There is a critical need for biomedical research tools that allow capturing and tracking patient encounters, outcomes, and questionnaires and the ability to analyze data across patient populations while optimizing patient-physician interactions.

Capturing and tracking validated research data electronically by patients and health care providers will foster this aim in a real world setting.  Patient reported outcomes (PRO) are particularly germane, as they allow timely and cost effective data entry both in the clinic as well as away from the health care provider.

The Arizona Arthritis Center (AAC) has developed a system with such a capability.  It is an interactive, population-based program with the capability of integrating diverse health care technology projects.  Currently patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) document several validated rheumatologic outcomes using portable computer tablets and desktop computers in the clinic.  These are correlated with physician-based evaluations, and allow us the capability to compare the patient and physician evaluations over time and during a single visit. 

The system, called “Rheumatology Health Tracker” (RHT), is an interactive, web-based, data capture tool. It is a component of a larger web-based data-capture application called “My Web Clinic” (MWC).  RHT collects patient and physician clinical assessments, medication usage, and selected laboratory and radiologic data in real time in a cross sectional as well as a longitudinal fashion.

RHT has been designed to take no more than a couple of minutes of the practitioner’s time.  Most of the input is driven by the patient, and once trained, can be entered in about 10 minutes.  Patients can potentially enter data from home or any remote site if they have computer access to the world wide web.  The rest of the data is entered by a research technician or nurse, and most involve updating medication lists, and recording adverse events.

RHT has the potential to uncover significant correlations, validate classic and novel markers of disease activity, and also improve patient care and the patient-physician interaction.