Outcomes data collection program grows

PITTSBURGH - A University of Pittsburgh tool that's keeping track of how patient function improves from the first to second clinical visit is growing.

The data collection and reporting tool, called the Functional Mobility Assessment, now includes data from 1,000 patients.

“It's a simple tool,” said Mark Schmeler, associate professor, who provided an update on the project to attendees of the recent International Seating Symposium. “It's asking people their opinions of how well a device is working for them, which is something we ask anyway. We're just adding a number to it.”

Right now, the groups feeding data into the tool are University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Center for Assistive Technology, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's Assistive Technology Lab, Independence Care Systems and NRRTS.

Schmeler's priority going forward: Getting more and more information added to the database so there's a larger sample from which to identify trends.

Eventually, the tool will allow practitioners to track how patients are faring, managers to track how programs are performing and researchers to track trends on which products work best for which patients, Schmeler said.