In oncological care, patient self-assessments are becoming increasingly important. Standardized digital surveys enable the systematic collection of so-called Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) – information on symptoms and quality of life – and their integration into documentation. This provides insight into the patient’s perspective, which is often not captured in such depth during medical consultations.
Various oncological facilities are currently testing how patient surveys can be integrated into existing processes and IT infrastructures. SURVEYSTAR has proven to be a practical and flexible solution for this purpose.
Uro-oncological longitudinal monitoring with SURVEYSTAR
At St. Antonius Hospital in Gronau, several questionnaires are administered via SURVEYSTAR as part of longitudinal monitoring in uro-oncology. Patients receive personal access to the digital surveys and enter their responses independently. The results are automatically transferred to the ONKOSTAR oncology record and are immediately available there.
This allows for the systematic identification of changes in relevant markers, quality of life, and functional disorders over time, enabling targeted counseling or supportive therapies to be offered. At the same time, the collected data serves to objectively measure the success of therapies.
Oncological Routine Screening with SURVEYSTAR
SURVEYSTAR is also being used at Regensburg University Hospital (UKR). There, the so-called NQS² (Needs-based, Quality-of-life and Symptoms Screening) was further developed and integrated into patient care as digital oncological routine screening (ONCO-ROUTES).
The screening covers areas such as nutrition, functional status, psychosocial stress, and the need for social support. Patients complete the questionnaires independently online. The results are automatically transferred to the patient record in the hospital information system (HIS) and are thus available to the entire treatment team.
In this way, burdens can be identified early, and targeted support services can be arranged. Initial experience at UKR shows that digital collection can be efficiently integrated into existing workflows without disrupting daily clinical operations.
At the same time, the documentation in conjunction with ONKOSTAR meets the requirements for basic psycho-oncological screening as part of DKG certification.
Digital surveys in everyday clinical practice
In practice: SURVEYSTAR makes it easy to integrate patient surveys into existing workflows. By seamlessly incorporating the results into tumor documentation, clinics obtain a reliable data foundation – including for certification purposes. Most importantly, however, the patients´ individual support needs become more visible and can be addressed in a targeted manner.
Source: Maurer, J., Saibold, A., Gerl, K. et al. Systematic development of a patient-reported ONCOlogical-ROUTinE-Screening (ONCO-ROUTES) procedure at the University Cancer Center Regensburg. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 150, 435 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-024-05955-4
Learn more about ONCO-ROUTES screening: https://www.uccr.de/fuer-aerzte/onkologisches-routinescreening-onco-routes
Learn more about SURVEYSTAR: https://www.it-choice.de/produkte/surveystar/
