streamlined, not siloed. Through comprehensive interoperability, Force can automatically enroll patients, sync data, and push collected PROMs back into the clinical workflow, eliminating double documentation and data silos.
Whether through HL7, FHIR, or custom APIs, Force supports:
- Bi-directional data exchange for real-time visibility
- Automated enrollment triggers based on procedure codes or order sets
- Centralized dashboards that consolidate PROMs and engagement metrics
- Secure, compliant data transmission aligned with HIPAA and CMS standards
This tight integration reduces administrative burden, improves data integrity, and ensures that PROMs are both available and actionable.
Why It Matters Now: Alignment with CMS Mandates
Hospitals today face growing pressure to comply with value-based programs like:
- THA/TKA PRO-PM: Financial penalties apply on all (not just orthopedic) Medicare claims if less than 50% of patients submit both pre- and post-op PROMs
- TEAM Model (Transforming Episode Accountability Model): Begins in 2026, focusing on episode costs and quality outcomes
With Force Therapeutics, hospitals can confidently exceed these benchmarks and reduce episode costs without negatively impacting outcomes. The platform equips quality leaders with real-time dashboards, aggregate data analysis, and automated registry submission, supporting seamless data collection, reporting, and incorporation into daily workflows.
PROMs are Just the Start
PROMs collection isn’t an isolated task. It’s a reflection of how well a hospital supports its patients and providers across the continuum of care. By partnering with Force Therapeutics, hospitals gain a comprehensive digital care platform that:
- Drives patient engagement and satisfaction
- Streamlines clinical workflows
- Supports CMS compliance and quality initiatives
- Powers longitudinal insights and clinical research
Empowering Better Outcomes Through the Patient Voice
Incorporating PROMs into your care strategy isn’t just about checking a box. It’s about unlocking the full potential of patient-centered, data-driven care. Force Therapeutics makes that possible by combining automated PROMs capture, high-touch personalized patient engagement, and scalable clinical workflows.
For hospitals looking to lead in value-based musculoskeletal care, PROMs are no longer optional. And with Force, they’re no longer a burden.
Ready to optimize your PROMs strategy? Request a demo to see how Force can support your quality and compliance goals:
