PROMs in inflammatory arthritis: moving from static to dynamic

There are several advantages in using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in standard clinical practice, particularly if a questionnaire is distributed to each patient at each visit as a standard in the infrastructure usual care. The patients, being the most knowledgeable persons concerning their pain and global estimate, do most of the work by completing a questionnaire. Completion of the questionnaire helps the patients prepare for their visit as well as improving doctor–patient communication. Recently, the role of PROMs has expanded from the static phase of capturing and measuring outcomes at a single point of time to a more dynamic role. This dynamic role is aiming at driving improvement not only in the quality of inflammatory arthritis care but also in the patients' reported experience. Therefore, in addition to its value in tailoring treatment targets adapted to the patient's needs, PROMs also have the potential of modifying the disease impact through improving the patients' adherence to therapy and allowing the patients to monitor the changes in their condition. Though more attention has been given to the use of PROMs in routine clinical care, little was published regarding what could be done with the plethora of data gained from PROMs and how dynamic it can be enhancing the “patient-centered care” approach and improving patients' experience. This article highlights the value of adopting PROMs for arthritic patients in standard clinical practice and its impact on long-term patients' management.