Using Publicly Reported Global Hospital Rankings to Improve Dissemination of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)

Abstract

SummaryPatient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) represent an essential element of value-based care in health care sectors worldwide by transferring the quality definition from process- to outcome-based indicators that focus on the patients’ needs. However, the adoption rate of PROMs in hospitals is still low. To address this challenge and to account for the growing importance of value-based health care, Newsweek and Statista developed a PROMs implementation survey along with a global board of medical experts to determine the current state of PROMs implementation in hospitals. The results of this survey were incorporated into the 2023 editions of Newsweek’s World’s Best Specialized Hospitals and World’s Best Hospitals rankings. The inclusion of PROMs adds a patient outcome–focused dimension that overcomes methodologic limitations and improves the comprehensiveness of these rankings. Furthermore, the public reporting of clinical outcomes such as PROMs serves as a catalyst to improve the quality of care. In this article, the authors describe what they believe is the increasing relevance of value-based health care and PROMs, the process of developing and launching the PROMs implementation survey, and its incorporation into hospital rankings to improve the value of care for patients on a global level.